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Quality Strategy

Excellence, Passion, Teamwork, Integrity, Innovation

Quality/Quality Strategy/July 2014

Our Mission

To inspire learners to recognise and achieve their full potential.

Our Values

Excellence, Passion, Team Work, Integrity, Innovation,

Sustainability, Valuing Others and Supportiveness

Sparsholt College Hampshire, incorporating Andover College The Quality Strategy was reviewed and reconfirmed by the Board of Governors in July 2014. This supersedes the previous publication and is effective from 1 August 2014.

Equality Impact Assessment Conducted: May 2012

Originator: Quality Improvement and Performance Manager

Located: College Intranet

Date of next scheduled review: April 2015


Quality Strategy

Excellence, Passion, Teamwork, Integrity, Innovation

Contents

1. PURPOSE ..................................................................................................................... 4

2. POLICY STATEMENT ................................................................................................... 4

3. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT THEMES ............................................................................ 5

4. ENQUIRIES ................................................................................................................... 7

Appendix A - Sparsholt College Quality Cycle – Indicative Programme of Activity ....... 8

Job Roles & Terms ............................................................................................................ 8

Part A: Self-Assessment Timeline ..................................................................................... 8

Part B: Quality Improvement Monitoring Cycle ................................................................ 10


SPARSHOLT COLLEGE HAMPSHIRE incorporating ANDOVER COLLEGE

Quality Strategy

1. PURPOSE

1.1. To articulate the College’s ethos that places the learner at the heart of all continuous improvement activities.

1.2. To create, and embed, a coherent process of Quality Improvement and Assurance which empowers all staff to engage in continual improvement actions based upon an informed process of supported self-reflection.

1.3. To ensure a holistic, self-reflective approach to Quality Improvement, that drives a desire for continuous improvement through all aspects of the organisation.

1.4. This Policy links to:

Learner Involvement Strategy

Learning, Teaching and Assessment Policy

Tutorial Policy

Feedback Policy

Single Equality Scheme

Staff Involvement Strategy

2. POLICY STATEMENT

2.1. The College will seek to focus its effort and resources to ensure a learner experience of the highest quality, consistent with the College’s Mission “to inspire all learners to recognise and achieve their full potential”. The guiding principle of quality improvement is that the College will invest its resources, informed by a robust process of self assessment and quality assurance, where these will have the most effective impact upon improving the learner experience. The Quality Strategy is underpinned by a continuous and evolving flow of quality assurance indicators and activities which inform a range of ‘set-piece’ and ‘reactive’ quality improvement initiatives. By triangulating the available data, and responding rapidly where necessary, the College will improve its performance to create an environment where learners can reach their full potential.

2.2. The ownership of and responsibility for College standards is shared by all staff - individually and collectively. All staff are responsible for contributing to and achieving student success and a high quality learner experience.

2.3. The ownership and responsibility for quality management and improvement actions rests with all managers within the College community. Managers will lead their teams to evaluate systematically the quality of work in their


areas and propose interventions to improve aspects of low quality and sustain high quality activities.

2.4. The Faculty Managers (Heads of Faculty and Assistant Heads of Faculty) and Curriculum Leaders are the lynchpins of quality assurance and improvement, supported by the central Quality Improvement and Performance team. Staff with particular areas of strength will support the sharing of good practice, the embedding of new initiatives and promote peer to peer learning as an opportunity to reflect and develop practice across curriculum areas.

2.5. In implementing the notion of “Our College Way” as a statement of performance across the College, a structure characterised by greater accountability and support for individual staff at all levels of the College, supported by the integration of the Quality Improvement and Performance Manager into the Faculty Management team, we will provide more responsive interventions to in-year quality indicators.

2.6. “Our College Way” will provide key performance indicators to underpin the delivery of all academic processes, providing clear accountability against which staff performance can be judged, training needs identified, and appropriate support provided in a timely manner.

2.7. The College will use quality management Standards and Benchmarks as a means of identifying the highest levels of performance and for setting itself aspirational targets.

2.8. The College’s Learner Involvement Strategy clearly articulates that the College seeks “to engage learners so they are empowered to shape service delivery to maximise success for all”. Learner involvement is complemented by the College’s Feedback Policy where the views of all stakeholders are sought, analysed and acted upon.

2.9. The College will implement Equal Opportunities strategies to reduce all achievement gaps and enhance levels of experience / satisfaction for all groups of learners and customers of the College.

3. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT THEMES

3.1. Self-Assessment and Quality Improvement Planning: the overarching principle is that the College will formulate its assessment of quality within the curriculum through set-piece milestones in the year, which triangulate course results with survey outcomes, learner voice activity, and feedback from the observation of teaching and learning. Self-Assessment will involve all academic staff in supporting this process through a series of activities, which enable them to identify clearly the effect of their performance upon that of the College as a whole.

3.2. Business Support areas ‘Our Year Ahead’: we will plan and undertake an annual cycle of review for self-assessment of service standards that have a direct or indirect impact on the learner experience. Data will be drawn from staff surveys and improvements will link to strategic and operational planning priorities together with local service level agreements.


3.3. Improving the quality of Teaching, Learning and Assessment: quality improvement in curriculum delivery will be supported by a developmental and ungraded approach to the observation of those delivering the curriculum, allied to an overarching set of quality assurance activities which assess the effectiveness of all elements of the Teaching, Learning and Assessment process (such as tutorials, feedback on marked work, and the embedding of diversity within the curriculum). Faculty Managers will work closely with the Assistant Principals and the Quality Improvement & Performance Manager to ensure that the identification of areas for development results in prompt and effective plans for remedial action through specific continuous professional development (CPD) interventions, devised to support staff to improve their levels of skill.

3.4. Curriculum Health Checks: provide a planned series of activities which provide a qualitative assessment of teaching, learning and assessment through a combination of lesson observations; reviews of learners’ work and learners’ views; and audits of tutorial activity, target setting and monitoring, in order to monitor progress towards Quality Improvement Plan targets and provide a responsive, targeted approach to intervening where in-year performance is of concern.

3.5. Learner Voice and Student surveys: feedback from learners is central to our improvement as set out in the College’s Learner Involvement Strategy.

3.6. Data analysis: monthly reports on retention, attendance, and performance indicators, including relevant Equality and Diversity data and the analysis of targets set for students and data captured on the learner tracker. Other reports include value-added data trends, success rate and destination data. The College will use additional key indicators, such as feedback from internal Curriculum Health Checks, Supported Internal Quality Reviews (SIQR), external peer review activities, and external verification.

3.7. Continuous Professional Development – all staff: the appraisal process feeds into the College’s training needs analysis (TNA), which in turn informs the College’s annual training schedule. In order to ensure that it remains responsive to changing priorities identified through the year, the TNA is supplemented with data from Curriculum Health Check activity, academic staff post-TALO action plans, and monthly review meetings between Assistant Principals, the Quality Improvement and Performance Manager and Faculty Managers.

3.8. ILT and Innovation: the ILT team has actively promoted new technologies including mobile technologies, QR (quick response) codes, and additional resources using the College’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). In order to promote best practice and stimulate the development of E-Learning, the College will implement Bronze, Silver and Gold VLE standards, devised to celebrate the achievements of staff.

3.9. Kite Marks - The College will pursue Kite Marks standards where it is in its interests to do so, but will always match its own provision against published best practice.

3.10. Continuous Review - The College will adopt a stance of honest self-reflection of its quality procedures in order to celebrate and seek further


improvement in those aspects that work effectively and supersede those that do not.

4. ENQUIRIES

4.1. Any enquiries about this strategy or suggestions on how it can be improved should be addressed to the Quality Improvement & Performance Manager.


Appendix A - Sparsholt College Quality Cycle – Indicative Programme of

Activity

Job Roles & Terms

VP Vice Principal

APTLA Assistant Principal – Teaching, Learning & Assessment

APCS Assistant Principal – Commercial Services

QIPM Quality Improvement & Performance Manager

HoF Head of Faculty

AHoF Assistant Head of Faculty

SSM Student Support Manager

AM Admissions Manager

Mktg Marketing Consultant

AoL Area of Learning

Part A: Self-Assessment Timeline

Appraisals

Timescale: Annual - July or September (depending upon subjects taught) 1. Review of results @ subject/unit level 2. Progress with post-TALO actions

Curriculum Self-Assessment

Timescale: July or late-August (depending upon subject) 1. Data Table 2. Analysis of curriculum activity

a. Analysis of a. learner success b. learner withdrawal c. learner destinations/progression

b. Learner/Parent Surveys & Voice 3. Specific impact of Teaching, Learning & Assessment

a. Good practice to be shared b. Improvements

4. Specific Curriculum Improvement Plan 5. CPD Plans


AoL Self-Assessment Report

Timescale: late August to end September

a) Data Table i) Headline analysis of LR/ER according as per Ofsted data table ii) Retention/Achievement/Success rates by characteristics iii) Attendance at Headline level by relevant characteristics iv) Headlines for report

b) Teaching, Learning & Assessment a. Specific paragraphs on each CIF aspect b. Reference to analysis of Teaching & Learning Observations c. Inclusion of relevant quantitative and qualitative data (Learner voice,

Surveys, additional observation activity) d. 2000 words maximum

c) Leadership & Management i) Summary analysis in answer to specific questions

d) Data Analysis at Course Level as appendix e) Quality Improvement Plan

Leadership & Management Self-Assessment Report

Timescale: End-September to mid-October 1. Outcomes

a. Analysis of College headline data by appropriate characteristics b. Grading according to CIF criteria

2. Teaching, Learning & Assessment a. Reference to summative analysis of Teaching & Learning Observations b. Inclusion of relevant quantitative and qualitative data from Areas of

Learning 3. Leadership & Management

a. Summation of Area of Learning analysis used at October Manager's meeting --> Analysis at College level

4. Quality Improvement Plan a. Teaching, Learning & Assessment b. Leadership & Management


Part B: Quality Improvement Monitoring Cycle

Teaching & Instructing Staff

1. Annual appraisal - July or September (depending upon subjects taught) i. Review of results @ subject/unit level ii. Progress with post-TALO actions

2. Monthly review by HoF/AHoF i. Learner Attendance at units taught ii. Progress with assessment, grades for marked work iii. Follow Up of post-TALO Action Plan and CPD attendance

Monthly Quality Update (HoF/AHoF/QIPM)

a) Data Table Area of Learning Level Data

a) Retention b) Attendance c) Learner/Parent voice when available

b) Specific Courses at Risk a) Retention b) Attendance c) Learner/Parent voice when available

c) Specific Learners at Risk d) Follow Up of post-TALO and/or QI actions

Interventions for specific staff/groups e) Agreed Actions and programme for forthcoming QI/CPD


Monthly Operational Curriculum Management Meetings

Week

Attendees Meeting Focus Venue

Notes

1 HoF + AHoF + Sparsholt Campus Business Support Staff

Monthly Planning Meeting Venue: Sparsholt

Focus upon operational planning of Sparsholt campus activity, e.g. consultation events, Flying Start activity

2 HoF/AHoF/QIPM + SSM Retention & Attendance Review VP + APCS (to include ER and HE) Venue: variable

Monthly review of performance metrics (see below), to inform strategic action, quality intervention. Follow up reporting to SLT and through Monthly Heath Check for governors

3 HoF + AHoF + Andover Campus Business Support Staff

Monthly Planning Meeting Venue: Andover

Focus upon operational planning of Sparsholt campus activity, e.g. consultation events, Flying Start activity

4 HoF/AHoF/QIPM + AM/Mktg Learner Journey Review Venue: variable

5 Where available

HoF/AHoF/QIPM Curriculum Planning Venue: variable

Monthly Curriculum Retention & Attendance Review

1. Area of Learning Level Data a) Retention b) Attendance c) Learner/Parent voice when available

2) Specific Courses at Risk a) Retention b) Attendance

c) Learner/Parent voice when available 3) Actions at HoF/QIPM or AP/QIPM level


Strategic Curriculum Monitoring

Monthly Operational Curriculum Group (VP, APs, QIPM, SSM + Principal)

1. Monthly review of Headline Retention & Attendance data

Summative data to SLT for Monthly Health Check

2. Review of Enhanced Scrutiny, Curriculum Support & Raising the Game QA

reviews

3. Review of QI activity

4. Agreement of recommendations for strategic cross-college activity

Strategic Leadership Team

1. Monthly review of Summative data included within Monthly Health Check

2. Receipt of additional monthly Area of Learning data and information to inform

strategic decisions (to be presented as specific papers where these are

necessary)

3. Termly receipt and critical review of papers for Quality & Standards Committee


Part C: Quality Assurance Cycle

Teaching & Learning Observations

Timescale: September – October

Specific additional observations based upon identified risk

1. New staff

2. Staff new to teaching specific courses, subjects, units

3. Staff identified through previous TALO activity

Curriculum Health Check

Timescale: September to February depending upon risk identification through self- assessment. Subject to revision based upon outcomes of monthly Curriculum Retention & Attendance review

a) Led by Heads of Faculty with AHoF/CL as available i) Lead + 2 others from alternate campus ii) Including EQR representative where available

b) Focus upon i) Improvements since previous SAR ii) Observation of Teaching, Learning & Assessment iii) Review of Learners' Work

c) Outcomes i) Grading of TLA at Area of Learning level ii) Progress/Assessment Report, related to CIF outcomes iii) Confidence/Ltd Confidence in progress against QIP iv) Specific further Action Plan

Other Quality Improvement Monitoring focus for 2014-2015

1. Review of Schemes of Work

a. Embedding of diversity b. Use of How2 activity

2. Review of Assessment Planning in BTEC programmes

3. Planning for delivery of 2-year A-Level programmes

4. Standardisation of assessment planning

5. Standardisation of grading, assessment and internal verification

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