Bosses at 'inadequate' Stafford College vow to be 'good' by 2018

That is the pledge from new bosses at Stafford College after Ofsted branded the site as 'inadequate' - the lowest grade possible.

Despite the damning report published by the education watchdog following their four-day inspection in February, leaders at the college said it did not come as a surprise.

Deputy principal Peter Nangle told the Express & Star that the grade was mainly a reflection on failings which took place in the 2014/15 year which he claimed were due to the previous management.

He said: "This is what we expected, there were no surprises in the report for me personally.

"But it has given us a good steer in terms of going forward.

"The main issues in 2014 quite frankly lay the blame where it deserves to be, which was with the previous regime.

• October 2014: Stafford College’s last full Ofsted inspection which concluded the establishment ‘required improvement’ overall.

• June 2015: Staff hold protests outside college entrance following five votes of no confidence in former Principal Beverley Smith.

• October 2015: Beverley Smith resigns as principal. New interim principal Ian Clinton is appointed and Mark Winnington becomes chair of Governors.

• January 2016: In exclusive interview with Express & Star: Mr Clinton and Mr Winnington outline improvements that have been made in the early months of their joint tenure. They vowed that results at the college would improve by 10 per cent this year.

• February 2016: Ofsted inspectors conduct a four-day inspection at college.

• March 2016: The watchdog publishes its report branding Stafford College ‘inadequate’.

"We are very, very clear we need to sharpen up on some of things we have been doing in the two to three months we have been here. But we know exactly where we are going."

Mr Nangle even declared the report was more positive than expected after a 'self-assessment' concluded the college was inadequate in all eight areas including leadership and results.

While Ofsted concluded three areas were indeed at the lowest level - leadership, apprenticeships and provision for high needs learners - inspectors found the other five categories were slightly better and merely 'required improvement'.

Those were the quality of teaching, personal development, outcomes for learners (results), programmes for 16 to 19 year olds, and programmes for adult learners.

The overall verdict means inspectors will be back at the college within a month to check on initial progress while the next full inspection is likely to take place at the end of the of next year.

Mr Nangle said the college was making changes in three key ways. The first is to recognise that staff were the most 'important asset' introducing a new 'open door' policy. More frequent meetings between bosses and teachers have taken place in the last few months as a result.

The second significant improvement was to 'drill down' into each individual students performance by drawing up much more accurate and reliable pupil data than has been previously available.

The third area is to simply be more 'transparent' with partnering organisations so no one is under the impression that the college is doing any better or worse than it is.

Mr Nangle said: "We are happy we are going in the right direction.

"Staff are absolutely and fully aware of what our position is, from the legacy of 2014/2015.

"There was no surprise from the staff at the report and there has already been an uplift in their morale from the things we have already started to do.

"We carried out a self-assessment and Ofsted thought five of the eight areas were 'required improvement' rather than 'inadequate' across the board as we concluded. But I would never celebrate moving from 'inadequate' to 'requires improvement.

"I would only celebrate us moving to a grade II which would mean we are a 'good' college.

"The grade we have got now reflects what happened in 2014/2015 and it would have been too much of a risk for Ofsted to say we were anything other than 'inadequate' overall.

"We are in 2015/2016 now and we expect the next full inspection will be in around 15 months.

"By that time it is a realistic target that we will be a Good college."

He added: "The key message for us is that 2014 is history and we are now getting on with moving forward.

While a lot of the blame has been put at the feet of previous principal Beverley Smith, who resigned in October, Ofsted also said pointed the finger at the Governing body stating they did 'not hold the leadership to account'.

The watchdog also made the observation that the ruling board had 'changed little' itself since the last inspection in 2014.

The college, who have already appointed a new chair and vice chair of governors, has vowed to address the issue confirming that in the next few weeks three new members would be appointed to the board to fill vacancies.