Page 14 - ELG1601 Mar Issue 434

ELcentres of excellence
Page 14 March 2016

inspection and what Know the criteria and be prepared

hen was your last
Wwas your role in rela-
tion to it?
We were last inspected for Dawn Leggott, former principal lecturer at Leeds Beckett University and independent
three and a half days in Octo-
ber. As project leader, I was education consultant, talks to Melanie Butler about her university’s recent inspection
responsible for preparing all the
documentation and staff for the
inspection and ensuring that all courses and the ELT teachers are helps the inspectors do the job of tor prior to the visit to help with the
the relevant policies and proce- not legally required to be DBS assessing whether the criteria are planning for the visit. For example,
dures were in place, known to all checked, but this is a require- met and enables them to focus we recommended local accom-
staff and being implemented. ment of the scheme. more on the extent to which modation and restaurants. Most
When did you start prepar- What in your experience are requirements are exceeded and inspection documentation can now
ing for the inspection? the key elements of successful provision might be a strength. be sent to inspectors electronically.
A whole year beforehand. A col- preparation for the inspection? The documentation is, how- The reporting inspector will guide
league from our faculty’s quality First and foremost, know the ever, just a tool to facilitate this. you through this process.
team and I attended a very useful criteria, and don’t assume they The inspection is not merely an What advice would you give
pre-inspection briefing at the Brit- are the same as the last time you inspection of documentation – it to anyone starting to prepare
ish Council offices in Manchester were inspected. Identify the ones is important to make sure that for (re)accreditation now?
in October 2014. Most people which are currently not met and all the policies and procedures Plan well in advance, involve
seem to attend a pre-inspection focus first of all on those which are known to all relevant staff all relevant staff right from the
briefing a month or two before the start, identify a project leader
inspection, but we certainly found Involve everyone set to be affected whose qualities include attention
it made a big difference to have by the inspection early on in to detail and who knows your
attended so far in advance. institution well at both a strategic
Why was that? the preparation process and operational level, and finally
At that briefing we found out try to enjoy the inspection itself,
more about the newly introduced will take the longest time to and actually being implemented. as this will create a positive rather
criteria relating to care of under- implement. The self-evaluation Know your desired outcome. than a tense atmosphere.
18s. In the university most of templates on the British Coun- How many strengths are you aim- The inspectors are there to do
our students are adults, but we cil Accreditation Unit’s website ing to achieve and which ones? a job and they have a very busy
do have 17-year-olds on some of proved helpful at this stage. How did you prepare for the schedule, but they are human
our courses, so this new section Involve everyone set to be actual inspection visit itself? and approachable. It is well
of the criteria applied to us. affected by the inspection early The main thing is to set up a worth putting in the effort. Brit-
That became my initial focus, as on in the preparation process. In suitable base room which is con- ish Council accreditation is an
I needed to liaise with colleagues the case of our university, this veniently located and comfortable, internationally well-respected
at all levels of the university to included not just our ELT teach- with some stationery, refreshments quality mark which will benefit
ensure that our safeguarding pol- ers and course administrators, and easy access to relevant elec- your organisation regarding both
icy and procedures were updated but also colleagues from the uni- tronic systems, such as the virtual marketing and your international
and that relevant staff were versity’s central HR, marketing, learning environment. We also set students’ day-to-day experience Courtesy Dawn Leggott
informed and trained in them. security, estates, international up a separate meeting room to give within your centre. n
The scheme’s requirements student welfare, accommodation the inspectors greater flexibility in
are stricter than current UK and library services, as well as their scheduling. Dawn Leggott can
legislation. For example, our our international office. It is also important to liaise be contacted on RIGHT ATTITUDE Dawn Leggot says school leaders should try to
17-year-olds are taught on adult Well-prepared documentation closely with the reporting inspec- dawn@dawnleggott.co.uk enjoy the inspection itself as this will create a positive atmosphere

Not all publicity is good

has
multiple personalities Melanie Butler looks at the reasons behind the ‘needs for improvement’

– on Facebook it

becomes EL Gossip lthough the twice-yearly courses’ in fact have 13.75 hours at the time of the inspection had improvement in teaching, even
a permanent contract.’
though this is the second most
of tuition – vital information when
EL Gazette Centres of
AExcellence feature is international students must have The inspectors’ real venom, common area of concern in
designed to celebrate schools fifteen contact hours to get a visa. however, is reserved for claims schools currently under review.
awarded strengths by the British Then we have the class size about magical methods, often Do all the other schools really
Like us on Council inspectors, it is impor- problem. In one case the school made by high-scoring interna- have satisfactory teaching? Read-
tant to remember that inspectors
ing the reports suggest otherwise.
did not even mention class size
tional chains. Inspectors question
www.facebook.com/ also report ‘needs for improve- in its publicity, but sneaked it claims such as: ‘You will perfect ‘Non-native-speaker models were
inaccurate, but still comprehensi-
into the terms and conditions
ment’. Our analysis reveals that
the four skills of everyday Eng-
Englishlanguagegossip 20 per cent of centres have been with the caveat: ‘Although we lish;’ ‘We believe in offering the ble;’ ‘Most teachers provided a
told to improve one or more areas will always try to respect the best possible language learning reasonable model of spoken and
of their provision, while twenty- stated maximum class size, we experience in the UK;’ or ‘Our written English;’ ‘Students com-
one schools were judged to have reserve the right to exceed it.’ students develop their English mented negatively about having
at least one need for improve- Then there are extra costs language skills much faster than non-native speaker teachers.’
ment with no strengths at all. on top of the fees. The inspec- those at more traditional schools.’ The Gazette has long cam-
Inaccurate publicity is by tors pay particular attention to If you claim that your courses paigned for the rights of
far the biggest concern, with charges for leisure programmes ‘yield strong results by building non-native-speaker teachers, but
14 per cent of all centres being and materials, but do not mention the learner’s confidence in express- setting a minimum level of lan-
marked down for this. Common the Gazette’s biggest bugbear: ing themselves fluently in English guage is necessary and perfectly
problems include misuse of the non-returnable registration fees. with elegance and accuracy’, then legal under EU law. EU nurses
Can you British Council marque, mis- Not only do you have to search the inspectors will investigate it: and doctors must obtain 7.0 at
‘None of the students seen dur-
leading photographs, and simply
every corner of a website to find
Ielts in all four skill to work in
using bad English. Among the it, but it can also be very high – ing the inspection was expressing the UK. The Bar Council, which
prove it? howlers appearing on brochures £150 is not uncommon – adding themselves fluently in English with regulates lawyers, now demands
proof of 7.5 at Ielts from all
and websites that we culled from
elegance and accuracy.’
a significant amount to the cost
the BC reports were: ‘in support-
Compared to publicity, other
ive environment’, ‘shares the of a short course. criteria are less likely to need trainee barrister, regardless of
Inspectors are also incensed by
nationality. Malta tests all its lan-
Oxford’s charm’ and ‘We will be the hyperbole schools use when improvement. The second-high- guage teachers, native speaker or
Then we’ll able to give you as many infor- describing teaching staff. The est number of such needs was in not, so why can’t the UK?
the category of ‘welfare of under-
inspectors dismiss claims that
Inspectors seem much too for-
mation as you like.’
giving of the language level and
18s’, which appears in only
The inspectors also frequently
teachers are ‘English language
print it. criticise the level of English used. experts’, ‘postgraduate-trained ten cases. Just under half of the poor teaching practice of teach-
This can not only baffle students
twenty centres where accredita-
ers. Of one school they wrote:
teaching staff’ or simply ‘the
‘The teaching observed just met
but also disadvantage them.
tion is currently under review by
best’. Schools claim to have
‘Terms and conditions are impen- ‘Highly experienced and quali- the British Council have failed to the requirements of the Scheme
etrable in their present form and fied native-speaking teachers’, meet the standard in the care of … Knowledge of the linguistic
certainly not suitable for low level which inspectors found to be under-18s. systems of English was patchy,
students,’ is a typical comment. untrue, not to mention ungram- In most of the other criteria only but generally adequate. There
Get your story heard The inspectors share with matical. A school which claims, a handful of centres are deemed were significant weaknesses
Gazette researchers an immense ‘All our permanent teachers hold to have a need for improvement: in classroom management but
frustration with the difficulties Diploma-level teaching qualifi- five need to improve ‘course teachers displayed an adequate
EL Gazette of finding basic information on cations’ receives the criticism: design’, three ‘academic staff range of appropriate teaching
www.elgazette.com websites. The number of contact ‘This is technically accurate but profile’, and two ‘accommoda- techniques.’
hours is constantly confused with potentially misleading. Only one tion’. Surprisingly we could not Doesn’t that sound like there’s
the number of hours: ‘15-hour of the nine teachers at the school find one school deemed to need a need for improvement? n