[L]akes College is celebrating the New Year with a glowing report from Ofsted, giving good ratings in all categories, including apprenticeships, following on from the excellent results achieved by its learners in 2016-17.
The result recognises the focus on quality improvement over the last two years, which has seen performance soar, with many instances of above national average performance, and the award of the kitemark ISO9001 for apprenticeship quality standards.
The inspection framework against which the college was assessed, gives a grade for overall effectiveness, but also focuses on what impact colleges have on learners, how well local and national skills needs are being met, in addition to the results achieved by learners. It also takes into consideration how successful our learners are in moving into employment or continuing their education.
In addition to recognising the improvements to teaching and learning, the report acknowledges the strength of the relationships between employers and staff in the effective training and progress of apprentices, who were seen to make a very good and highly valued contribution to their employers’ businesses.
Chair of the Governing Body, Mark Stanger recognised the effort of everyone since the last inspection: “Governors are very pleased with the outcome of the report, which reflects the hard work and dedication of our students and staff. This result places the College in a very strong position to meet the skills’ challenges of this area over the next decade and beyond.
“I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the wider college community, our stakeholder and employers, whose support of the College and our students is recognised in the report.”
During their visit inspectors recognised the culture of high expectations in the College, which had led to the many improvements , and which was reflected in the attitude of learners, who were seen to take pride in their studies and to develop the practical skills and knowledge they need to equip them for the world of work.
Chris Nattress, Principal at Lakes College said: “I’m very proud of everyone here at Lakes and what they have achieved. The report gives credit to many examples of good practice and the College will continue to evolve and develop and pursue best practice in every area of its activities.
“This confirms that, in Lakes College, West Cumbria has a thriving, high quality technical college on its doorstep, with first class staff, facilities and resources available to help everyone reach their potential.”
