Stoneacre Academy Celebrates Ofsted Success

We are delighted to announce that at the latest Ofsted monitoring, Stoneacre Academy achieved the highest grade possible showing significant progress.

Despite a challenging year due to Covid, the team has worked non-stop to continue to provide a first-class training environment. So it is fair to say they are over the moon with the results.

Below will look at some of the key areas mentioned in the report below. However, should you wish, you can read the full Ofsted report here.

Praise for Stoneacre Academy leaders

The Ofsted inspector found leaders of the Stoneacre Academy has a “clear and ambitious strategy for their curriculum to create highly skilled and industry-leading technicians and administrative staff for the automotive sector”.

It went on to say that “Academy Managers and tutors have developed a high-quality apprenticeship curriculum”.

So, if you plan to join an apprenticeship in our company, you will benefit from the same high-quality training.

Our Academy prides itself on ensuring learners complete their study with the right employability skills to succeed. One of the key ways Ofsted said we achieve this is “Leaders and managers ensure that apprentices receive effective careers information, advice and guidance at the beginning of their apprenticeship and ongoing careers guidance to prepare them for their next steps”.

The Academy pride themselves in having “a high-quality framework for quality assurance policies clearly defines processes to ensure leaders and tutors understand the intended delivery and practices expected of them”.

Excellent engagement

Our Academy team show continuous engagement with parents, students and managers and celebrate success with all their apprentices.

At the core of this engagement is the Academy career events. It gives potential candidates and their families a unique opportunity to see what we offer and how the apprenticeship works. Welcoming family members alongside potential candidates ensures everyone sees the scope of the apprenticeship. So the potential to lead to a rewarding career within the motor industry is seen by all from the offset.

We also celebrate the achievements of all who have joined our apprenticeship scheme through our Graduation events. The event is a fantastic chance for parents and carers to see the progress students have made. Often key management figures attend the event to showing Stoneacre’s commitment to fostering talent.

Knowledgeable teachers

The report also highlights how managers ensure their tutors benefit from high-quality professional development. Head of the Academy, Claire Perkins, ensures the continuous professional development of her tutors. So they have the class-leading industry expertise to ensure the apprentices receive the right employability skills to succeed. However, Claire also made note of her trainer’s ability to “offer support outside their area of expertise.”

Claire said of the approach to learning, “Our apprentices get a well-rounded learning experience that goes above and beyond the realms of the classroom. Our trainers are always on hand to offer the support needed for our trainees to fulfil their potential.”

As a result, the curriculum “extends beyond academic, technical, or vocational. It provides for learners’ broader development and employability skills to enable them to develop for their next stage of education/employment and discover their interests and talents.”

Stoneacre Academy also maintains an excellent review process, with “structured formatting which enables learners to understand how to improve, as a result of useful feedback from managers, mentors, tutors, and self-evaluation.”

Careers for life

The Stoneacre Academy has always aimed to provide credible opportunities for growth through the Careers for Life ethos. Ofsted recognises our commitment to offering a career path, not just an apprenticeship. The Academy recognises as one of their strengths, superb achievement in a high level of employed destinations or those ready for the next stage of their education.

As an Academy, we have demonstrated through Matrix reports and assessments over the last four years success stories of learner development by offering substantial advice and guidance, as well as improvement in behaviours and attitudes.

Committed to protecting our learners

The Academy prioritises the safeguarding of its apprentices and has taken extra measures throughout the pandemic. Ofsted stated, “Academy Managers have changed apprentices ‘progress reviews to incorporate safeguarding in more depth so that apprentices have a better understanding of the risks that they face including online radicalisation”.

Safeguarding learners is a very high priority of the Academy. It is why we have recruited additional personnel to support the online training to ensure we can maintain high standards. It was highlighted in the report, “Staff identified the apprentices who they thought struggled with isolation and anxiety due to the pandemic and provided them with extra contact and support. Apprentices have been provided with well-being packs and support information to keep well during the pandemic.”

The next steps for our Academy

Our Stoneacre Academy team continually strive to improve the apprenticeship program to ensure it is the best it can be. Moving forward, we will look to improve on the following key areas:

• Build more opportunities under Careers for life
• Roll out Electric Vehicle Training
• Expand the digital training within the business
• Build a new induction training platform for all new employees