4 Sep 2024
As we make our final preparations to welcome our new students for the 2024/25 Academic Year, we are thrilled to share some fantastic news with you. Following our recent Ofsted inspection in June, CLIP has proudly retained its grade two - "GOOD" rating.
Add this to an already busy year where we achieved our reaccreditation of the Matrix Standard in May, had a better than sector average GCSE results, have seen our retention and achievement rates increase across all our education programmes, and grown our provision and services we offer – it’s showing how we impact communities and make a real difference in people's lives.
CLIP, operating in Mablethorpe, Market Rasen, and Gainsborough, and in Lincoln through their partners Abbey Access Training, retained their ‘GOOD’ rating following a short inspection carried out across all sites in June. They commended CLIP saying that its learners make noteworthy progress, often from very low starting points.
CLIP offers a range of community education and support, including vocational learning, employability courses and wellbeing support for all ages, to help people reach their destinations .
Ofsted is the main regulator for education who’s role is to thoroughly inspect service providers of education, ensuring quality services and support are delivered throughout. CLIP was last inspected in 2017. The report highlighted the effectiveness of CLIP's teaching approach, stating: “Teachers are highly skilled in the way that they work with learners who have previously had negative experiences of education. They give them time to settle at the start of classes, then work with them individually to effectively facilitate learning.”
In addition to praising the teaching methods, the report acknowledged the high expectations CLIP team members have for their learners. And that this is having a positive impact on the quality of their teaching and achievement of their learners. Ofsted added that learners feel safe and the CLIP team create a highly supportive environment.
Greg Bacon, CEO of Acis Group expressed how pleased he was with the report’s findings: "I am incredibly proud of the CLIP team for achieving this 'GOOD' rating from Ofsted. CLIP, alongside Riverside, provides vital services to the Lincolnshire community as part of our Group services. This result demonstrates our commitment to be there to support people when they need us by providing quality education services.”
Liz Coldicott, CLIP Lead Tutor for Mablethorpe has seen Ofsted inspections a few times in her career, “The inspection did feel supportive and it is great to see they recognised the high standards of teaching and learner engagement.”
Claire Woodward, Head of Education and Skills praised her team: “We received such positive feedback from the inspectors on what we do, how we do it and the impact – and Ofsted recognised that the provision we offer is meeting the needs of local people. Add this to the feedback we received through achieving the reaccreditation of our Matrix standard in May, and the GCSE results last week being higher than industry average, it makes me incredibly proud to lead such an amazing team that makes such a difference in communities”.
This achievement is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our education and skills team, alongside our partners Abbey Access Training who deliver on our behalf in Lincoln, who have successfully created a welcoming, supportive, and enriching environment for all our learners. They additionally praised our approach to safeguarding and how our we work with others to ensure we offer a truly personalised and supportive approach.
The feedback received cannot be summed up in the one word alone and that’s why we welcome the recent announcement to remove the one-word judgements. But the most important feedback received is from that of our learners and their families. And we received this positively in abundance.
You can find out more about CLIP, and the courses they have available www.cliplearning.com You can also find the in-depth report on the website too and read more about the impact CLIP makes within its communities.