Peterborough college for young adults with disabilities told it ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted

A Peterborough college for young adults with disabilities has been told it requires improvement in its most recent Ofsted inspection.

Calman Colaiste College, in Wisbech Road, Thorney, is an independent specialist college which provides further education for young adults with autism spectrum disorder, learning difficulties and disabilities, complex needs and associated challenging behaviour.

It is part of the Kisimul Group – a provider of schools, colleges, care homes and supported living services.

In Ofsted’s report, published on March 6 this year, it concluded that Calman Colaiste College required improvement in areas including the quality of education it delivers, its leadership and management, and the personal development of the 21 students at the college.

The report raised concerns over the standard of teaching and strength of the curriculum, which was “not fully coherent or sufficiently ambitious”.

It stated that the “planning and quality of teaching varies too much”, and “not everything taught by teachers is purposeful or contributes to students’ preparation for adulthood”.

Ofsted said leaders and managers at the college “have not ensured that the current staff training programme focuses enough on improving the quality of teaching and assessment practice”.

Although students “benefit from a range of frequent extra-curricular activities”, which “increase their interests and curiosity”, they do not receive “sufficient exposure to these real-world experiences”.

However, students are said to “enjoy attending the college”, working “productively within a safe, inclusive environment”.

Students make “notable gains in their confidence and resilience”, “improving their capacity to communicate”. The importance of this was highlighted in the report, as many of the students at the college are non-verbal or have communication and language difficulties.

Ofsted said it also means students are “better able to express their wishes”, “increase their ability to make their own life choices”.

The Peterborough Telegraph approached Calman Colaiste College for comment but received no reply.