Bemix

Overview

The report describes bemix as a specialist college where leaders have created a “positive culture” and an “ambitious” curriculum for learners with autism and learning difficulties. Inspectors found that the provider delivers high-quality education, resulting in “positive employment outcomes” and strong learner independence, marking significant improvement from the previous inspection.

Strengths

• Staff consistently embody the ethos of “be seen, be heard and belong”, helping learners develop “positive attitudes to their learning and work”.
• Leaders work “highly effectively with partners” to plan a “highly individualised curriculum” that meets each learner’s specific needs.
• Teachers use assessment well to identify progress, enabling learners to “rapidly gain new knowledge, skills and behaviours” and apply them competently in workplaces.
• Employers value the “positive attitudes that learners consistently demonstrate”, such as interacting politely and with humour in work placements.
• Support is carefully reduced over time to enable learners to become “more independent” as they build confidence and competence.

Areas to improve

• Leaders and managers should improve their knowledge to fully understand how teachers and work coaches enable learners to develop new skills.
• Leaders must ensure all employers are sufficiently knowledgeable about the risks of radicalisation and extremism to help learners stay safe.
• Feedback provided to learners should consistently identify the “incremental steps” needed to further improve the quality of their work.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with designated leads maintaining strong relationships with external agencies and ensuring learners are safe in both learning and workplace settings.