Learning service gets a good Ofsted report

ALEARNING service run by Halton Borough Council has been deemed ‘good’ by an education watchdog.

Ofsted conducted a short inspection of the local authority’s Community Learning And Skills Service in the middle of March.

A letter from inspector Shahram Safav addressed to the council’s divisional manager for employment, learning and skills Siobhan Saunders published on the Ofsted website said the service is ‘good’ and that safe- guarding is ‘effective’.

It said that Ms Saunders and her team have continued to place a ‘high priority’ on recruiting learners who have high levels of disadvantage, face ‘significant barriers’ to participating in education and training and ‘challenges’ in getting a job.

The letter said: “You have continued to develop the provision well to improve the life chances of your learners and you respond effectively to the community needs in Halton.

“Your partnership working with employers is exemplary.

“The vast majority of your learners make good progress on their courses and achieve well.

“However, on a few courses such as introductory courses in English and mathematics and early years and playwork, too many learners leave early.”

The Ofsted document said courses are ‘aligned’ to support Halton residents’ ‘aspirations’ to enhance their social, economic and personal prospects.

New introductory courses in construction, customer services and traffic management has led to ‘many’ learners gaining jobs on the Mersey Gateway Project.

Though tutors’ assessment of learners’ achievements on courses that do not have formal qualifications is ‘effective and accurate’ on most courses, the letter said that managers check the quality of assessments ‘too late to make timely improvements’.

It said: “Consequently, learners on these courses are not aware of their progress during the course and are unclear about what they need to do next to improve their learning.”

The letter said that in 201516, ‘too many’ learners on introductory English and mathematics left early due to being unaware of course content or what they needed to do to achieve the qualification.

It added ‘too many’ learners do not attend regularly or arrive to lessons on time.

Cllr Eddie Jones, Halton Borough Council’s executive board member for economic develop- ment, said: “We are delighted by the outcome of this inspection.

“To be ranked as good is a major achievement, particularly as the inspection process was tougher than when we were last inspected.

“This result is down to the hard work of our staff in the adult learning service and reinforces the value of the council’s long-standing commitment to delivering a successful Employment, Learning And Skills service to Halton’s residents.

“An Ofsted inspection is a measure of how we are performing, but we can’t be complacent and we will use the recommendations outlined in the report to improve our service