Ofsted Outstanding 2008-2009
Portsmouth City Council’s Adult and Family Learning (AFL) Service has recently received one of the most impressive Ofsted reports awarded to any Adult Community Learning provider in the country.
Commenting on the glowing report from Ofsted, Steve Glennon, Acting Head of Lifelong Learning at Portsmouth City Council, observes: “We have a very effective leadership team combined with dedicated staff that possess a lot of experience and knowledge of our community. Our colleagues are interested in what they are doing, they are open to new ideas and our ‘partnership working’ is highly successful.
Portsmouth operates a two-pronged approach to its ACL, with family learning being delivered directly by the service and the majority of its community learning sub-contracted to selected providers. According to Steve, the standard set by the Adult and Family Learning Team, combined with the support it provides to a dedicated and regular group of community learning providers, is one of the keys to the success that Portsmouth Adult and Family Learning has achieved.
Looking to the future, the Service is not sitting on its laurels. “Despite the Grade 1, there are things to improve. Maintaining this high level is probably more difficult than achieving it in the first place.”
Click here to read the Portsmouth City Council AFL Ofsted Report (March_2009)
