The Adult & Community Learning Service

Year End Report 2011 – 2012

About the Adult and Community Learning Service (ACLS)

ACLS is part of Nottinghamshire County Council, sitting within Libraries, Archives, Information and Learning. We are a small central team, who receive funding from the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), to deliver an annually agreed programme of adult learning opportunities to Nottinghamshire residents (not including the City of Nottingham).

We are a contracted out service which means that we do not employ our own tutors; we work with a wide range of partners to deliver the learning opportunities and priorities that we set.We were inspected by Ofsted in November 2012 where we achieved an overall grade 2 i.e. good.

Mission Statement

“To provide our learners with an outstanding learning experience that enables them to make positive changes to their lives.”

Targets & Outcomes

In 2011/12 our target was to engage 7500 learners over the year. This was exceeded by a very healthy 15%, with 8795 learners recruited onto ACLS courses.

During this period, 1704 courses were run at over 348 local venues across the County, delivered through 48 different providers.

Learner Numbers Per Funding Stream2011/2012

Learner Numbers

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

PCDL Target6300

PCDL Actual7180

FLLN Target900

FLLN Actual1172

WFL Target750

WFL Actual925

•Personal & Community Development Learning (PCDL) is learning for personal development, cultural enrichment, intellectual or creative stimulation and enjoyment for adults aged 19 and above.

•Family Language, Literacy & Numeracy (FLLN) helps improve the literacy, language and numeracy skills of mothers, fathers and carers; enabling them to help their children’s learning.

•Wider Family Learning (WFL) helps mothers, fathers and carers to be more active in the support of their children’s learning and development.

•Families Fit for Life (Big Lottery Funded) is a programme of fun, intergenerational activities that promote healthier lifestyles for families living within the most disadvantaged areas of Nottinghamshire.

Types of Learning

Some of the things our learners have said:

“This course really helped me; after doing the course I felt more confident in helping my child with his school work”.

“ I am so grateful for the community learning

courses giving me the start I needed to change

direction”

“My confidence has grown and I have grown as a person”

“Come along and attend the courses, everyoneis welcoming and happy to help you”

“Its really helped having someone who shows faith in you. Attending the courses has rebuilt my self confidence”

Celebrating Learning

Each year, ACLS celebrate the achievements of our learners from across the County. For example, during Adult Learner’s Week in May we held events in Worksop, Mansfield and Beeston libraries, where nominated learners received a certificate of achievement.

We also held a number of African Drumming and African Jewellery Workshops to celebrate Black History Month in October.

Types of Venues UsedACLS make use of a wide range of community venues, where people feel safe and comfortable attending courses. This pie chart shows a collation of the type of venue used over the past 3 years, with schools being the venue used most.

Venue TypesCentre for the Disabled

College

College (Community)

Community Centre

Home/Centre for theElderlyLibrary

Other

School

Sports Centre

SureStart Children'sCentreVillage Hall

Venue Types Centre for the Disabled

College

College (Community)

Community Centre

Home/Centre for the Elderly

Library

Other

School

Sports Centre

SureStart Children's Centre

Village Hall

Thanks

• Congratulations are due to all parties involved in delivering another successful learning programme during 2011-2012.

• The support and co operation of all partners ensured that learners accessed a wide range of high quality opportunities that allowed them to grow in confidence and learn new skills.

• ACLS looks forward to building on this success in the 2012/13 year.