Raising Standards in Adult Community Education

Inspire Learning are contributing to raising standards in adult community education and have participated in a review commissioned by the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL) which highlights the impact of successful adult community education (ACE) services.

One of five contributors to the review, Inspire Learning provided in depth interviews, data and case studies, demonstrating the contribution that adult community education makes to the people of Nottinghamshire and the commitment to providing the best possible services for all of its learners.

Inspire’s partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council’s Troubled Families team was acknowledged and highlighted in the final report as a good practice case study of local authority services working together.

Ian Bond, Inspire Learning Manager said: “As an Ofsted rated Good provider, Inspire Learning are committed to the best possible services for all of its learners and I’m honoured we’re able  to engage in local, sub-regional, regional and national debates about how we can improve our provision and make changes to learners’ lives.”

“I’m thrilled our collaboration with Nottinghamshire County Council has been both acknowledged and shared in the report as an example of the transformative role our services are playing in impacting residents’ lives.”

The stand out feature of the review was the determination and drive of senior leadership teams in making sure their visions and values became the culture and ethos of staff, and the importance of ‘place’ and placing resident needs at the centre of thinking and actions.

In addition, the review found four areas setting local authority services apart from other providers:

• Having a consistent government policy approach for community learning that has allowed services to develop and embed good practice.
• The enhanced scrutiny role of local authorities and related governance boards.
• The actions and behaviours of leaders and managers, and the example they set.
• The small size of many of the services, which allows them to be agile, which in turn, supports local structure and ensures individual student needs are met.