Praise as high expectations help adult learners achieve their goals
Devon County Council’s Adult and Community Learning Service has been praised by independent education inspectors for the quality of the teaching and support it offers its learners.
Ofsted say outcomes for learners using the service are good, with rising success rates on courses leading to accreditation and higher level qualifications, as well as those designed to develop people’s personal and social skills, with “many learners making substantial gains in their confidence and self-esteem” say inspectors.
Their report, published this week, highlights the quality of the service’s teachers, who are described by inspectors as “well qualified, experienced and highly motivated” with their lessons being “imaginative and carefully planned to engage every learner”.
The overall good quality of teaching, learning and assessment is reflected in the high number of learners who achieve their learning goals and the increase in those who gain qualifications.
“Teachers have a sound understanding of their learners and plan a good range of relevant and interesting activities which interest and challenge learners across all subjects” said the inspectors.
“They encourage learners to develop high, but realistic, expectations and motivate them to achieve their aspirations.”
Inspectors also found that lessons were well designed to meet the needs of learners, especially those with learning difficulties or disabilities, and that good information and guidance was in place to encourage further learning both within Devon Adult and Community Learning Service and with other organisations.
Praise was also given to the excellent way the Council works with a variety of partner organisations to promote economic growth and pride in the community, with inspectors highlighting a successful partnership with a local primary school, children’s centre and nursery in Newton Abbot to share a site to provide popular family learning classes.
Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, said:
“I am delighted that inspectors have seen the hard work we have put into improving our Adult and Community Learning Service.
“The significant changes we have made based on their last visit have proved successful. This report underlines that the measures we have taken to improve teaching and learning are well established and effective, and the new strategies we have developed have improved the way we respond to our learners’ needs and led to increased success rates and reduced class cancellations.
“Achieving this ‘good’ rating is even more satisfying given Ofsted’s revised, more rigorous inspection framework.
“I am particularly pleased with the feedback our teachers received and that their considerable knowledge, enthusiasm and skills, as well as the high levels of support they provide to learners, were recognised.
“We are committed to delivering good quality learning opportunities for adults in Devon, and have a clear vision to continue to develop our service to meet community needs, which is something inspectors highlighted in their report.
“Residents can be confident that we will continue to improve and built on this success.”
The ‘good’ rating awarded by Ofsted shows an improvement on the previous inspection in 2011, when the service was deemed ‘satisfactory’.
The Ofsted inspectors looked at all areas of the service including adult skills qualifications, community learning and programmes for 16- to 18-year-old learners, and assessed the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across these areas.
Inspectors used a range of methods to assess the service, including group and individual interviews, telephone calls and online questionnaires to gather the views of learners and employers. They also reviewed data on learners’ achievements over the last three years, observed learning sessions, assessments and progress reviews.
The full report is available on the Ofsted website www.ofsted.gov.uk
For more information about Devon County Council’s Adult and Community Learning Service, please visit www.devon.gov.uk/adultlearning or call 0845 155 1014
