Strategic Advisory Board

ACL StrAtegiC

AdviSory boArd InformAtion for boArd memberS

WeLCome to the ACL StrAtegiC AdviSory boArd!

our purpoSe our viSion

Improving lives through

learning

Essex County Council commissions Adult Community Learning (ACL) to deliver learning to the residents of Essex in order to support its strategic objectives. ACL forms a part of the Place and Public Health directorate of ECC and is principally a direct delivery service with a local focus.

A small amount of delivery is carried out by subcontractors to extend the reach of the service within the County. Managers have developed strong partnerships in areas where residents are most in need and partnerships are in place with employers, mental health commissioners, and Family Learning groups.

Giving Essex residents the opportunity to be the best they can be and achieve their goals

our miSSion

To provide a high-quality learning offer that makes a positive difference to the lives of residents and businesses of Essex

ACL Essex provision is delivered across the whole political County in 9 main centres. Provision in the unitary authorities of Southend and Thurrock is delivered by separate ACLs. In addition to the main centres, the Service delivers learning in community venues. Childcare for learners and staff is available in 4 centres.

Staff and learners at ACL are champions for lifelong long learning. They embrace the value of ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated learning, whether this be for personal or professional reasons. This enables opportunities for academic progression, employability and self-sustainability. It also enhances social inclusion, active citizenship, and

personal development.

Staff are aware of service expectations, and a culture of continuous improvement is embedded throughout the service to ensure that learners are best supported to progress and achieve their goals.

In February 2018, ACL was judged by Ofsted to be a good provider, and in 2021 was successfully reaccreditation for the Matrix Quality Standard.

Ambitious – believing everyone has the capacity to achieve what they set out to do and more and we support each other to do our best regardless of skill level.

In 2022 ACL developed a new strategy to inform on direction and intent for the next 3 years.

our vALueS

Inclusive – treating others with respect and kindness and embracing the diversity of our communities.

Sustainable – making green choices so that we leave a smaller impact on our environment and working toward an environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Collaborative – pulling together as a team so everyone can learn and succeed.

Friendly – being kind to each other, acting with integrity and being considerate of each other’s feelings.

Inspiring – looking to achieve our personal best and help others to achieve theirs. We have the courage to have a go.

AdviSory boArd memberS ACL Senior LeAderShip teAm

Cllr Ball (Chair) Chantal Lomax

Cllr Sheldon Louise Aitken

Lisa Jarentowski, ACL Principal

Teresa Ablewhite, Vice Principal Quality and Compliance

Christian Norman, Vice Principal Curriculum and Learning

Amanda Rawlings, Commercial Manager

Mark Vinall

Tony Gallagher Victoria Lian

Lisa Jarentowski, ACL Principal

Claire Maynard, Business Operations Manager

Teresa Ablewhite ACL Vice Principal Quality and Compliance

Christian Norman, ACL Vice Principal Curriculum and Learning

WhAt iS AduLt Community eduCAtion (ACe) ACL Stru

Adult Community Education providers such as ACL play a vital role nationally in supporting residents on their journey to learn skills which enable them to enter, return to, or progress in work.ACE in England is delivered by 200+ community providers:

132 are Council owned Local Authority Providers

They provide adult education and skills to 500,000 people annually

Spend approx. £500 million of government funding

92% are assessed as good or outstanding

Sector best for employer and student satisfaction

Widest reach - deliver from over 10,000 centres

Employ over 15,000 staff

governAnCe reSponSibiLity & the roLe of the ACL

StrAtegiC AdviSory boArd (SAb)

Members of the Strategic Advisory Board act as ‘critical friends’, monitoring and evaluating the work of the Service to support continual improvement. Members are invited to participate in the wider life of the Service by making visits to classes and attending key events including, for example, the annual awards ceremony. The function for SAB is to

have an external view on quality assurance and provide supportive but challenging input.

to create a culture that enables learners to excel undertake regular, and detailed scrutiny of data and KPIs used to monitor learner recruitment, employer engagement, outcomes, progression and finance.

provide challenge to leaders and holding them accountable about variations in performance.

focus on the learner experience, including the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and ensuring learners are safe.

ConfLiCtS of intereSt

Board members should be independent of the provider and must declare any potential conflicts of interest regarding agenda items.

WhAt WiLL the boArd diSCuSS?

Primarily the role for the Board is outlined above, and typical agenda items for consideration at Board meetings will include:

self-assessment key strengths and areas for improvement, and in particular any areas of underperformance. intent - meeting the social and economic context of the area and employers. promotion of Safeguarding, Equality Diversity and Inclusion, Fundamental British Values and the Prevent duty. health and safety requirements. evaluation of management reports and performance data. financial position and regulation.

hoW often WiLL the boArd meet?

There are no set requirements, though a minimum of one meeting per quarter may be expected. Where there are significant weaknesses in provision it may be necessary to meet more frequently. Additionally, there will be sub-groups that meet more frequently to work on a specific theme or topic.

reCording meetingS

Agendas and minutes will take a formal approach.

This will help us to evaluate the impact of governance.

In readiness for meetings managers and board members will be asked to prepare reports/updates and circulate these in advance as needed.

drop in viSitS to teAChing SeSSionS

Each term ACL holds a learning walk week where members of the curriculum management team and senior leaders carry out short “drop-in” visits to classes of no more than 10-15 minutes. We ask all board members to take part in at least one of these activities each year. The purpose of these is two-fold. Firstly, it provides an opportunity for you to speak to learners and about their experiences at ACL and secondly to garner feedback that can inform future improvements.

What do you know now that you didn’t know at the start of the course?

What careers advice to you receive prior to starting the course?

What was your experience of learner induction and what can you remember of it eg safeguarding, health and safety.

How was your starting point assessed?

How to you receive feedback?

A member of the ACL management team will contact you with details in advance of learning walk week but if you have any questions, please email teresa. ablewhite@essex.gov.uk

The type of questions you might find useful to ask include:

Why are you on this course?

What new knowledge or skill have you learnt today?

What do you know about radicalisation and local risks?

Do you feel safe at ACL, and do you know how to keep yourself safe when working online?

What is behaviour like in ACL? What are you most proud of?

further informAtion

About ACL

Below is a summary of the key findings from our last Ofsted Inspection where we were judged to be good for overall effectiveness. The full report can be read here 2764151 (ofsted.gov.uk)

Learners and apprentices benefit from a culture that is welcoming, enabling, supportive and inclusive.

Leaders, managers and staff are impressive and successful role models in this regard.

robust and effective improvement plans. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved markedly since the previous inspection. As a result, the large majority of learners and apprentices rapidly develop their skills and knowledge.

Staff successfully promote safeguarding, teach learners about the ‘Prevent’ agenda and support the development of British values. As a result, learners are confident, knowledgeable, secure and respectful.

Leaders, managers and staff have worked tirelessly to secure a wide range of improvements to the provision. They have rectified most areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection.

Leaders, managers and governors know the provision well and have put in place

Leaders and managers ensure that a greater proportion of apprentices achieve within planned timescales than previously.

Tutors and well-directed learning support assistants provide highly effective support for learners.

Learners studying creative courses and apprentices develop particularly high-quality practical skills. Very strong partnership working and engagement with employers bring real benefits to learners from all communities. Too few learners benefit from precise, detailed and useful targets to help them build skills and understand their own progress.

Too often, written feedback does not adequately explain to learners how they can improve their work.

Not enough learners progress from unaccredited courses to courses that lead to qualifications.

Too few learners on functional skills mathematics courses develop the skills they need to achieve their qualifications.

In December 2020 Ofsted carried out a Monitoring visit as part of a programme of visits they were making on providers to ascertain the impact of the pandemic on delivery. During this time the usual inspection schedule was suspended. The monitoring report can be read here 50159329 (ofsted.gov.uk)

SAfeguArdIng

InCLudIng prevent

You will need to be able to speak confidently about safeguarding arrangements in ACL including the name of the Designated Safeguarding Lead (Teresa Ablewhite) and what the local risk is within Essex from radicalisation and extremism. The number of Prevent referrals declined over the period of the pandemic. However

during lockdowns, young people spent more time unsupervised and on line, making them more vulnerable to radicalisation and all forms of grooming.

authorities are concerned that there is large number of unidentified but radicalised young people in the community

Essex has a significant number of referrals in relation to other Counties in the eastern Prevent region

extremist Islamic terrorism remains a threat

Extreme Right Wing Terrorism (ERWT) is the growing concern in our region

The Pandemic has been used to blame and target minority groups

The ‘Black lives matter’ campaign has also been used to recruit young white males

Incel, as an ideology is becoming more wide spread and is linked to recruitment of young men to extremist groups. Lockdowns were used to identify and target vulnerable young people in order to radicalise them.

In 2021 ERWT became the single largest source of Prevent referrals in the region.

Within Safeguarding, increased reporting of concerns relating to poor mental health has contributed to significant number of safeguarding concerns being reported within ACL since late 2021. These have included:

Anxiety Attention difficulties

Depressed or withdrawn

Eating disorders

Low self esteem

Sustained anger Self harm

Suicidal thoughts

At ACL we have a culture of safeguarding where

The safety of the learner is always the priority We understand that “it could and does happen here”

We maintain professional curiosity and have permission to be curious and ask questions We always act in the best interests of the learner.

Support for you

On appointment to the board new members are asked to provide a pen portrait and photograph for the ACL website. You will also be signed up for regular email bulletins marketing.

To help you orientate yourself into the role visits can be arranged to ACL centres, and meetings set up with a range of ACL staff.

We also ask you to complete the online modules for Safeguarding and Prevent, as well as annual update training. Details for how to access this are below but if you need further support please contact Emma. Thomson@essex.gov.uk

Mandatory training for all members of the strategic advisory board

ACT (Action Counter Terrorism)

Training Annual ACL Refresher Training (Safeguarding and Prevent)

Annual Keeping Children Safe in Education. (DFE)

reAding & reSourCeS to Support you in your roLe

Adult Community Education: Supporting place and people: Characteristics of success. Dr Susan Pember OBE, HOLEX

https://fetl.org.uk/publications/adult-communityeducation-supporting-place-and-peoplecharacteristics-of-success

Adult community education is one of the most resilient and creative parts of the education system. It has survived swinging cuts to its public support,

yet it continues to make its vital contribution to the social, civic and economic wellbeing of our communities, retaining its values and mission in spite of changing policy agendas.

This report reflects how at the heart of this mission is the idea of service – service to learners and to communities. Ensuring that the needs of learners are properly articulated and understood and creating the conditions in which learners –particularly the most vulnerable or hardest to reach – can engage with education.

Learning for Life: the role of adult community education in developing thriving local communities – a handbook for councillors.

Learning for Life: the role of adult community education in developing thriving local communities | Local Government Association

This handbook, written for councillors focuses on the direct and indirect impact of adult community education (ACE). Although directed at supporting councillors to effectively plan, promote and scrutinise their local ACE service it also provides useful background reading to the ACE sector. The handbook sets out the importance of ACE in place shaping: how it brings economic and social

benefits to local communities, enhancing the lives of residents and contributing to the culture and cohesion of the places in which they live and work.

Levelling up Adult Community Education.

This provides wider reading on the priority themes for adult education and the adult community education landscape in England, including student demographics, highlights delivery shortfalls and geographical hotspots and details of the levelling up agenda to improve the lives of adults with low and intermediate skills.

Levelling Up ACE | Holex

Education Inspection Framework

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/801429/Education_ inspection_framework.pdf

Ofsted