Post 16 & Adult Learning

The energies of the Team are firmly focussed on working with people who have benefited least from education in the past whilst supporting the development of strong communities in the most disadvantaged areas of Kirklees. There is a strong belief throughout the whole team that learning is a means by which individuals can make changes in their lives which also impact on their families and the communities in which they live. Positive changes in health, happiness, place in society or contribution to the economy bring with them a sense of worth and decrease isolation. Learning can make an important contribution to tackling such issues. In the context of demographic change such provision is critical to address the future needs of the economy.

Within Kirklees there are significant variations in residents' experiences in education and work. There are higher rates of unemployment in the most disadvantaged wards and among young people, older people, those with long-term health issues, and those from minority ethnic backgrounds. The Team carefully targets such groups, and organisations which are able to support them, making effective use of research and management information.
Reductions in Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funding are inevitably causing reduced provision in community-based, first step and non-accredited learning. This will have a negative impact on the local area. The Team is committed to helping to equip people to be able to move on and acquire level 2 qualifications, through offering first steps and community-based learning. The Team has adjusted to meet changing priorities whilst continuing to work towards its primary purpose, working with and through partners to build capacity to meet the needs within the district.

Post 16 and Adult Learning Team Mission Statement

Within this context our mission is to secure a comprehensive range of high quality, inclusive and accessible learning opportunities for the people of Kirklees which enables them to maximise their potential.

Aims

The Post 16 and Adult Learning Team fulfils two roles

• Secretariat to the Kirklees Learning Partnership (KLP) which includes acting as lead partner for some KLP projects
• Management of an adult learning and family programmes budget hich forms part of a wider programme of adult learning in Kirklees

In this context the Post 16 and Adult Learning Team seeks to

• Act as an enabler of learning provision for adults on behalf of the Kirklees Learning Partnership
• Work with adult and community learning providers to develop their capacity to meet identified needs of learners
• Work in partnership to secure adult learning provision which attracts and engages people, particularly those not currently in learning or from disadvantaged backgrounds
• is based on the needs and aspirations of learners
• does not compete with that of other providers
• provides appropriate support for learners
• leads to achievement and satisfaction in learning.

In this context the Post 16 and Adult Learning Team co-ordinates Neighbourhood Learning Networks to plan and promote adult learning in the most disadvantaged areas of Kirklees. Through this mechanism we are increasingly able to work with a wide range of partners to ensure that first steps, personal and community development and family learning provision forms part of a wider structure for progression which addresses the needs of residents in the key local regeneration areas.

14-19 Education and Training
Government policy on 14-19 is rolling out a programme of major reform in the coming years. A new national 14-19 curriculum entitlement requires that 14 new Diplomas will be available to all 14-19 learners by 2013. This will in turn require local collaboration between schools, colleges and work based learning providers and our Kirklees approach to this is embodied in the " Kirklees Collegiates" which have been in operation for over 2 years.
Kirklees is also involved in the Learning Agreement Pilot (LAP) which is a Treasury pilot scheme led by Connexions and LSC West Yorkshire (there are other variants on the schemes in other pilot areas) The aim of the LAP is to target 16-17 year olds who have gone into jobs without training. The goal is to get the young person and their employer to sign up to a learning agreement which will offer them training to improve their skills and develop their career prospects.