Annual Report 2012 - Highbury College

The Community College
The specific purpose of Highbury’s Community College is
to engage adult learners and communities in lifelong
learning. The College is now the first point of contact for
learning for many adults and families in the area, a high
proportion of whom have not participated previously in
education and training.
During 2012 the Community College played a central role
in building community cohesion and contributing to the
economic regeneration of Portsmouth and the
surrounding area. Among the year’s highlights were:
We invited partner organisations, stakeholders groups
and students to Highbury for two Community Forums.
Amongst those attending were representatives from Age
Concern, Portsmouth Craft & Manufacturing Industries
(PCMI), ANA Treatment Centres and a range of approved
secure units. The events attracted more than 30 groups
and enabled us to listen to and learn from our diverse
stakeholders and develop our service and curriculum in
collaboration to better meet the needs of our community
learners.
A record 7,842 students enrolled on Community College
courses. The range of courses also increased. The number
of community venues used by the College for training rose
to over 70 during 2012 and included community centres,
sports centres, schools, residential homes, treatment
centres, hospitals, hostels and cafes.
For the fourth year in a row, we exceeded the target set
out in our Adult and Community Learning contract with
Portsmouth City Council and surpassed the target for our
contract with Hampshire County Council.
A number of on-going initiatives continued to be
successful. Among these was our work-focused training to
help the unemployed back into employment, which was
funded by the European Social Fund through the Skills
Funding Agency.
We also continued with our programme for teaching
assistants. This leads to a recognised national qualification
for support staff in schools.
Our provision for the visually impaired continued in 2012
with a good take up of courses such as word processing for
the visually impaired and training in specialist technology.
The number of community partnerships also rose during
the year, from 40 to 60, and now includes Portsmouth
Craft & Manufacturing Industry, Two Saints and St James
Hospital.
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