Children, Families & Learning

The Directorate exists to help improve outcomes (for all learners in the city).
Our current key priorities include a focus on raising educational achievement,
improving school attendance, improving behaviour in school settings and
diversifying our offer for adult and family learners to help tackle the skill deficit
in the city. We are addressing these issues by improving the quality of
teaching and learning, by developing a personalised curriculum and through
the inclusive nature of our provision.

We want:-

• every child in Portsmouth to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve,
make a positive contribution and achieve economic wellbeing;

• every child to achieve against the additional local outcome priorities as
defined within the Portsmouth 8;

• to develop and promote a vibrant learning community that offers
choice, excellence, high aspirations and opportunity for all.

•   high aspirations and expectations for all our learners so that in
     partnership with the local community, the schools and our wider
     partners, we can improve life chances

• to improve the skill base of our adult learning community through high
quality adult, family and community learning provision

• to achieve our targets as set out within the Community Strategy and
other key corporate plans

•   to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the city with a
     particular focus on the needs of those children who are looked after by
     the local authority

• to continue making a valuable contribution to the achievement of the
Council’s wider corporate targets and priorities

Portsmouth currently has the following number of schools:

• 1 nursery school

• 53 primary schools

• 10 secondary schools

• 6 special schools

• 3 pupil referral units

In addition, Portsmouth currently has a total of 5 Children’s Social Services
Residential Units, 3 units providing long term care, 1 unit taking new
admissions and 1 unit providing respite care for children with disabilities.

In joining this directorate you will be part of working towards:

• Continuing to raise standards to at least national averages in all key
stages;

• Maintaining service standards during the period of change as the new
directorate is created;

• Maintaining service delivery within existing cash limits;

• Continuing to improve service efficiency and effectiveness to maintain
good value for money;

• Strengthening and embedding the role of the Community Improvement
Partnerships to support the delivery of a children’s trust way of working

• Improving performance around life chance issues for children who are
looked after

• Maintaining child protection performance whilst increasing performance
around assessments.

Directorate