ONE WARRINGTON: ONE FUTURE
WHERE EVERYONE MATTERS                                                                

A SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
FOR WARRINGTON 2009 TO 2030

AMBITIOUS AND ACHIEVING

Where people are inspired and supported to reach their potential and lead fulfilling lives

Key strengths

There are many ways in which people measure their success in reaching their potential and leading fulfilling lives. Warrington is ambitious and high achieving in many areas and strives to support people regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, disability or any other limiting factor.

The borough has an excellent reputation for education provision. In our primary schools the proportion of pupils achieving above the national floor target at Key Stage 2 for English, Maths and Science combined, placed Warrington 15th highest in the country in 2007. In addition 81% of primary schools achieved above the national floor target for English and Maths combined with this increasing to 88% in 2008.

In our secondary schools the proportion of pupils achieving Level 5 or above at Key Stage 3 increased between 2002 and 2005 and remains consistently higher than national averages for English, Maths and Science. In 2008 Warrington was ranked 32nd highest in the country for 5A*-C GCSEs including Maths and English. In 2007 there were 83% of secondary schools achieving above the national floor target for 5A*-C GCSEs including English and Maths; in 2008 this rose to 92%.

There is good partnership working which is resulting in a broader range of opportunities for 14-19 year olds, including the new Diplomas. There are also good opportunities for further and higher education in the borough. The town has two colleges and seven schools with sixth forms, four of which have achieved higher than the national average for A/AS level achievement. Priestley College is an outstanding sixth form college which has been awarded Learning and Skills Beacon status.

Priestley College and Warrington Collegiate also provide adult education facilities. Warrington Collegiate in particular offers higher level qualifications, apprenticeships and Train to Gain. Chester University has a higher education campus at Padgate which provides a range of degrees including business, media and education. A range of providers also supply learning and training opportunities for residents with specific learning or access needs, co-ordinated by the Adult Lifelong Learning Service and Social Care Services. Courses are provided in both formal settings such as schools and colleges and in less formal settings such as community centres, and are tailored to meet the specific needs of the learner.

Warrington’s well-established and strong third sector contributes to the well-being and quality of life of the borough’s population. There are approximately 22,000 volunteers who give their time to support others, but in so doing also contribute to their own wellbeing, development and fulfilment. Warrington also has a wide range of cultural and leisure facilities, serving our communities across Warrington. We have a number of well used libraries located across Warrington to serve local communities. 52.6% of people in Warrington have used a library in the last year, compared to 48.5% nationally. In 2006/07 satisfaction with libraries amongst the over 16s in Warrington was 95%. The Cultural Quarter, which is the location of the museum and art gallery, Pyramid arts centre and Parr Hall, has provided a central site for the development of the arts within Warrington, as well as providing venues for classes, workshops and visiting performers and artists.

Challenges and opportunities

We want to maintain and further improve Warrington’s high educational attainment levels. However we need to address the significant differences in the attainment levels achieved by children and young people from disadvantaged parts of the borough. We also need to ensure that looked after children are supported to achieve more.

The borough has a higher than average proportion of its resident working population with skills levels below NVQ2. 35% of adults in the town’s inner wards have no qualifications at all9 and a significant proportion of Warrington residents also have lower levels of basic skills in terms of literacy and numeracy. As a result, our data compares unfavourably against North West and national averages. With its high proportion of knowledgedriven jobs this means that many of Warrington’s skills needs are unable to be met by our residents.

Therefore a key challenge is to provide local people with the skills needed for the future economic profile of the borough – to help support a successful economy, but more importantly to increase opportunities for access to better paid jobs within or outside the borough.

The map above shows how levels of educational attainment and adult qualifications vary across the borough and indicates that efforts to improve quality, access to and take-up of services need to be focused primarily on the inner wards.

Level 3 attainments are now considered the platform for progression to higher education and higher level skills, with the additional earnings and productivity benefits this brings. Increasing the numbers at Level 2 is essential for progression onto Level 3. In 2007 the Annual Population Survey estimated that 50.6% of Warrington residents (60,800 of the working age population) were qualified to Level 3 or above. Although this compares favourably with the North West (44%) and Great Britian (46.4%) averages, Level 3 attainment for young people aged 19 in Warrington is still behind the national average of 46.8%, showing there is still more progress to be made here.

We will seek new ways of inspiring people, particularly those now outside mainstream education. There will be opportunities for people to ‘learn and develop through doing’ as we work together to deliver other priorities of the Sustainable Community Strategy. For a community to be sustainable, people need to be given opportunities to develop their life skills whilst helping to improve their neighbourhood. These opportunities can range from volunteering, to undertakening training and acquiring qualifications. We need to capitalise on the introduction of neighbourhood working and exploit opportunities to create new learning and development pathways.

The availability of good leisure and cultural facilities in the borough is key to the achievement of our long term vision. Council facilities have improved significantly over recent years but we have a number of under-developed attractions, such as Walton Hall, which have the potential to become flagships for the borough, adding to its distinctiveness and reputation.

As well as contributing to the attraction of Warrington, cultural opportunities in particular help to broaden people’s horizons and stimulate creativity. There is demand for an improved provision of cultural activities and venues within the borough, for example for performing arts. In terms of public satisfaction only 30% of Warrington residents were satisfied in 2006 with the provision of theatres and concert halls, although more recently, usage of the Parr Hall has doubled. We need to offer a wider choice and improved quality of provision to cater for the needs of our residents. We also need to improve access to cultural facilities as these were rated as ‘difficult to access’ by 42% of the borough’s population in 2006.

Our libraries need to be re-modelled to allow for more flexible use by the wider community. Work needs to be done with local people and other organisations to make libraries more accessible and user friendly, and to broaden the services that they can provide. We want to keep the traditional community based model of libraries, whilst providing a modern service that reflects the needs of people today and in the future.

Participation in sport, which is a key factor in improving the health of our residents, is also important in helping people to reach their potential. We not only need high quality, accessible sports facilities but also need to ensure people have access to competition and challenging pursuits.

Our priorities for action

Priority	Things we will do
Increase the educational attainment for children from areas of deprivation and looked after children	- Increase the number of children in the areas of deprivation reading at a level commensurate with their age by the end of Key Stage 2 (end of primary school) - Ensure that all schools will be deemed good or better in Ofsted Inspections by 2010 - Implement the 14 - 19 reforms and embed the learner entitlement across the area - Ensure that no secondary school will be below the floor target for 5 GCSEs at A*-C including English and Mathematics by the end of the academic year 2010/11 - Increase school attendance levels of vulnerable groups - Continue to increase the level and range of vocational opportunities
Increase skills	- Increase the availability of and take-up of apprenticeships by young people - Work with the business sector (through the Employment and Skills Board structures) to identify and meet skills needs - Encourage employers to sign the Skills Pleadge and participate in Train to Gain - Reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training
Boost aspirations and opportunities	- Support all young people, including those from vulnerable groups, to develop appropriately high aspirations - Encourage adults to participate in sport and leisure activities - Develop Orford Park leisure facilities - Increase the range and quality of cultural opportunities and facilities - Improve access to cultural facilities - Increase volunteering

Our long term targets

By 2030, the number of residents who regularly access activities that enhance their sense of wellbeing will show a statistically significant increase on the baseline.

By 2030, the percentage of working age population qualified to Level 4 or higher will be in the highest 10% nationally.

Closing the gaps

No SOAs will be in the most deprived 20% nationally on the education, skills and training deprivation index.

How will we know we are making progress?

The following measures will help us keep track of progress:

• Children and young people’s educational attainment levels (early years, GCSE, Level 3 qualifications) including children in care*
• Secondary school persistent absence rate*
• The gap between the lowest achieving 20% in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile and the rest
• Achievement gap between pupils eligible for free school meals and their peers achieving the expected level at Key Stages 2 and 4
• Young people’s participation in positive activities*
• Learners achieving a Level 1 qualification in literacy*
• Learners achieving an entry Level 3 qualification in numeracy*
• Working age population qualified to at least Level 2 or higher*
• Adult participation in sport*
• Satisfaction with leisure and cultural facilities including access.*

* will also be monitored at area/neighbourhood level to focus our improvements on ‘closing the gaps’.

Project and action plans relevant to this ambition are set out in:

• Children and Young People’s Plan
• 14-19 Strategy
• Cultural Improvement Plan
• Strategy for an Ageing Population
• Neighbourhood Plans
• Health Inequality Strategy
• Local Development Framework.

How you can help

• Make the most of learning activities that families can do together such as reading a book with a child or visiting your local library
• Make sure that your child attends school and arrives on time
• Sign up for a training course, study for a qualification or learn a new skill
• Encourage friends and family members to develop their education, skills and job prospects
• Become a volunteer on schemes such as reading in local schools or sports coaching 
• Get involved in cultural events and local festivals
• Visit the museum or arts centre and take your friends and family there
• If you are an employer:
  • encourage your employees to learn new skills
  • sign up to the skills pledge
  • help schools raise aspirations by participating in work placement schemes and career advice.

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