Cheshire East Skills and Lifelong Learning team

Employment skills and community learning

We fund, deliver and work with local organisations to create learning opportunities, courses and classes. Our own team of tutors deliver maths, English and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses.

Learn English for free

Cheshire East Skills and Lifelong Learning (S&LL) runs classes for non-English speakers aged 19 years and over to gain accredited qualifications in ESOL.

The ESOL Skills for Life qualifications are designed to prepare learners for the world of work or citizenship. The primary aim is to assist you in becoming independent of others (such as interpreters or translators; be they professionals, family, or friends) when talking with native English-speakers, both in a work environment and elsewhere. By improving your English, you will also improve your chances of gaining employment and accessing information from service provides such as libraries, children’s centres, and local attractions.

S&LL use the Ascentis ESOL Skills for Life qualification suite which ranges from Entry Level 1 to Level 1. Each level is made up of three units:

Reading
Writing
Speaking and Listening

Each unit is offered as a separate qualification.

Contact us on Skills and Lifelong Learning for more information.

Our Partners

Through our commissioned partners we are able to offer deliver a wide range of funded (for the vast majority free) courses from accredited vocational programmes to practical life skills courses that widen participation in learning. See the Education and Skills Funding Agency to find out more about how we fund these courses.

Below are details from our partner agencies with regards to their provisions.

Our partners include:

Cheshire Learning Partnership - Run 'Work Clubs' for those seeking employment, as well as qualifications and courses on topics such as ECDL, Construction, Completing Application Forms, and Interview Skills.
Cheshire East Safeguarding Adults Board - Deliver Basic Adult Safeguarding Awareness training to all care providers and third sector partners across Cheshire East. This course is free of charge and will give delegates an understanding of relevant local policies, signs and symptoms, and how to report any concerns.
Create and Develop Career Solutions - Deliver a range of accredited qualifications including Customer Service, Food Safety in Catering, Warehousing and Storage Skills and Construction (CSCS card) as well as Introduction to Emergency First Aid session in the local community.
CVS CE - Deliver a range of courses such as Financial Management and Budgeting to Cyber Safety and How to protect your organisation.
East Cheshire Training - Deliver different levels of Functional Skills Qualifications. East Cheshire Training also deliver an Award in Construction Crafts.
Macclesfield Disability Information Bureau - Deliver courses and qualifications such as Using a computer keyboard, Using the internet, Word Processing Software.
SUSO (Speaking Up Speaking Out) - Deliver a wide range of accessible training for adults with learning disabilities and additional needs to improve skills, opportunities, and well-being for all.
The Skills Network - Deliver a wide range of accredited qualifications including Prevention and Control of Infection, Mental Health, Preparing to Work in Adult Social Care and Team Leading to name but a few.
The Guild for Lifelong Learning - Delivering exercise to Music for The Over 50’s.
Workers' Educational Association - Teach Sign Language and Lip-Reading skills.

The council uses sub-contracted delivery as its main method of delivering adult education. Below is our policy that applies to all sub-contractors paid for by the Education and Skills Funding Agency Adult Education Budget that the council manages on its behalf, as well as the previous year's position statement.

Safeguarding

The Skills and Lifelong Learning (S&LL) team are committed to safeguarding all involved in the learning it funds. The S&LL current Safeguarding policy can be accessed via the below link and was designed in conjunction with the Safeguarding Children in Education team and the Cheshire East Safeguarding Adults Board. For further information please contact Giles Sowden our Safeguarding lead via email giles.sowden@cheshireeast.gov.uk

Latest updates

The Skills and Lifelong Learning (S&LL) team and its partners are fully committed to providing and delivering quality learning experiences throughout the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We are supporting our partners to continue delivering through face to face and online and/or virtual learning platforms by funding our partners with their new initiatives and supplying our learners with technology.

Your course leader or contact will keep in touch with you throughout the periods of lockdown so please make sure that you and your tutor or contact discuss and agree your learning needs during the lockdown. Your course leader will put the appropriate measures in place for you.

Our Quality Manager, Vicky Orlando, will ensure that the learning you require is available to you. Please contact Vicky on 07921956741 or vicky.orlando@cheshireeast.gov.uk should you have any queries about your learning requirements.

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Contact us

email: adultandfamilylearning@cheshireeast.gov.uk

Page last reviewed: 20 March 2023