A COUNTY ‘Learning and Skills Directorate’ has been widely praised following recent Estyn inspection reports.

The directorate is run by Vale Council and was assessed in a ‘local government education service report’.

Published on April 30, the report stated: “Officers carry out their roles diligently and are committed to ensuring that all children and young people in the Vale have access to high quality education and support…

“The local authority provides strong support for its schools in relation to supporting pupils with Additional Learning Needs and officers have worked well to strategically plan and deliver support for schools to prepare for the Additional Learning Needs Education Tribunal (Wales) Act (ALNET).”

The report included two recommendations, which were to “sharpen the focus of evaluation and improvement processes” and “improve the quality and use of information about learning and teaching in schools to enable the local authority to best direct its resources towards areas for improvement.”

There was similar acclaim for the youth service, with the report into its activities revealing: “By taking part in the Vale youth service activities, many young people gain the skills, knowledge, understanding, attitudes and values to support their own personal development and wellbeing.”

Inspectors made just one recommendation here; to “develop opportunities for Welsh medium and bilingual youth work provision.”

Councillor Rhiannon Birch, of Vale Council, said: “These two excellent inspection reports are testament to the staff working within the Youth Service and, more broadly, our Learning and Skills Directorate.”