The pledges - encouraging learning, leisure and creativity

The council plays a major role in supporting and improving education in the city. We are responsible for schools and other educational settings ranging from the provision of adult education services, to play schemes, to pupil referral centres and educational psychologists.

The local education authority is responsible for the strategic management of services including:

• Planning the supply of school places.
• Making sure every child has access to a suitable school place, or has suitable provision made for them.
• Supporting and challenging schools and intervening where a school is failing its pupils.
• Allocating funding to schools.

The council is democratically accountable which gives us a leadership role in setting a vision for education and bringing together partners to achieve change and improvement.

Find out more about education or look for schools and colleges in Salford.

On behalf of the council, Salford Community Leisure (SCL) provide leisure and cultural facilities for the local community. These include local libraries, museums and galleries and Fit City centres.

What went well in 2009/10

• Students improved their exam grades with nearly three quarters achieving five or more GCSE A* to C grades.
• The number of people visiting Salford libraries increased from 835,400 in 2008/09 to 1.2 million in 2009/10.
• The council invested in 11 play builder facilities in parks and open spaces.
• We refurbished Fit City Broughton Pool and Eccles Library and work started on the major improvement scheme at Ordsall Hall.

Our challenges

• To make sure that young people of all backgrounds have the same opportunities to learn.
• To make sure that people in the city benefit from opportunities at MediaCityUK.
• A focus is needed on increasing sports, leisure and cultural activities to get more people involved.

What we will do

To ensure that young people in all areas have the same opportunities to learn we will:

• Promote learning opportunities for 0 to 3 year olds within libraries, sports and leisure centres, arts venues and museums.
• Develop personalised education programmes for all young parents who are still at school.
• Target the five schools with the most children leaving who are not in education, employment or training.

To make sure that we make full use of opportunities arising from MediaCityUK we will:

• Involve students in literacy and numeracy projects linked to MediaCityUK.
• Support the development and completion of the Media Enterprise Centre which will provide innovation and support for local businesses.

To increase sports, leisure and cultural activities we will:

• Run the Parks for People programme to improve recreational and leisure opportunities, particularly in Ordsall Park.
• Set up a Kickz project with Manchester United Foundation for young people from Ordsall and Langworthy, to encourage the community to take part in healthy recreation.

This page was last updated on 6 May 2011