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New Workshop
Friends Centre graded outstanding and good by Ofsted
Adult learners in Brighton are assured of high quality teaching, after Friends Centre was awarded high grades in a recent inspection by Ofsted – the Government’s Office for Standards in Education.
Ofsted inspectors spent three days at Friends Centre in late November, observing classes and speaking to students. In their report the Ofsted inspectors gave Leadership and Management an 'outstanding' grade, along with several other aspects of the Centre’s work, including Equality and Diversity, meeting the needs and interests of learners and partnership working. All other areas were pronounced ‘Good’.
Juliet Merrifield, Friends Centre’s Principal, said: “As you can imagine we are absolutely thrilled. The inspectors commented on how welcomed they felt, on the openness of staff, and on our very strong and inclusive culture. They also praised Friends Centre for sticking to its vision for community learning whilst moving forward into a new phase of development."
Click here to see the full Friends Centre Ofsted Report
Click here to see the Summary Report
One Brighton update
19 November 2009
We now have a date for our move to the One Brighton development. The Vine Street office will close for good on Friday 18th December and the Friends Centre office will reopen in our new building on Monday 21st December.
Our new address will be: Friends Centre, Brighton Junction, Isetta Square, Stroudley Road, Brighton BN1 4GQ.
'Brighton Junction' is the name that has been given to the new community space at One Brighton - the name alludes to the nearby Brighton train station and to the fact that the new centre will be a place for the community to come together. 'Isetta Square' refers to the Isetta micro car, which was built on the site in the 1950s.
Learner Awards 2009
Here are some photos from our 2009 Learner Awards, held in the summer:
Sue Evans
We are very sad to announce the passing away of Friends Centre tutor Sue Evans on Monday 23 February.
Sue had been associated with Friends Centre for more years than most of us can remember. She was committed to adult learning, in particular adult literacy where she had many years of working directly with students and with the training of future literacy teachers. She was a friend and support to current and past tutors drawing on her wealth of knowledge and experience. We were fortunate that Sue continued to give us her support even after her retirement as a tutor and was often to be found in the tutor workroom sorting through resources and working on her anthology.
Sue will be missed by both Friends Centre staff and students and those from further afield.
One Brighton Update
Friends Centre is working to finalise new premises that will combine offices and a teaching centre in the One Brighton building, currently under construction on the Brighton station site. When we move the new premises will form a base that supports a network of community learning in other neighbourhoods, including our existing centre at Ivory Place and our outreach sites with partners in Whitehawk, Moulsecoomb and elsewhere.
Building work
Anyone who has had any building work done will not be surprised to hear that the construction is slightly behind schedule! We will now begin the internal fit-out in June 09, and we will start classes in January 2010. This of course gives us longer to plan, so by January we will be ready to launch an exciting new programme of courses, workshops and events (see below). The planning work by our architects Feilden Clegg Bradley is going well and we should have final plans completed soon.
Work with the Ethical Property Company on planning the community centre is moving along well. We hope to be sharing the space with other voluntary sector organisations including the Working Together Project, the Community and Voluntary Sector Forum and the Business Community Partnership. Care Co-ops is planning to run the cafe as a training cafe for its clients with learning disabilities.
In Friends Centre's area there will be four classrooms, all of them larger than the ones at Ivory Place, offices to replace our Vine Street rented office, a tutor workroom, individual tutorial and interview room, and storage. Shared space will include the cafe and exhibition space as well as the courtyard garden for fine days.
Development Manager
I'm pleased to say that we appointed Dr Maria Antoniou as Development Manager in November. Maria's role is to help us develop our business plans for the new building, fundraise and generate income to pay the additional costs, and support programme coordinators to develop and expand their programmes. In particular she is working on plans for our new 'one planet learning' programme of classes, workshops and events.
Planning new learning activities
In the new building we will continue many of the learning programmes already under way, and some classes will move into One Brighton from other sites. But we will also have space for some new activities, and many of these come under the concept of 'one planet learning'. The One Planet principles developed by BioRegional (the charity behind BedZed and other developments) and guiding the construction of One Brighton emphasise community, social equity, personal responsibility, and holistic living. Over the coming months we will be working with staff and community partners to identify ways to use these principles to frame our new work.
The big move
Watch this space. Schedules slide and most things take longer than you think, but we have our fingers crossed for a move by November 2009 and classes to start at One Brighton in January 2010.
For more information on one planet living, visit the Bioregional and WWF joint initiative website on: www.oneplanet.org
Christine Field Memorial Fund
Purpose
The fund is being established by the Friends Centre with the family and many friends and colleagues of the late Christine Field to honour her career in adult education by encouraging and supporting creative arts learning by adults. This is a designated fund, to be reported separately in Friends Centre’s annual accounts. It will support a range of creative arts activities, for example:
- commissioning and display of student work
- creating a permanent exhibition space for student work
- setting up and equipping art classrooms
- holding workshops and courses to engage new learners in creative arts
- supporting learners who have difficulty paying for course fees
Background
Christine Field was an adult education arts tutor in Brighton, Hove and Sussex for over 30 years until her untimely death in 2008. She worked with many of the local adult education providers over the years, most recently at the Friends Centre and at Portslade Community College. Chris was an inspirational teacher, one of the very best. She was a skilled trainer and mentor of other tutors. Most recently this has been through the First Class course, helping many people to gain the confidence and knowledge to start teaching adults. Chris was also a gifted programme manager who made important contributions to the development of Friends Centre as an organisation.
How to donate
NB: Please ensure you fill out and send in a Gift Aid declaration form to us when making a donation, to enable us to claim your Gift Aid. Click here to download the form. If you're paying by card, you can email the form to info@friendscentre.org if you prefer.
You can donate by the following methods:
- By cheque payable to Friends Centre (reference Chris Field Memorial Fund) sent to the address below.
- By credit card over the phone, number below.
