About Central Manchester CLC

Central Manchester CLC is a new development with state of the art IT facilities. Located in a brand new building at Trinity Church of England High School in Hulme, it is one of four in Manchester and over forty nationally.

City Learning Centres are a key feature of the government's 'Excellence in Cities' strategy. CLCs work with children from local schools and adults from the local community and businesses to boost IT skills. CLCs are an important educational resource because they provide effective, alternative ways to raise all pupils' attainment, motivation and pleasure in learning. This is achieved mainly through the development of high quality teaching and learning materials.

Central Manchester CLC serves the needs of teachers and pupils in a partnership of primary and secondary schools in the inner city community. Pupils use the CLC out of hours for completing homework, carrying out research or developing coursework. Teachers from the partnership will develop, share and disseminate innovative teaching and learning methods using the latest information and communication technologies.

What are City Learning Centres?

City Learning Centres (CLCs) are a key element of the Government's 'Excellence in Cities' (EiC) initiative. They will have a major impact on learning in city schools by providing a focus for the very best in education for young people.

By providing outstanding local facilities, the Centres will be expected to improve education standards and skill levels, and so promoting employment opportunities and countering social exclusion. The aim of CLCs is to enhance the learning opportunities of pupils in our major cities.

To bring this about, the objectives of these centres must be, amongst other things, to:

  • improve access to and use by pupils and adults of the latest education technology
  • improve attainment levels through use of that technology
  • increase staying on rates
  • reduce truancy figures
  • and improve employment prospects.

The core client group for these Centres is pupils and teachers, but they also have a role to play in providing opportunities for the wider community to promote lifelong learning. These objectives will be achieved in a number of different ways, including:

  • providing additional courses and opportunities for individual pupils that involve ICT-based teaching and learning materials
  • providing access to state-of-the-art ICT equipment that will be attractive and a motivation for young people
  • delivering services and outreach support to a wider network of local schools
  • providing extension activities for gifted and talented pupils and study support
  • acting as test beds for innovation new ways of teaching and learning
  • cascading best practice amongst the local network of schools
  • and supporting other EiC and IT provision.

To find out more about CLCs please visit the DfES Standards site.