Support from Independent schools

I'm the first to admit that i didn't expect to see this at all, but I have to say that the comments are extremely welcomed.

I'm referring to the Comment in TES by Seldon and Ford of Wellington School about the Diplomas and their relevance to students (Wellington is the first Independent School to offer the Engineering Diploma).

Great to see support from what would at first appear to be an unexpected source and even nicer to see a sensible argument put forward for the principle of the qualification.

Exams performance isn't the best indicator of success

A tiny piece in the TES this week caught my eye.  The Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors says that 6/10 teachers said exam performance did not reflect success in the workplace.

I've written about this before and I completely agree.  Enthusiasm and Attitude are the values that employers place above all else along with an ability to "get on with it".

How does this relate to functional skills?  Well FS are not "exam focused" and the focus on problem solving is much more closely related to the enthusiasm, attitude and Independence that employers value.

Similarly, the whole Diploma agenda tends to support this view.

Unsolicited customer praise!

This morning we received an unsolicited letter from one of our customers.

It was a really nice letter saying thanks for your help and praising individuals for going the extra mile.  It also made me realise how important it is to do it ourselves as well.  I do it occasionally, but I shall do it more in the future.

Schools Purchasing Officers

Schools purchasing may be about to change.  I noticed an advert in our local paper for "Procurement officers" to work as part of a larger team across a number of schools.

For those of us in smaller companies with limited resources (like us) this could be a very good thing as we'll be able to access the market better.  For larger companies it may very well be a bit of a disaster as these people work to get better deals because they know what other schools have done plus they may delay procurement to make bigger purchasing packages.

So if they do it right - a very good thing but if they do it badly, another layer of administration that adds nothing to the value chain.  Let's hope they are a good thing.

The salary by the way was £25K - I hope that's enough.

Schools purchasing

Schools purchasing may be about to change.  I noticed an advert in our local paper for "Procurement officers" to work as part of a larger team across a number of schools.

For those of us in smaller companies with limited resources (like us) this could be a very good thing as we'll be able to access the market better.  For larger companies it may very well be a bit of a disaster as these people work to get better deals because they know what other schools have done plus they may delay procurement to make bigger purchasing packages.

So if they do it right - a very good thing but if they do it badly, another layer of administration that adds nothing to the value chain.  Let's hope they are a good thing.

The salary by the way was £25K - I hope that's enough.

Functional Skills Subject silo's

I was training a group recently in one subject and a fairly heated discussion ensued about the impact of other subjects.  

Position 1.  My students are very capable of the vast majority of level 2 Mathematics but aren't spatially aware so itsn't fair that they won't pass level2 maths as it includes 2D to 3D representation.

Position 2.  My students can do maths but because they are required to read and write in the maths test, they won't be able to pass.

My view - it isn't about passing exams, it's about making students functional in the world of education, work and community.  And that pretty much means that students who can't read and write aren't functional irrespective of whether thay can do Functional Mathematics.  It isn't about compensation of some, it's about mastery of all.

BarCamp - Digital Sunderland

I'm going along to an "intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees" about IT in the Community tonight.

Never been to one before, don't know what to expect, I do hope that some people from the Community (Colleges, Students, etc) are there and I'm not the only one!

Still, everything to gain and nothing to loose.

70 page jargon guide!

The LSN have just published a research report into jargon in post 16 education.

Would love to read it - got to useful and qould also make me smile.

Problem - it's 70 pages long - now that's jargon.

perhaps there's a market in summarising it?

Edexcel cancel Computer based assessment for 09

I just seen on an education message board that Edexcel have delayed the implementation of computer based assessment for the IT Diploma at level 1, unit 1 and level 2, unit 1 until Janury 2010.

They are using paper based tests instead and It doesn't say whether this applies to all units or specifically to this one.

Students Love it!

For those of us who have the development of Diplomas over the last two years, this will come as no surprise at all.

TES reports that Mary Curnock-Cook of the QCA has told MPs that students love the Diplomas and teachers are keen to teach them.

Students are being enthused by the practical nature - I love that word ethused - that's exactly what the Diplomas should be doing.

Easy to tell it's half term

Not that much intersting in the papers this week, the TES is thinner than my hair, the only thing that i read that was of interest was the way in which the Sats tests cancellation was hitting Touring Theatre Groups who were delivering Shakespeare workshops.

Dropping these tests may have a bigger impact on teaching and learning than we think......

Possible conflict between colleges and schools?

The TES reported this week (Joseph Lee page 3 of FEFocus) that Colleges are calling for the power to take over the Diploma for 14 year olds and recruit them directly.

Good thing or bad thing?  My view is that short term it would be really bad as Colleges have pretty much failed to either recruit or direct students to Diploma courses - only 1500 students on level 1 for example.  So why give a college more power to direct students away from diplomas?

Long term however, it has to be a very good thing.  there's no doubt there would a significant number of 14 year olds who would benefit from a college environment and do better than at school. 

I just think that to get into a position of "power" you have to show significant levels of support in the first place.

KS3 tests - impact

Well, there isn't really a surprise to this announcement but it is very big news. 

Does it impact 14-19?

Well it should impact it positively as no longer will 14 year olds be taught to a test, especially a test which can have some really major impact on where studnets go next.

Maybe we'll actually see Schools now bring forward some other things to take the pressure off year 11 and provide studnets with an earlier target.  I'm thinking about Functional Skills here and maybe things like INGOTS?

Probably, it provides much more opportunity for much broader and much better teaching and learning.

As bad as that!

Reports that only 11,000 students have started Diplomas are, I guess, depressingly real.

our feedback from customers and potential customers is that students numbers are low.  In one case we were told that only 1 students had enrolled on an engineering course so they had been transferred to BTEC.

In the long term - is this bad?

Not necessarily so as it gives everyone a btter chance to get it right first time, but it does require a large enough population to move forward..

If I was to suggest where publicity could have been improved I would start with the comment from DCFS/QCA that Diplomas were a gold standard qualification for everyone.  They aren't, they are right for some and if we'd started there, we may not be in a position where we are trying to defend low take up.

Confirmation of things we already sort of knew.

Taken from the TES

The Public Accounts committee have said:

• Diplomas will cost more than GCSE or A levels but the final cost is unknown.
  
• Many teachers are still in the dark about how the new qualifications are being funded.
  
• Half of all schools and colleges had no idea whetehr their teachers were ready and equipped to teach the course.
  
• The Government had not yet convinced employers, universities and parents of the Diplomas credibility.
  

Ho hum - just another day in thew ever chaging world of Functional Skills and Diplomas.

Another Great north run done

Nothing to do with functional skills or diplomas or education.

But I have just completed my 10th GNR in a row - and in a time of 2:14 - not bad for an old guy!

Click on the link to donate a pound or two to the great North Air Ambulance.

Teachers TV

Very occassionally I dip into teachers TV.

becuase my interest is 14-19 vocational, I do search these areas and I came across this video.

http://www.teachers.tv/video/25749

It's a relatively basic introduction but it's a little out of date with some of the numbers, particualrly in relation to the numers taking the Diploma.  Nevertheless it's a very good introduction to the subject and it does cover all the angles from university to employers to equivalence.

Recommended if you need to know more or indeed need to help colleagues know more.

Jonathan Wells - Guroo

The leading independent resource for Functional Skills

Ofsted GCSE Maths comments

Widely reported today are problems with Maths teaching in secondary schools.  Only half of all lessons are good enough according to ofsted who go on to say that one of the main reasons is that lessons are often too focussed on process and not on application.

Music to my ears frnakly - that's the whole point of functional skills, application of skills and it means that if we can get the teaching and practice of functional skills right, it can make a huge difference to the overall teaching of Maths.

I'm off to develop some examples of maths applications!

 

14-19 adverts in the press

Has anyone noticed just how many 14-19 adverts there are at the moment? or is it just usual for this time of year.

Daily Mirror

Its not just the Guardian and the teleraph that's getting in on the act for describing the changes in Education - now it's the Daily Mirror with a full page now.

And it's a very good one - informative and well written with only one slightly misleading headline referring to the fact that a Foundation Diploma is worth 5 GCSE without saying this is grade D-G.

I shall be putting it on our website when I have a moment and can scan it!

Daily Mail Advert

WoW - a full page advert in the Daily Mail today advertising changes in the 14-19 curriculum. Makes some failrly bold claims as well - "Every Student ....... guaranteed an appropriate place"

I wonder if this is the start of a concerted effort to get the right information out or just a one off - hope it's the former, can't possibly be a bad thing at all.

Functional Skills at KS3?

I've just been catching up on three weeks worth of TES - one of the pleasures of a short holiday in August.

One story that caught my eye was Functional Skills at Key Stage 3. I found this a little bit hard to understand at first and in fact a colleague from another company phoned me to ask what it was all about and I had to admit I didn't know anything about it!

In all fairness, I still haven't got to the bottom of my understanding but I think that it's to do with the new KS3 curriculum that starts now with the roll out this year to year 7 only. I shall do some more digging - in the meantime if anyone knows out there - your comments welcomed.

GCSE Everyday Stuff

So we're on the starting blocks and I read a really interesting piece from Tony Attwood at Hamilton House entitled GCSE Everyday Stuff. It's very relevant to how we approcah Functional Skills as part of the new 14-19 curriculum at www.guroo.co.uk Here's a extract from Tony

"At first sight these exams appear to be similar to GCSEs in the same subjects. But there is a subtle difference, a difference that has led some to rename Functional Skills as GCSEs in Everyday Stuff.

It’s an apt title for, as every question that appears in the sample exam papers made available by Edexcel reveals, students not only have to have the prescribed knowledge, they also have to know how to apply it.

Such a development will be welcomed by those in business who have complained in the past that students leave school unable to apply their knowledge of maths, English and IT to the workplace."

Education Man

Never been called that before - must be sully season in the press becuase I just found myself on the front page of the business section in the local North East paper.

http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/technology-news/2008/08/07/education-man-to-multipy-sales-51140-21481804/

All I need now is a link back from their site to www.guroo.co.uk and it's a complete story in its own right!

NEET statistics

In the news this weekend was lots of comment about NEETs. Government stats say that around 9% are NEET, LSC says it's double that.

Let's first look at how the Government counts. They exclude anyone who has been on any training at all in the previous 4 months (I think but I may be wrong) as in traiing. So even if a youngster goes to a one day course about writing a CV run by Job Centre Plus, then they are not NEET. So I think the LSC is probably right as most sensible people would say that someone is training means someone at College or School or in an Apprenticeship.

The bigger issue is the Government targets. They want 85% of 19 years to have a level 2 qualification by 2013, 80% by 2011. This actually means getting all the NEETs through a level 2 in just 5 years - now that's a big big challenge and I don't see how it can be done given the resources at the moment.

Unless of course the statistical counting changes ......

Now I know what ....means

And part of the amplification document (see previous post) is the glossary. I have chosen some entries wich just make it all easier for all of us. I always wanted to know how to briefly descirbe a text message without using any jargon and in less than 200 words.

Web page: A unit of
information from a
website that can be
addressed using its URL.

Text message:
Sometimes known as
SMS (short message
service), available on
digital GSM networks
allowing text messages to
be sent and received via
the network operator’s
message centre to a
phone, or from the
Internet, using a so-called
SMS gateway website. If
the phone is powered off
or out of range,
messages are stored in
the network and are
delivered at the next
opportunity.

Amplification of the standards

I got all excited this morning when I opened up the 14-19 newsletter and saw that Amplification of the Funstional Skills standards hidden at the bottom of the newsletter.

Great, let's read it now I thought - 6 hours later and 148 pages and the amplification is now clear! I really do feel sorry for those people who have to plough through this - I mean, what has to be 148 pages long? It's simply too long to make sense and certainly so long that the majority of practitioners will not read it.

So if you're a teacher in a school who has just been asked to teach Functional Skills and you ask for guidance ....... you can see where I'm going.

GCSE English changes

I was quite surprised by the announcement by QCA that English will be available to some students as a single subject called "English".

i had thought that the introduction of Funcational Skills into the pass requirement for ENglish Language was a big step forward, I guess this is an even beigger step forward!

Is it a bad thing? Probably not, providing it's targetted at the right students and it also means that QCA then have the space to demand more of students who do two GCSEs in Language and Literature.

I do like the sound of how the currculum will be split into "English in the real world" and "English in the imaginary world", I've always like descriptves that say what they do on the tin!

The Apprentice again shows attitude and enthusiasm wins out

I've had this in my mind a for a few days now but it really came to the fore when I was at a conference on NEETs earlier this week.

Think back to the winner of the Apprentice this year - Lee McQueen. Track down to a previous post of mine (the only one with a comment as well) which is about how employers see attitude and ethusisam as being much more important than qualifications, indeed, it's the primary decision factor.

Lee is exactly that person, a poor presenter who enthusistically treid to get better (and did), a can do attitude to everything, but not that many qualifications, not traditionally seen clever.

AQA say that GCSE passes will drop.

The head of AQA has been talking this week about borderline students and the impact of Functional Skills on them. Quote Mike Cresswell "It's clear that there's a significant impact on the number of people getting a grade C" He goes onto say

"Looking at the information we have now will lead you to beleive that there will be quite a lot of students would otherwise get grade C who will not do so well when this has to include Functional Skills"

He's talking about 2010 when FS become an integral part of GCSE. The first league table reports will be published 2012.

Is it any coincidence the Government has brought forward the target of improving schools from 2012 to 2011?

Let's be clear about this......

One of the letters in the TES caught my eye. Prof Sa'ad Medhat made some excellent points about Quality vs Quantity on the new Diplomas especially in relation to the Sept takeup being around half of the "target", a figure I concur with from my own research by the way.

He argues that progression routes are essential to encourage the Diplomas effectiveness.

I woiuld argue that we should get off the fence and stop argueing that Diplomas are "rigourously academic" which confuses the student, the school, the employers and the Univerisity and make it clear that:

Academic = A levels
Vocational = Diploma

How hard can that be?

Work Experience

This is an interesting subject, at least I'm interested in it!

There's one corner that says that unless work experience is directly related to the Diploma of study, then it's worthless, the other corner declares that employers value "generic" work experience.

In terms of the diploma, very clearly work experience in a particualr area can never be guaranteed. How can it be? So standards have to allow for generic work experience or indeed work in a "setting".

But the reality is that most students, certainly most schools and I'm sure Connexsions will all be doing whatever they can to organise the best placements for the student and that means starting the search in the area of interest.

I just that the scare stories are exactly that.

Scare stories again

Front page of the TES this week brings another scare story.
Becuase the Diploma says that work experience should be in the line of learning "where possible" it is possible that experience may be outside of the Diploma area.
But the reality is that it's unlikely as Connexions, Schools and Colleges will be wanting to get youngsters experience in the right area and this clause is there to cover for problem areas where it is difficult to get the right experience.

The bigger issue is probably that with 10 days minimum instead of the 5 days now, and a need to get the right experience, Connexions will face a large increase in workload which i know (from talking to heads of the service) are not being funded.

Another issue are the Health and Safety requirements of areas such as Construction. If it really is a requirement that every employee that comes into contact with a student (could be everyone) has to have CRB clearance, then no-one in Construction could ever have a student on site due to the transient nature of many contractors. Now that really is a problem in my view.

20,000 - good enough?

It looks like numbers starting the Diploma in September are going to be around 20,000 considerably less than the Government imagined when it set a "not a target" figure of 40,000.

Is this a bad thing - almost certainly not. The Diplomas are a complex qualification, they will need time to settle, they will also need time for those schools and colleges who are delivering them to learn the best ways and (in my view) get the right students on the courses.

So lets' assume that each of the 20,000 represent a potential problem, we now have either:

a) half as many problems
b) twice as much time to deal with them

I just hope that the focus is not on the numbers but on the Diplomas.

www.guroo.co.uk

J

Choosing the right path with the right subject

Today the Daily Mail has an interesting piece. In typical Daily Mail style, it's written as a bit of a middle England scare story but underneath the headlines, it's relevant and actually nails the problem quite well.

The Universities (Russel Group. LSE, Cambridge are some named) have effectively black listed some of the A levels regarded as soft options as counting towards offers. Subjects like ICT, Leisure & Recreation, Health and Social Care, Travel and Tourism, Media amongst others and I'm honestly not picking on these subjects. I mention them because coincidentally these are in the the first or second round of Diplomas.
But the same Universities have said (probably with a certain amount of reticence and perhaps even Government pressure) that they will accept level 3 Diplomas as a route to a degree.

So here we are for a theory.

If you are a student about to set off on your level 3 course.
Choose A levels for academic or traditional subjects such as Sciences, English, Maths.
Choose Diplomas for Vocational subjects such as Media, Leisure, Health & Social Care, ICT, Travel & Tourism.

But don't try to do A levels in Diploma subjects and should Diplomas ever come out for Maths, stick to the A levels.

If this all works though, it'll make it easier all round!

PLTS and Attitude

Here's a one to think about, driven by my thoughts about grades and assessement.
In the new Diplomas, the grade will be decided by the primary learning. OK, that's fine but what is a concern is what is not being assessed.
PLTS is a key part of the Diplomas/Functional SKills and rightly so.
My worry is that if Diplomas are taught in th same way that GCSE are taught - ie to the exam, then PLTS will not get the credit or time it deserves.

Whay is this a concern? Because i recently wrote that employers value attitude and ethusiasm above other "paper qualifications" and these hugely important employability things can be part of PLTS.

Diplomas do represent a great potential way forward, my worry is that if they are treated like traditional quals, they won't bring the benefits to the young people who take them that they could do.

Controversial?

Grade Boundaries

I never really thought about this but grades are alomst aways set according to previous performance and the history of the qualification.
The piece in the TES about examiners not knowing where to set boundaries is very relevant when you hear some of the horror stories from pilot schemes where NONE of the Year 11 managed to "pass" the practice FS tests.
SO will that examiners err on the side of caution?
Probably, is this a bad thing - in the short term no, but in the long term it risks devalueing Diplomas.

Teaching Attitude and Enthusiasm

Going through some of the recent reports and cuttings and something from the Guardian caught my eye.
Employers have 4 "must haves" when looking for the right young person for a job.

Literacy and Numeracy we accept and they are a key part of the functional skills agenda but what interested me was the dual skills of Attitude and Enthusiasm.

Can they be taught?

DIUS vs DCSF

You could regard this as a competition war between soft furnishings companies but in reality, it refers to the Dept for Children schools and Families that look after everything to do with 5-13 education then only parts of the 14-19 whilst DIUS (Dept innocation Universities and Skills) look after everythging to do with Universities, Colleges and some stuff in 14-19.

And to make it even more confusing, the re's the QCA, QIA ofqual, LSN and LSC all involved as well.

BTec vs Diploma?

Is the concern expressed by the Head of Edexcel recently justified. I hesitate to say this, but with Edexcel owning the btec qualification and with the btec qualification probably the one most likely to suffer from the success of Diplomas, I guess you could say it was all part of the job of protecting edexcel.

I think a concession has been made in that btec continue tor un for a while whilst Diplomas are watched - I think that if i was QCA then I would have had a stronger line on this.

Anyway - he did a good job of stirring the emotions about Diplomas.

Useful English and Maths

Here's an off the wall thought.
Instead of calling things Functional Skills why not call it what it is:

USEFUL ENGLISH AND MATHS

or perhaps

USEFUL STUFF WITH WORDS AND NUMBERS

or for short

USEFUL STUFF

I've got a level two in "useful stuff" - go on sounds great doesn't it.
And the kids would love it, at least my kids would.

Q: What did you do at school today
A: Just useful stuff

J

left hand and right hand?

Lots today on the news and in the guardian about diplomas.
The chief of edexcel has waded in and depending on who's reported it "Diplomas in trouble" or "Nearly there" could be the headline.
Polly Curtis of the Guardian in her long report says that schools, exam boards teachers are broadly supportive of diplomas and recognise it's the only game in town but that more needs to be done on

Understanding the structure and working of consoriutm
Getting resources in place to support the diplomas
Making sure teachers understand the new structures of teaching - especially that of functional skills.

She says that Mr Jarvis of Edexcel is similarly supportive and flagging issues now, he means to move things forward not stop things from happening. The government remains hugely supportive of course, and sometimes it looks just a bit too supportive and perhpas should recognise that problems do exist but there is a will to put them right.

Jonathan

Vocational or Academic?

There was a nice piece in the Guardian last week which really was focussed on asking the question - Are diplomas supposed to be vocational or academic?

I think that's a great question.

The difficulty in answering it, or even thinking about what the answer is, is that they are being "sold" as the be all and end all, and maybe that's a problem that QCA/DCFS need to overcome. They don't want to say that a Diploma is either Academic or Vocational for fear of alientating the others but by sitting on the fence, there is a risk that neither "side" will see them as a solution, leaving them on the fence for all time.

Comments?

Simplifying the qualifications?

The clean out has started with some of the qualifications that are not being taken up by providers and students.

TES reported this week that a number of BTEC, OCR Nationals and City and Guilds are likely to disappear or be subsumed into the new Diploma qualifications.

Surprise for me is that Applied A levels are also going – now these are quite a new qualification anyway. It seems sensible but I feel a little sorry for students who have these now and they’ll quickly become something that few people understand. Also going are AEA which I have to confess I didn’t even know existed. Reading a little deeper it states they are like the old S levels that only the very clever and very committed did when I was at school. My daughter has just done A levels and she wasn’t offered an AEA option.

A big advantage of the clean up will be simplicity I hope. I think this will be supported by the statement presumably from QCA that any future qualification will have to show that no other GCSE, Diploma, A level, Apprenticeship or Foundation Course.

I have to say – it all looks very sensible!

Publicity Activity in 14-19

Even the local paper is getting in on the act.
A two page "advertsiing feature" on Dilomas in the TES last week.
Today I see a full page on the local 14-19 partnership in Sundelrand launced in the Newcastle Journal! Lots of cous on NEETS and on the Diplomas as you'd expect.
I thought that Iwas good at keeping up with things but wow - there's so much to keep up with.

Big announcement expected today

DFS are going to announce a new testing regime becuase the old one is so hard to manage.
From today, 16 years olds will be able to test themeselves and decide what qualifications they should have.
This ne regime will allow teachers to focus more on teaching as they won't have to worry about exams said the spokesman from DFS.
Apparently, if kids give themselves 1 qualification, then they can take another absoutely free in a special offer running through to SUnday night anfd they get four years to apy - the first year being free!

Diplomas are a vehicle for a shift in learning

“We are ready for a shift in learning – Diplomas offer a vehicle for this. It is a vehicle that is a juggernaut, but which does not need slowing but needs steering”
A quote from the letters page in the TES from Dr Barry Wratten, Headteacher of Churchill Community School in North Somerset.

Sort of sums it up very well really!

75% of schools offering Diplomas - really?

DCFS have said that nearly 75% of schools and 88% of colleges will offer the new diplomas in September.
Now that's a big number and in my experience, it seems to be a lot bigger (in schools) than I find on the ground!
It also doesn't check out with the stats on the excellent "Diploma Video" which quotes 40,000 learners across 1300 institutions.
I reckon that's about a third of secondary schools.

Mind it would be great if it was 75% of schools!

Diplomas are being made more complex

Every day on radio 4, ed balls seems to have something new to say about diplomas. Good to see the Government so committed!

In the Guardian today a good piece from Mike Baker:

To summarise, he says that the recommedations of the Tomlinson report that was rejected when Tony Blair was in charge seem now to be coming to fruition under Gordon Brown.

But the warning signs are there. There will be an election around 2010, just about the time of the real birtyh of diplomas and a porr reputaion and performance then could see a negative outcome to incorporating A levels into reforms come 2013.

And there may a change of Government of course ......

ANd that's without the practical problems of implemtation, work experience, timetabling.

The final paragraph is
"The desire to give diplomas academic responsibility is understandable in view of the british tendency to devalue vocational qualifications. But that desire is the cause of the confusion, complexity and ambivalence that could scupper this much needed reform."

The New Curriculum

So the announcement this week of major revisions to the GCSE programme as well as the extended Diplomas.
And another mailing from KSSP reminding me that Key Skills continues until 2010 only - It is starting to feel like a new curriculum all round.

In fact I've registered www.thenewcurriculum.co.uk - suggestions as to what I should put on this site?

4 and a half A levels

As a bit of an addundum to the last posting.
Apparently, there will be a super Diploma worth 4.5 A levels!

I have a feeling that it's all a bit too complex and perhaps, going back to basics would be a better way forward all round?

Is this really the right thing to do

I haven't checked this out yet in any form but on the news this morning an announcement that the Government is to make the new Diploma level 3 quals more acadmeic and worth 4.5 A levels.

Surely this can't be right. I know it was a long time ago but I only did 3 A levels, and I was there full time at school, every day and had masses of extra work to do. Further, we are faliing a significant proportion of youngsetrs already in not having the right studty programme for them. Students who are academically minded already have good routes, those who haven't the ability to get acadmeic quals are again being marginalised.

I also simply don't believe that it is possible to do the equivalent of 4.5 A levels and then have employers beleive it was wotrh 4.5 A levels. Saying it is is just wrong, as no-one will believe it and therefore the qual will be devalued.

More on this when I have investigated.


I'm a big supporter of the new quals (as you'd expect) but this looks like a step too far

LSN

Just recieved an email from the KSSP part of LSN this morning saying that most support ends in March. But not a lot on what takes over other than a link to the excellence gateway - strange!

Astonishing press coverage of 16 year old school leavers

In todays Daily Mail.
p12 - pupils in big schools are doomed to failure - a focus on those 78000 pupils who leave without even the basic qualifications.
p19 - tories pledge to get Jeremy Kyle generation into jobs - main focus of the story is dissaffected young men and the growth of NEETS
p24 - head of eton calls for overhaul of GCSE - do 6 instead of 16 plus a range of other interetsing stuff. You don't have to test and examine everything.
p29 - the Hair and Beauty diploma that doesn't actually involve cutting hair - comment of the new diplomas.

Four stories, all focussed on 16 year olds and with a clear tendency towards fising the problems of low achievement.

Using games for learning

An interesting poll by YouGov on behalf of RM shows how something can be spun in each direction.

RM says "There is a strongly expressed interest in using these for learning, with 30% saying they would like to use video games to help them learn, 20% an MP3 player and 18% social networking sites".

Now I'm quite diappointed at some of these figures. Given that virtaully every teenager has a games player of some description, only 1 in 3 want to use it for learning and an even lower number for sites such as MSN.

There's been loads of talk about how msn and bebo and myspace can be used for learning, perhaps all of us "advisers/adults/teachers/commentators" shouldn't bother as I think the spin on this story is that teenagers don't want to use their technologies for learning. Games are games they appear to say, now leave me alone whilst I play!

Independent reports backs creative use of ICT

Extracted from the excellent http://www.merlinjohnonline.net/ site.

Yet again, another indepdnant reports that states that using "cutting edge creative technology to work with some of the most challenging students" really does work.

Some comments and they aren't out of context at all.

“We did a big push on digital creativity, cutting edge stuff,” he says. “Kids were getting into podcasting really early, and we were using podcasting in teaching.”

“And I think these tools can do it. They ensure that kids will get it right.”

“Now when children become successful they feel better about themselves, and they stop ‘effing and blinding’ and doing all the things that, in the context of our work, get them excluded from mainstream schools. In the long term we don’t want them marginalised, so if we can help them believe they can learn, and be successful, they can then learn new behaviour and then learn to be sociable and the whole thing follows itself. What’s wonderful is, in the video clips you can see children talking about how it has impacted on them.”

It makes me even more convinced that what we are doling is right - we just need to get it to students!

Read the full report by clicking the merlinjohn link above.

Extra Money?

A small piece linked from the QCA newsletter said that DSFS was giving an EXTRA £1000 for each student doing a Diploma.
Click in the link to the LA website and it shows that it varies from £780 to £1280 with some LA's getting less and some more refelcting the cost of delivery.
All the info I sw related to level 1 and level 2 at 14-16 though - even though it says that funding for 16-19 has been announced.

Never mond - and extra £1000 to support delivery of Diplomas - got to be good news methinks.

Diploma Positioning by the DCFS

I feel quite heartened by the press.
Headlines like
Ministers make Diplomas a Priority
Stop recommended A levels
The furture of A levels can not be guaranteed

OK, so most of these are sort typical daily mail type "when I was a lad" headlines but the underlying sentiment I think is good.

Things like Key Skills pretty much failed in the market becuase they weren't made imporatnt. The opposite occurred when qualifications like the GNVQ IT was awarded 4 GCSE pass status, it became so popular with schools that it cuased it's own downfall.

So talking up Diplomas is a good thing in my view, and blogs are opinions after all, just hope it doesn't get overvalued and therefore go the way of GNVQ.

Promising though - jonathan

BETT Show

Lots of QCA led discussion about FS at BETT.
There was even what amounted to a stand up argument in one of the presentations I was in. Quite rightly, the QCA representative was questionsed about the Drama diploma and how teachers could get studnets to "commercially rpesent their show".
QCA said - nothing to do with us
Exam Board (don't know which one) - haven't htought about that yet.
Drama teacher - but I have to start teaching this in Sept
QCA - not my brief

Stalemate! even after he asked it several times, quite funny really.

See the Key skills post about software at BETT, frankly their wasn't much -that's it!

Evidence that creative use of ILT helps disengaged learners

This piece has been extracted from the excellent Merlin John's blog. www.merlinjohnonline.net

Pro0f that Creative ICT helps the most disengaged learners

There are some basic truths in education and here’s one. You can’t learn or teach successfully unless you are prepared to take chances: and you can’t take chances unless you have confidence.And the relevance of this? A new study, carried out on Becta’s behalf in 10 UK special schools by University of Liverpool researchers, found that creative use of ICT is a powerful tool in helping children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties to experience the successes that can give them the confidence to engage with their teachers and their education.

Enhanced engagement, motivation, co-operation, collaboration and achievement were all observed.It’s something that has long been obvious to some educators, but it took headteacher at Rush Hall School, John d’Abbro, who has pioneered creative work with his own students using state-of-the-art ICT tools from Apple for digital video, animation, music and podcasting, to set up a national research project with support from Apple and Canon.

And he is delighted that some of the insights he has gained from his own experiences have been confirmed by the findings of the researchers. It is backed up with extensive, revealing video interviews with learners, teachers and parents (see student Samantha Bell, above, on her Anne Frank project, and teacher Jan Kirkham, below, on the importance of self-esteem).

(Just go to the blog to see the videos ..... jonathan)