FS newsletter Nov 18th

Our fortnightly look at the world of Functional Skills.

Apologies for this edition being late - but on the usual publication date (Tuesday) we were all tied up at the first "Making Sense of Functional Skills" conference in London. With keynote speakers from Local Authorities, Colleges, Work Based Learning, YPLA and the CBI, what better to fill this edition with than copies of their presentations!

Making Sense of Functional Skills, London, November 2010

If you weren't there, the one-line summary messages from the keynote speakers were:

Gill Scott, Manchester LA
You can use Functional Skills to support attainment, especially in GCSE. Manchester are doing it and their learners "get it". There isn't a one-size-fits-all solution, but you can do it.

Gareth Griffiths, YPLA
There is a good deal of excellence in education, but too little equality. We are still failing our most disadvantaged learners. Functional Skills has a part to play in giving those learners a chance.

Freda Leaning, Grimsby Institute
People are working on producing diagnostic and levelling tools for Functional Skills - but it isn't as easy as it was for previous qualifications!

Richard Jackson, Camden Job Train
Work based learning is a powerful way to engage learners - especially NEETs and similar groups - but they still have to be "knowingly competent" with Functional Skills.

Simon Nathan, CBI
The CBI supports robust qualifications and sees Functional Skills as an important part of employability.

Copies of the presentations are available online from the Guroo events page

Future Events
Following the success of, and feedback from this first event, we'll be sitting down soon to scope out dates and locations for the next events around the country. These will drill down to an extra level of detail regarding practical delivery of Functional Skills teaching and learning, and will focus on "for practitioners by practitioners" guidance and sharing of best practice and experience. More details very soon!

Exam officers - updated information about administering Functional Skills assessments. Judging by the questions to the Awarding Organisations and QCDA on Tuesday, it's clear everyone is hungry for detail, detail, detail. A good place to start is the updated guidance is available here.

Functional Skills resources from Guroo

Next issue! The next issue of the Functional Skills newsletter will be back to the regular schedule on Tuesday 30th November. If you have a story, a question or a suggestion - please contact jwells@guroo.co.uk Please also feel free to forward this newsletter to your Functional Skills friends, it's free, informative and occasionally just a little bit of fun.