April 1st newsletter special edition

April 1st - a special edition bringing breaking news!

STOP PRESS ..... STOP PRESS ....it has taken quite a bit of work, but “our mole” at DfE has eventually got advance notice of the Government’s response to a number of consultations including the Wolf Report and National Curriculum Review. Also in this special edition, we get advance news on FFS, LVA and changes to League Table measures.

Progression and Grade Boundaries

Awarding organisations support Professor Wolf’s theory that AOs should be able to decide on which qualifications they introduce, but that all qualifications should have progression built in. Our “mole” has seen several proposals including:

• GCSE Stuff – a new course based around employability skills, English and maths that is aimed at those students whose achievement expectation is “in quartile 4”. A further development of this course - GCSE Harder Stuff will be aimed at quartile 3 students, but in a fight for equivalence, AOs say they will be worth the same number of points. AOs refused to comment on the availability of GCSE Really Hard Stuff and GCSE Virtually Impossible Stuff aimed at further progression for quartile 2 and 1 students respectively.
• GCSE grade boundaries are being revised. A*-C continue but the lowest achievable grade in a single exam will now be D. E grade will be awarded to students for effort, if they re-sit both exams at least twice over 2 years post-16. E* will be reserved for those who try at least 3 times. While equivalence is a dirty word at DfE we understand an E grade will be counted as higher than a D grade but less than a C grade and E* grade will be the new minimum requirement for all apprenticeship programmes. We understand that a proposal to change the alphabet in the National Curriculum to reflect these changes will not be implemented.
• The National Curriculum review also has progression as a theme. In an effort to engage a wider and more popular audience, the National Curriculum Review will link up with the new series of Britain’s Got Talent. Each week, the public get to vote for their favourite act ... plus their favourite subject, with the final 6 subjects all getting a guaranteed place in the National Curriculum from 2012.

FFS - Funding Following the Student Proposals

In a further development of FFS (Funding Following the Student), a new trial scheme is launched today with FE colleges in the South West. All students will be given a LRS (Learner Response System) to vote on the worth of the lesson using LVA (Lesson Value Add) measures.

Colleges will be paid for each DL (Delivered Lesson) based on a FF (Funding Formula) that includes SNV (Student Numbers Voting) and LVA. We understand that RM, IBM, and BMW are all shortlisted bidders for the IRO (Initial Roll-Out) of the LRS handsets and LVA software.

If the pilot is successful, we understand that the software can be adapted for school use with LVA replacing Ofsted inspections and a further optional add-on that will enable teachers’ pay to be linked to students assessment of lesson performance.

Performance Table Changes!

The Government has already floated a number of ideas to change the way that school league tables are judged, but they haven’t captured the public’s imagination.

The latest from the internal think tank is "measurement against ambition".

A new question will be introduced at KS1 called “When I grow up, I’d like to be a …………".

Students can choose from a list of over 300 occupations including the usual doctor, nurse and TV presenter but with some unusual choices thrown in such as celebrity, WAG and Banker with Bonus. Secondary schools will be ranked on how many learners ultimately achieve their ambition.

We understand there will be no new funding for increased IAG intervention as a result of these changes but funding will be found from "back office" savings.

The Greatest Day!

On a serious note, did you know that the Guroo guys are offering an incredible prize involving Take That. Get in the mood by clicking here for the official YouTube Take That channel! And our insider (a genuine insider this time) tells us that the new Take That show will be absolutely amazing.

Yes, you'll need to work a little for it, but then great prizes are always worth the effort. Click here for an entry form and all the details.

Functional Skills Newsletter March 28th

March 29th - in this issue Another busy week for Functional Skills, led by the debate around vocational education. This week we cover the response to the Wolf report by Lord Baker in the TES, by the Federation of Awarding Bodies and the Big Vocational Debate on Facebook, news about the free Guroo channel for Functional Skills on Promethean Planet, FS Maths resources from NWLG, a reminder about end of financial year offers and the closing date for the fantastic Take That competition is less than two weeks away. FAB (Federation of Awarding Bodies) and Lord Baker respond to Wolf FAB were one of the key organisations that requested the extension of the transition period for Key Skills in Apprenticeships. After the daming comments about Key Skills from Wolf and QCDA, there's discussion now about whether this extension will be withdrawn in time for September 2011 and it's no surprise therefore that FAB have come out in support of Functional SKills. The full report is here but the key support for Functional Skills comes in the second last paragraph "Part of the tale is that many colleges no longer offer GCSE retakes as their experience is that the chances of learners improving their grades are not high and the time devoted to this dispiriting activity is better used towards positive achievement in some other area. Increasingly functional skills are meeting the bill and the fact that the current model has created some problems for work-based learners should not detract from the fact that they are proving suitable for full-time students" Lord Baker on the Wolf Report More support here from Lord Baker writing in the TES Insight section this week for post-16 maths and English progression. "The main thrust of her report is that any course of vocational education must have English and maths embedded in it, at least to GCSE-level. She recommends that all students in post-16 courses should have a programme to achieve that goal." So the future is certainly looking brighter for Functional Skills, or at least a development of it! Vocation debate on Facebook I've been an active member of this on-line discussion group started as a result of the Wolf report, but now taking in the wider aspects of vocational eductaion including Functional Skills (or it wouldn't get a mention)! Free FS resources part 1 - Guroo gets it's own "channel" on Promethean Planet Guroo has recently been appointed as a Learning Response System specialist which basically means that Guroo content is being made Promethean Whiteboard friendly. The first part of this is a the release of Guroo Partner Pages on Promethean Planet, all free to use resources written to take full advantage of Promethean software which is also free to download for any whiteboard system. Click here for Guroo's Partner Pages where versions of English level 2 Home Sweet Home and Maths Level 1 Football Crazy will appear. You may need to register (that's free) and download the Promethean software (also free). Free FS resources part 2 - North West Grid for Learning I've heard that North West Learning Grid have made some Functional Maths resources available free of charge. I can't comment on how these link to the Functional Skills criteria, or indeed at what level they are aimed. Click here to go the relevant page to get access. Flexibility as the financial year ends! If you need to address a challenge in one subject area, Guroo 2.0 means you can now subscribe to resources for a single subject. We’ve launched this in March with special offers Also … we haven’t publicised it yet, but if you only want Foundation Learning resources, or only want resources for GCSE prep, or even if you want a funny mix of something like Level 1 English and Level 2 Maths for an Apprenticeship programme – we can do that too. Lots of options, we’re working on a price matrix, let us know what you need and jump on board in March – you won’t be disappointed. Take That final chance Just a couple of weeks remain in the Great Take That competition. 2 Executive Box tickets, hotel, meal, after show party and we've heard from the organisers that you be astonished "you've never seen anything like this before" was their comment. Yes, you'll need to work a little for it, but then great prizes arer always worth the effort. Click here for an entry form and all the details. The next newsletter is scheduled for Tuesday April 5th or earlier if some news breaks - if you have any comments, suggestions or your own news that you'd like to publicise, just let me know.

Quote from FAB

"Increasingly functional skills are meeting the bill and the fact that the current model has created some problems for work-based learners should not detract from the fact that they are proving suitable for full-time students."

FAB is the Federation of Awarding Bodies, an association that fully supported delaying the introduction of Functional Skills.

Isn't it amazing how quickly someone can change their view!

Functional Skills Newsletter March 22nd

March 22nd - in this issue

Just two weeks after Professor Wolf reported that classroom teachers of Functional Skills “were worried about not having resources” and one week after QCDA said "As far as the majority of practitioners are concerned, Functional Skills improve learners’ skills, independent learning, the ability to recognise and articulate the skills they are using, and motivation.”

Guroo has responded. So even though we rarely write about ourselves, this week’s newsletter focuses on what we’re doing to address this key issue. Well, I don’t think we can ever be accused on not listening here at Guroo!

Functional Skills Resources in an Age of Austerity

Here in the Guroo bunker, we realise “money’s too tight to mention”, so we’re working hard to reduce our costs, and change our sales and delivery mechanisms so we can do two things for you in these difficult times:

• Reduce prices
• Increase flexibility (which usually also results in reduced prices!)

What does that mean in practical terms?

Inflation? What Inflation?

Annual subscriptions to Guroo now cost LESS than they did in December, with 2 year subscriptions purchased this month a whopping £800 cheaper. Plus we’re adding extra time (up to 6 months) FREE to all full subscriptions this month – so it’s not too late to secure the fantastic resources that you need for ALL the funded lines of learning in 14-19 education this academic year.

Click here for full details

A little local difficulty?

If you need to address a challenge in one subject area, Guroo 2.0 means you can now subscribe to resources for a single subject. We’ve launched this in March with special offers

Also … we haven’t publicised it yet, but if you only want Foundation Learning resources, or only want resources for GCSE prep, or even if you want a funny mix of something like Level 1 English and Level 2 Maths for an Apprenticeship programme – we can do that too.

Lots of options, we’re working on a price matrix, let us know what you need and jump on board in March – you won’t be disappointed.

We’re listening

The summative report on the Functional Skills pilot included a key point: teachers were worried about not having the resources they need to teach Functional Skills.

The Wolf report also referenced the challenge for teachers in covering a wide range of scenarios with their learners.

So – even if you are looking for resources ONLY for teacher use in class, on whiteboards, on paper etc; with no personalised learner logins, no reporting etc – we can do that too. It’s the lowest ever possible entry point to Guroo’s resources. We haven’t publicised this yet – so let us know if that sounds useful to you.

New ways of contacting Guroo

If you have a sales enquiry about anything to do with Functional Skills, Lynn or Tracy on 0191 305 5045 or sales@guroo.co.uk will be more than happy to help, they will also happily talk about Take That at Sunderland and sort you out with an on-line demo - all you need is a computer and some internet!

Simon and Andy are your support experts on 0191 305 5053 or support@guroo.co.uk so they will deal with anything to do with web-sites, data, Guroo 2.0 and questions about My Functional Skills TM.

If your question is about the Functional Skills qualification, you need a brilliant speaker for your Functional Skills events, you want to know what the AOs are doing, or even as one enquirer on the forum asked "Is it true that the date for abandoning Key Skills in Apprenticeships is being brought forward a year?" then Jonathan and Stewart on 0191 305 5051 are your first port of call - jwells@guroo.co.uk or shutton@guroo.co.uk always work!

Guardian Article 15/3/11

By Mike Baker

The full article is here.

What interests me is this bit

"And remember that functional skills, while they may not be perfect, were developed because GCSEs in maths and English were not considered to be any guarantee of the sort of functional literacy and numeracy employers wanted."

Exactly what I said last week Mike!

Great minds etc etc.

Jonathan Wells of www.myguroo.co.uk

Functional Skills Newsletter March 15th

Functional Skills Pilot Evaluation

Following hard on the heels of the Wolf report comes the official evaluation of the Functional Skills Pilot published by QCDA. And what a difference in tone, it makes you wonder why Professor Wolf didn’t reference it more in her report.

Let me start this review with what I think is a hugely significant statement. “As far as the majority of practitioners are concerned, FS improve learners’ skills, independent learning, the ability to recognise and articulate the skills they are using, and motivation.”

It therefore comes as no surprise to read the first paragraph of the conclusions: “It has been striking that FS have been almost universally welcomed by the stakeholders consulted during this evaluation of the FS pilot. FS are seen as an improvement on the range of existing qualifications, with the potential to better prepare learners for further learning, entry into employment and progression in the workplace.

And these are not selective quotes, the evaluation really is positive! Here are some more highlights:

On the Impact of Functional Skills

• Key stakeholders understand and value FS qualifications.
• Recognition of the concept and value of functionality, and support for it, was constant throughout the pilot and across practitioners, learners and stakeholders.
• Practitioners with experience of FS were very positive about them, seeing the value in the qualifications and seeing them as a good replacement for Key Skills.
• Employers saw clear benefits for learners in moving to FS but felt delivery and assessment placed additional burdens on them.
• Most other stakeholders consulted thought FS improved learner preparedness for employment, with some citing the increased confidence they gave and the ability to transfer skills as key reasons. FS were considered to be a far more suitable preparation than that offered by Skills for Life (SfL) or KS.
• Generally, FS and subject specialists believed that FS were capable of improving learners’ functional effectiveness in English, mathematics and ICT.
• Learners were reported to have enjoyed lessons more, remained engaged and got more from lessons. Learners substantiated these points and also identified the value of FS in their everyday lives.

On Delivery and Accessibility of Functional Skills

• There was evidence that as teachers and tutors became more familiar with FS, FS were having a positive influence on teaching and learning.
• FS provision can be accommodated and taught effectively within the context of the national curriculum requirements at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 (KS3 and KS4).
• Pre-16 centres were beginning to see the value of FS and the value-added benefits associated with learner motivation, and viewed FS as enriching curriculum provision.
• Few issues were raised by centres and other stakeholders. Issues that emerged were in connection to the challenge of developing scenarios and contexts that are appropriate to a wide range of learners.
• The pilot qualifications were considered to support diversity, access and inclusion. Centres reported that there had been either a positive impact or no impact on learners’ experience and attainment.
• There were some concerns about the suitability of FS for certain learners within the groups represented by the equality and diversity strands, but these issues were not thought to be insurmountable.
• The gap in pass rates between candidates with English as an additional language and those without was closing, with the attainment of learners with English as an additional language improving in almost all subjects and levels.
• There was evidence of centres feeling that any challenges faced by FS learners would either be addressed by the general support and induction processes in their centres or would be minimised by the experience of their staff in dealing with specific learner groups.
• The majority of AOs reported being satisfied with the access arrangements and centres also reported satisfaction with the arrangements available to them and their learners.
• AOs were confident that FS would be unlikely to disadvantage learners, with learners in the secure estate the only group likely to experience difficulties in accessing FS.

Recommendations from the pilot centres

· Systematically review what all the AOs are offering by way of approaches to FS assessment; and not just opt for the AOs normally chosen.

• Make sure staff understand the FS philosophy.
• Wherever possible, integrate FS with programmes of study and across the curriculum.
• Use discrete FS teaching and learning sessions to develop learners’ problem-solving and independent-learning skills.
• Use discrete teaching sessions using real-life contexts and practical exercises to develop learners’ functionality.
• Emphasise and demonstrate the relevance and value of FS to learners.
• Encourage learning that is learner-led rather than teacher-led.
• Use rigorous initial diagnostic assessment so that the individual learning needs of each learner can be identified and addressed from the outset.

Some interesting facts about Functional Skills

More than 2800 centres supported just over a quarter of a million students in the summer of 2010.

Around half of all schools were involved reflecting the fact that 33% of FS students were at Key Stage 3 with 39% at Key Stage 4.

Average pass rates at level 1 were 61% with level 2 being 53% and age does tend to bring with it the benefit of experience as pass rates in the 16+ group were above average.

And the full report is available here

http://www.qcda.gov.uk/resources/assets/Evaluation_of_the_Functional_Skills_Pilot_Summative_Report.pdf

Selective Wolf

Ok, I agree that everyone is entitled to an opinion and to be a little selective in some of things they do, but Professor Wolf appears to have taken this to extremes. Just a week after publication of her report, a study into the pilot of Functional Skills finds lots of very positive outcomes.

Why didn't Professor Wolf take some of this into account in her report, it seems entirely reasonable she would have been supplied with a copy of the report, after all it was an independent Government research project, not a piece of sponsored research by a stakeholder with something to protect.

Yours in frustration as this merry-go-round of politics! If you're sick of it, why not have a look at the latest product from guroo called myguroo - especially for individual students and those who just need a little bit of help to pass those vital exams.

Sec-Ed this week march 10th

Lots in it this week to do with 14-19, diplomas and Functional Skills. Sue Kirkham from ASCL writes about the death of the Diploma, saying what a shame because it's such a good qualification and failing to acknowledge that ASCL amongst others were responsible for it's death. I wonder if the new way of delivering functional skills from guroo using www.myguroo.co.uk will work for Diplomas from now on?

A review of the Wolf report also takes a main editorial along with comments from sectors - i found the headteachers most interesting.

Anyway - it's worth a read.

The Wolf Report - special newsletter issue

March 8th - in this issue

Just one item of news this week - The Wolf Report. You may well have read other general commentary on the Wolf report in recent days; this one focuses on how the report deals with Functional Skills – and by extension maths and English.

The full report can be obtained here.

Well, the proverbial elephant in the room is certainly getting talked about now! The elephant in this case is those “very easy to pass” qualifications that serve the funding requirements of providers rather than the needs of learners or employers. In this context Key Skills – both Application of Number, and Communication – bear the brunt of Professor Alison Wolf’s criticism.

Professor Wolf wants to see all students under 19 progressing towards GCSE A*-C passes in English and maths by pursuing a course that leads towards ultimate GCSE success. She is particularly scathing about Key Skills saying it “should not be considered a suitable qualification in this context” and that something needs to be done about this in apprenticeship frameworks.

Professor Wolf questions the value of ‘equivalence’ qualifications that schools offer on the basis of points score – especially where grade C in maths and English is not achieved. She finds that funding incentives deliberately steer institutions (and therefore students) away from stretching qualifications in English and maths. She says “the UK (including England) is effectively unique in not requiring continued mathematics and own-language study for all young people engaged in 16-19 pre-tertiary education”.

Functional Skills – the good things

Professor Wolf is hugely supportive of GCSE maths and English for post-16 students, and with Functional Skills now representing 45% - 55% of the curriculum that can only be a very good thing. Combine this with (as yet) unpublished reports that doing Functional Skills at KS3 provides an excellent platform for GCSE success at KS4, and there are excellent reasons for centres to support Functional Skills.

Professor Wolf highlights some difficulties in teaching Functional Skills, such as the need for a wide experience of contexts and the fact that most vocational teachers are not maths and English experts. While accepting that the best practise does achieve it, she says teaching Functional Skills “in a mass system is ambitious and demanding”.

She finds no reason to dismiss Functional Skills qualifications, and says that for many post-16 learners, the jump straight to GCSE may simply be too much; the inference being that Functional Skills could be adapted to be a suitable intermediary qualification to support students towards the GCSE attainment goal.

Professor Wolf is uncertain as to whether FL is an appropriate framework for those unable to access a level two qualification, despite the support of the framework by the pilot centres, which she dismisses as she says “most pilot sites who are bound to be enthusiastic!” For the lowest attaining learners, including those who are highly disaffected with formal education (and many with LDD), English and maths plus work experience (as opposed to the accrual of qualifications) should form the core of their education.

Functional Skills – the not so good things

Professor Wolf describes what she calls “serious conceptual problems” with Functional Skills, focussing on the massive challenges of teaching skills in a wide variety of contexts, to different learners in different centres, yet being subjected to a set of exam questions that is the same for every learner.

This, combined with a lack of standardisation across Awarding Organisations is her key concern with Functional Skills. This opinion is based on the results from the pilot. In September 2010, a significant number of changes were introduced to the qualification, assessments and standards that are not referenced in the report.

In terms of pass rates, Professor Wolf notes that Functional Skills have much lower pass rates than Key Skills and from that concludes that they may be setting higher standards, but the contextual message remains very much one of attacking Key Skills.

There is little real discussion of Diplomas (which does seem strange in a review of vocational education), perhaps due to the very small contribution the qualification made to the latest available (2010) results statistics.

Functional Skills – opinion

This report was not about Functional Skills. Professor Wolf had much bigger fish to fry within her remit, and it seems she didn’t have a lot of time to investigate Functional Skills in depth. For example, we understand she was presented with substantial evidence linking Functional English and maths at KS3 with improved GCSE results (an outcome she clearly favours) yet she didn’t reference this at all in her report.

Professor Wolf repeatedly champions the value of GCSE A*-C passes, yet nowhere makes the connection between that qualification and Functional Skills – either as a component of the pass, nor as a means of progression to it. Her report also fails to address the issue that a GCSE A*-C pass does not guarantee to either an employer or to FE/HE that the student is competent in the subject because passing is more often about compensation. Nor does she put forward any suggestions as to how students reach the GCSE goal.

Perhaps most significantly, Functional Skills is not mentioned at all in any of the 27 recommendations, yet many of us could argue how it would successfully contribute to many of them.

The Red Face Awards

I suggest two groups of people may be shuffling their feet in embarrassment following this report.

The first is John Hayes, who as Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, only a few weeks ago allowed an extension to Key Skills in Apprenticeships – when Professor Wolf says the answer for apprentices is to ensure they receive relevant teaching and “not to continue with frameworks that require only the current key skills accreditation.”

The others are the industry bodies (AoC, ALP etc) representing training providers, colleges and awarding organisations who are described as making “vociferous protests” in support of Key Skills that Professor Wolf describes variously as “valueless”, “easy to pass” and “in no real sense equivalent to the GCSE grades with which they enjoyed and enjoy formal equivalence”.

Wolf report snippets

I have searched for Functional Skills and snipped bits out from the report!

Their replacement, functional skills, so far have much lower pass rates than key skills, and

schools and colleges are reported to be entering learners at a level lower than they would

have been entered for key skills. This is entirely consistent with the commonly held view

that key skills are in no real sense equivalent to the GCSE grades with which they

enjoyed and enjoy formal equivalence.

There seems no reason to bar use of functional skills

Functional skill qualifications may settle into being useful qualifications for some post-16 learners

Apprenticeships differ from other post-16 provision in having an overall ‘framework’

which includes compulsory key skills. They, too, were intended to move to functional

skills this year, but this move has been delayed because of vociferous protests from

training providers. This is because providers are paid partly on results (and completion

requires key skills), and because many have not been teaching, or needed to teach,

English and maths; nor are they equipped to. There is indeed no reason why an

occupational training specialist, whether in hairdressing, construction, or hotel work,

should be expected to teach these subjects. But there is every reason to demand that they

be taught, off the job, to young apprentices who are very likely to change occupations,

and for whom progression routes matter. That is the rule elsewhere, and should be the

rule in England too.