October 25th - the Functional Skills newsletter
In this issue, we have the results of the Functional Skills Annual Survey, more about Initial Assessment and Diagnostic solutions, news from DfE, BIS, Apprenticeships and Chambers of Commerce, events coming up and links to some new resources for Functional Skills.
It taken a little while but the results of the survey conducted at the end of last term are now fully available. More than 300 responses make this survey the largest and most important of its kind. We've put a full copy of the survey for free download here.
The survey covers confidence, where Functional SKills are used, an analysis of Awarding Organsiations chosen and an analysis of the value of the newesletter. The box below shows some of the ket findings; read the full report via the link above.
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| Functional Skills Initial Assessment and Diagnostic Initial Assessment and Diagnostics is the most notable new feature in version 2.1 of Guroo's Functional Skills subscription service, released this week. Designed specifically for Functional Skills, the Guroo Initial Assessment uses question content and structures that test specific skills against the official criteria, and the Diagnostic results provide links to the Guroo resources that develop the required skills. The system uses randomised questions to support repeat assessments, and adapts to the learner's answers to indicate a final level between "Working towards Level 1" and "Working at Level 2". The Sales Bit: Guroo are guaranteeing no price increases for new subscriptions taken out in October and November, so depending on your priorities you can view this as great resources with free Initial Assessment, or a great price on Initial Assessment with free resources! Guroo staff are standing by to give you a quick (or in-depth) online demonstration at a time that suits you. Call them on 0191 305 5045, or email sales@guroo.co.uk More from the DfE, BIS, Apprenticeships and Chambers of Commerce Functional Skills are the talk of town all of a sudden. First we had the DfE consultation which stated: "For those who need more intensive support to move towards achieving a C grade GCSE providers are best placed to determine what will meet their needs and enable them to progress. Based on level of rigour, assessment arrangements, skills taught and views of employers, the qualifications that we recommend to providers are: functional skills and free standing maths qualifications." The National Chambers of Commerce have now weighed in with calls for changes to the skills training system in report entitled "Skills for Business:More to Learn?" It takes a similar line to recent CBI studies in calling for higher standards of English and maths plus a need for softer skills such as work ethic, problem solving and communcation. There's more here. Meanwhile, over at the National Apprenticeship Service, a major row is brewing over the number of 12 week programmes being advertised. The general view is that it isn't possible to deliver a quality learning programme that includes Functional Skills in anything less than a year. FE Weeks carries a nice summary of the issues. Michael Gove may very well be preparing the ground for significant changes to the way in which performance tables are measured. In his 5000+ word speech at Ofqual, he again emphasised the problem of equivalence to "easy to pass assessments" post-Wolf and indeed indicated that he expects to see published results drop as a new realism is brought in that is based on rigour. Resources for Level 1&2 Functional ICT from CIA Training - and why not try these RAF resources on skillsworkshop to see if your students can apply their skills in a completely "novel" situation? CIA Training, specialists in developing ICT resources, have just published ICT Functional Skills - a student workbook for Levels 1&2 ICT Functional Skills based on the "Big Planet" theme park. Click here for more information. The RAF and Army are both moving to Functional Skills for all their English and maths requirements up to level 2. The link below is taken from the RAF pre-recruit training course. Now we know that many of our readers will have no idea what an "ML824 Sunderland" is, but what a great way to test your students' skills in a completely novel sceanrio! Please Plus One us on Google follow us on Twitter @guroofs and like us on Facebook at guroo.functionalskills. The next newsletter is likely to be Tuesday November 8th - if you have anything you'd like us to know about, just get in touch jwells@guroo.co.uk |
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