Tuesday 31 July 2012

Functional Skills Level Checker now available from Guroo


July 31st - the Functional Skills newsletter
Big news from Guroo this week.  The paper based 10 minute Functional Skills Level Checker is now available to our customers for both English and maths. 
The FS Level Checker is based on 12 "open" questions, and is supplied complete with marking guidelines.  It is designed for use "pre-enrolment" for courses or perhaps as part of the interview process for Apprentices.
An on-line version based on site code that does not require a pre-assigned login ID will be available, complete with automatic marking, in the next few weeks.  
Guroo customers, please email info@guroo.co.uk and we'll send you a copy of the English and Maths Functional Skills Level Checker for immediate use.

A reminder that the Annual Functional Skills Survey and Report is underway.  It is designed to be completed in about 10-15 minutes and has about 20 questions covering areas such as Confidence, Awarding Bodies, Resources and Training. It's a vital piece of work we do every year and we'll be publishing results of the survey in September.
We've already had around 150 completed surveys - thank you if you've already done it and to encourage more completions we're using the sponsorship funds kindly donated by OCR and Pearson to support 1 of 4 charities.
At the end of the survey simply choose from Children in Need, CLIC Sargent, Dogs Trust or Prostate Cancer UK and we'll make a donation to thank you for your effort and time.

Functional Skills Annual Survey Report for 2012
It will take you around 10-15 minutes.  The results we get are used widely in the sector plus this year, we are being supported by OCR, Pearson and EMSkills who have all kindly sponsored key survey questions. 
Even better, we've using the sponsorship funds to support some of our favourite charities, simply make your choice at the end of the survey!
The summary report is scheduled for publication in September, please email jwells@guroo.co.uk if you have any questions at all.  

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Functional Skills Newsletter - please complete the survey


July 24th - the Functional Skills newsletter
Just one news story this week, a reminder that the Annual Functional Skills Survey and Report is underway.  It is designed to be completed in about 10-15 minutes and has about 20 questions covering areas such as Confidence, Awarding Bodies, Resources and Training. It's a vital piece of work we do every year and we'll be publishing results of the survey in September.
We've already had around 100 completed surveys - thank you if you've already done it and to encourage more completions we're using the sponsorship funds kindly donated by OCR and Pearson to support 1 of 4 charities.  
At the end of the survey simply choose from Children in Need, CLIC Sargent, Dogs Trust or Prostate Cancer UK and we'll make a donation to thank you for your effort and time.

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Functional Skills Annual Survey Report for 2012
It will take you around 10-15 minutes.  The results we get are used widely in the sector plus this year, we are being supported by OCR, Pearson and EMSkills who have all kindly sponsored key survey questions. 
Even better, we've using the sponsorship funds to support some of our favourite charities, simply make your choice at the end of the survey!
The summary report is scheduled for publication in September, please email jwells@guroo.co.uk if you have any questions at all.  

Monday 9 July 2012

Making Sense of Functional Skills Newsletter July 10th


July 10th - the Functional Skills newsletter
This week, we launch the Annual Functional Skills Survey and Report with a request for you to complete the survey.  It is designed to be completed in about 10-15 minutes and covers areas including Confidence, Awarding Organisations, Resources and Training.  It's a vital piece of work we do every year (last year we had more than 350 responses) and we'll be publishing results of the survey in September.
We also have news of funding rates, links to an excellent NIACE resource, news that Functional Skills will become even more important from September 2013 and booking details for the second OCR/Guroo webinar, which takes place Wednesday 11th (tomorrow) at 4pm.  Places are limited so get in quick if you'd like to listen to Jonathan Wells of Guroo introducing Garry Haynes of OCR.
And don't forget that Guroo's innovative Functional Skills Direct initiative is running successfully and includes self-service access to the free trial system, something which is proving incredibly popular. 

Functional Skills Annual Survey Report for 2012
One the biggest jobs of the year that we do is to design, deliver, analyse and publish the Annual Functional Skills Survey. Last year, we had more than 350 responses making it the biggest and most comprehensive survey of its type. Click here to read last year's report.
It will take you around 10-15 minutes.  The results we get are used widely in the sector plus this year, we are being supported by OCR, Pearson and EMSkills who have all kindly sponsored key survey questions.
The summary report is scheduled for publication in September, please email jwells@guroo.co.uk if you have any questions at all.  

Functional Skills in the news
SFA announce funding rates for Functional Skills will be £336 per subject (more for Entry Level Maths).  Click here for the link to the excellent FE Week summary.
NIACE have published a nice three minute video supporting a new document available on free download from here covering what Functional Skills means for adult learners.  Click here to get to the right page on the NIACE website.
Functional Skills will get an even higher profile from September 2013, as DfE have said that all students who have yet to acheive grade C GCSE in English and maths will have to carry on taking both subjects to age 18. Click here to read the BBC report.

Supportive Tips for Delivering Functional Skills: OCR Webinar in association with Guroo
When - Wednesday July 11th at 4.00pm
Where - at your desk, ipad, or in your own time if you listen to the recording
What - Developing a resource bank of functional skills tasks (key ingredients for robust tasks - English, Mathematics and ICT) and delivering process skills in the classroom and workplace learning environment
Who - Introduced by Jonathan Wells (MD of Guroo) and delivered by Garry Haynes (Qualifications Manager for OCR)

Wednesday Webinar Recordings
Replay previous webinars at the links below. Simply enter your name and use "guroo" as the password.