Under development now is a study/research paper written by Jonathan Wells of Guroo that centres on Functional Skills initial assessment and the accuracy/time taken balance. Should be available this week.
Tuesday 28 May 2013
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Guroo tutorial video clips
Every now and again, we do something that's just a little bit different and that's the case with the Guroo Functional Skills Tutorial video. And with 763 views already, that seems to have been a good move for us at Guroo Functional Skills.
Tuesday 14 May 2013
Functional Skills News - Traineeships, initial assessment, events and webinars
May 14th - the Functional Skills
newsletter
Traineeships are this week’s big news.
And naturally we love this quote "In the majority of cases, we expect that functional
skills will be the most appropriate qualifications for trainees to study in the
first instance."
Independent research into initial
assessment accuracy and rigour and Ofsted's focus on ensuring learners are
placed onto "stretching" courses has prompted further discussion on
the subject and is the subject of this week’s webinar.
Plus we have updated news of events and
links to all the webinar recordings - now the most popular method of viewing
our webinars.
As always, your comments and thoughts are
appreciated - let us know what you'd like us to cover in the newsletter by
emailing the editor - jwells@guroo.co.uk
Traineeships
and Functional Skills
Providers rated Outstanding or Good by
Ofsted will be able to offer Traineeships to young people aged 16-19 (plus some
aged 19-25 with identified additional needs) from September 2013.
The Traineeship programme for 16-19
year olds will provide a high quality work placement, work preparation training
and English and maths to ensure that young people are equipped with the skills
and experience to access sustainable employment opportunities and
Apprenticeships.
The document is available here. Functional
Skills really is at the core of the programme, here is the direct quote from
the Government’s document:
"In the majority of cases, we expect
that functional skills will be the most appropriate qualifications for trainees
to study in the first instance. As part of traineeships, young people can study these at Entry
Level, Level 1 or Level 2 depending on their prior attainment. Where they have
already achieved a functional skills qualification at Level 2, they will be
required to work towards the achievement of a GCSE grade A* to C."
The core target group for traineeships
will be young people who are engaged and motivated and:
- are not currently in a job and have little
work experience, but who are focused on work or the prospect of
it;
- are qualified below Level 3; and
·
providers and employers believe have a
reasonable chance of being ready for employment or an apprenticeship
within six months of engaging in a traineeship.
Initial Assessment - the important of
getting it right
In the last newsletter we reported on how
crucial it is to get an accurate initial assessment. You can view a recording
of our recent webinar on the subject here. Ofsted expect to see a
detailed assessment/diagnostic and for learners to be placed on a course that
"stretches" them.
We believe the initial assessment
should be rigorous, functional and produce a detailed diagnostic to support the
choice of course level. At Guroo we have implemented a number of
strategies to make sure the Guroo assessment and diagnostic process is the best
researched, most usable and produces the highest accuracy. Independent research
shows the Guroo English IA is just over half a level more rigorous that other
commonly used tools and maths almost three quarters of a level more rigorous.
- Guroo use a 10 point level
guide to improve accuracy by using "working
towards" and "working at" level guides - double that of
other popular systems
- Guroo use built in order
randomisation and variable question features to ensure
learners simply don't get used to answering the same questions and test
- Guroo initial assessments are typically completed
in around 50 minutes per subject with full diagnostic produced
automatically
- Guroo initial assessments are available on-line,
off-line and on paper - and every method produces the same
accurate diagnostic report with no tutor marking
More than 160,000 learners from many of
the UK's leading providers rely on Guroo initial assessments, call us on 0191
305 5045 or email info@guroo.co.uk to
find out more.
Events, videos and
comments
A reminder that Guroo, along with other
leading suppliers will be attending the "All Things Functional" event
in Birmingham on June 14th organised again by EMSKills. The last one was
great, the workshops for this one look great too.
Speakers include David Hughes of NIACE,
Chris Starling from Virgin, David Sangster from SFA, Karen Ticehurst from
LearnDirect/JHP and Liz Waters from LSIS. We also
understand Jayne Holt (Asst. Principal at Walsall College) will also be
speaking about Ofsted inspection and how to get an "Outstanding
Grade".
Apprenticeships 4 England have
organised a funding conference to be held on 5th June in Coventry. More information here.
Wednesday Webinar at 4.00pm
"Initial Assessment - rigour,
accuracy and usability"
- if you find that some of your learners are struggling on courses that appear
to be too high a level after completing an initial assessment, this webinar is
for you, with Jonathan Wells.
"Initial Assessment - rigour,
accuracy and usability" is
aimed at both customers and those thinking of becoming customers. As always we
find that many more people enjoy coming back for the recording afterwards, but
if you'd like to be live, just drop an email to info@guroo.co.uk
Join us on Wednesday at 4pm.
All previous webinars are recorded and
available anytime for playback - login as a guest and the password is password.
Simply click on the links below and don’t forget, if you’d like to have your
own 1:1 webinar looking at how Guroo can help you support Functional Skills,
just call us on 0191 305 5045 or email info@guroo.co.uk and we’ll take it from there.
Monday 13 May 2013
Traineeships
To fit with wider study programme principles, trainees will need to work towards GCSE A*-C in English and maths, including through the study of functional skills. In the majority of cases, we expect that functional skills will be the most appropriate qualifications for trainees to study in the first instance. As part of traineeships, young people can study these at Entry Level, Level 1 or Level 2 depending on their prior attainment. Where they have already achieved a functional skills qualification at Level 2, they will be required to work towards the achievement of a GCSE grade A* to C.
Extracted from Government Traineeship document May 2013.
Extracted from Government Traineeship document May 2013.
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