November 13th - the Functional Skills newsletter

November 13th - the Functional Skills newsletter

Lots in the newsletter this week and we feature coverage of the BIS report into Apprenticeships published last week that essentially called for an improvement in standards to ensure that Apprenticeships were rigorous, worthwhile and on a par "with university".  Schools in particular are criticised for doing little to publicise them as an alternative learner option at 16+.

We also have news of a great value major new conference to be held in Birmingham in the New Year called "All Things Functional".  On the subject of events, OCR are running a series of half day events in Functional Skills and we have links to all those not completely "sold out" although the OCR events are free to join!

And finally, we have news of this week's webinar which will go ahead on Wednesday at 4.00pm.  This week we're doing the "Functional Skills Learner Journey".  Plus we have links to previous webinar recordings too – a reminder that you will need to login as a guest and the password is always password.

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

All Things Functional - 25th January, Birmingham

A major new event for everyone involved in Functional Skills and supported by all the major players in the market led by EM SKills and Industry Qualifications plus support from Guroo, Forskills, BKSB, Runway Training and Nelson Thornes.

The event, which is very competitively priced at £99, has been designed by practitioners for practitioners and as a delegate you will:

·         Hear from expert speakers about Functional Skills policy and funding

·         Have the opportunity to participate in three hours of Functional Skills training

·         Choose from an extensive range of workshops delivered by Functional Skills practitioners and industry experts

·         Hear about new approaches to the delivery and the assessment of Functional Skills

·         Receive information about new qualifications for Functional Skills practitioners and adult learners

·         See demonstrations of the most up-to-date Functional Skills resources 

·         Have the opportunity to network with other Functional Skills practitioners and experts

If you'd like further information, simply click here for the events page or email Paul Emmett.

"The development of functional skills should be a feature of, not a bar to, apprenticeships."

There has been a lot of press comment about Apprenticeships since the publication of the BIS report.

The title of this news item is a direct quote from the official report conclusions and recommendations. The quote is in paragraph 22.

This link will take you to the bdaily report on the publication giving a slightly different view.

And here's the BBC's take on the report.

The bottom line is that more focus needs to be applied to improve standards and to make sure they are rigorous and worthwhile and much more needs to be done in schools to offer them as an alternative to 16+ learners.

Free Functional Skills training events from OCR

A series of 6 events this month covering all subjects and levels aimed at experienced practitioners, heads of department, curriculum managers, centre assessors and professionals with an interest in Functional Skills.

These are half day events in London, and include updated materials focussed on innovative teaching and learning.  Just click on the links below to go to the relevant OCR Event Booking page.  And just in case you think we've accidently left Entry Level Maths off, sorry but that one has been and gone!

• Entry Level English, Maths and ICT - Innovative teaching and learning input
• Entry Level English - Getting to grips with delivery and assessment
• Entry Level ICT - Getting to grips with delivery and assessment
• Levels 1&2 Maths - Getting to grips with delivery and assessment
• Levels 1&2 English - Getting to grips with delivery and assessment

Levels 1&2 ICT - Getting to grips with delivery and assessment

Wednesday Webinar at 4.00pm

This week’s webinar is entitled "The Functional Skills Learner Journey".  Jonathan will take you through a 15 minute look at how the learner journey for a typical Functional Skills student is developing including a look at the very latest teaching and learning videos designed to support key concepts in Functional Skills.

Email info@guroo.co.uk for joining instructions and then join Jonathan on Wednesday at 4.00pm  

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.

Getting the best from your Guroo free trial

The differences between Key Skills/SfL and Functional Skills

What you really have to know about Functional Skills for Senior Managers

Functional Skills in the Revised Common Inspection Framework

Guroo group and user admin  

The Apprenticeships Report

“We heard evidence of excessive profits at the public’s expense, of a Government paying out too much money far too easily and of a lack of genuine value for money being provided by apprenticeship schemes. This is unacceptable.”

He concluded: “Young people in this country should be given every chance to fulfil their potential in school, in work and in life. An apprenticeships programme that is fit for purpose will help them do this."

I do hope this refers to the short course Morrison/Elmfield type programme that didn't have Functional Skills in existence a year ago - commented by Jonathan Wells of Guroo.

New adult quals

So OCR along with Ascentis and I think C&G have managed to get the new "little bits of Functional Skills" on the funded qualification list for adults.
Can they keep them out of schools?
Do they want to keep them out of schools?
Or will they become a backdoor easy to pass qualification for schools?

Thoughts?

Level 3 Functional Maths?

This is just level 3 Functional Maths.
Part of the original plan but never implemented (until now).
It does mean that at Guroo Functional Skills, we have a great base to move forward though!

Functional Skills Newsletter Oct 30th

October 30th - the Functional Skills newsletter

A varied selection of news and resource items in this newsletter.  We start with news from the Guroo guys that the on-line Functional Skills screener/level checker is now up and running at www.myfunctionalskills.co.uk and also details about new videos designed to help learners new to Guroo and tutors getting the best from a free trial.

Also in the news this week, two items from Ofsted and LSIS – the first about good practice in integrating Functional Skills and the second some research about the importance of Functional Skills in the curriculum.  There are links to both areas. 

And finally we have news of this week's webinar which will go ahead on Wednesday at 4.00pm – a look at the new on-line Functional Skills Level Checker/Screener service available at www.myfunctionalskills.co.uk   Plus we have links to previous webinar recordings too – a reminder that you will need to login as a guest and the password is always password.

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

On-line Functional Skills level checker/screener goes live along with new free trial support and learner videos.

We don't normally lead on a story from our sponsors Guroo, but this one is quite a biggie.

The Guroo guys have released an on-line version of the Functional Skills Level Checker/Screener.  Available at www.myfunctionalskills.co.uk and linked to your existing site codes, the system does not require a user login and so can be used as a pre-course screener or as part of an interview process.

All existing Guroo customers can try the on-line version for free - just email info@guroo.co.uk and we'll add 100 assessment credits and send you the associated guidance document.

Also new from Guroo are learner and tutor support videos.  They have been produced in-house, using a mixture of video, animation and screen tracking.

Click here for the "new learners guide to Guroo"

Click here for the "tutors guide to getting the best from a Guroo free trial"

Click here for the "short guide to using My Functional Skills level checker/screener"

Ofsted good practice resources - integrating Functional Skills into apprenticeships

Now that Functional Skills and GCSE are the only two funded maths and English qualifications for apprenticeships, it's good to see good case study material being released.  We spotted this one on the Ofsted site.

Click here for the link where both word and pdf versions of the Skills and Development Alliance shared approach to combining Functional Skills teaching with training for customer service skills in hospitality.

Functional Skills under the spotlight

Barking and Dagenham College's Tinyan Akin-Omoyajowo has new findings on how functional skills classes are presented to learners.

Click for a link to the LSIS research that confirms that curriculum design and how we present information about functional skills determines how well learners engage.  Key points and issues to draw from the research include:

• Not highlighting the relevance of Functional Skills to learners everyday lives made it difficult for learners to relaise that FunctionalSkills were an integral part of their course.
  
  
• Timetabling classes at the end of day, before lunch or on days when learners were not due in college gave them an excuse not to attend classes
  
  
• Where prospectus information did not highlight Functional Skills, or the interview process didn't stress the importance, learners viewed the classes as odd-ons with no relevance to their chosen vocation.

Wednesday Webinar at 4.00pm

This week’s webinar is entitled "On-line Functional Skills Level Checker/Screener".  Jonathan will take you through a 15 minute look at the new on-line service available at www.myfunctionalskills.co.uk  This is a low cost, streamlined and very effective way to get a good idea of a learners potential without the time and effort for a full initial assessment and diagnostic.

Email info@guroo.co.uk for joining instructions and then join Jonathan on Wednesday at 4.00pm  

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.

Getting the best from your Guroo free trial

The differences between Key Skills/SfL and Functional Skills

What you really have to know about Functional Skills for Senior Managers

Functional Skills in the Revised Common Inspection Framework

Guroo group and user admin

Sorry NUT, that's just ridiculous

I have just hear the NUT spokesperson saying that in Secondary Schools teachers don't need to be able to do maths and English if they specialise in other subjects.  How many other people people find this ridiculous?

Teachers being able to do Maths and English

Why is the story about potential teachers having to face a tougher basic (or Functional) maths and English test before starting training?  Surely the story should be about how it ever happened in the first place?