June 18th - the Functional Skills
newsletter
This week we have news of research into
Functional Skills Initial Assessment based on independent research of the
results of more than 700 learners by a large FE College. The paper covers
the research itself, the analysis and data, the implications and how the
research has influenced how initial assessment has been developments.
We also have a news report about how
Ofsted is looking to extend the focus on progression that we're already seen
coming through in post 16 education into performance league tables.
And with less than two weeks to the
"All Things Functional" conference and exhibition in Birmingham,
we're got updated news on speakers and highlights of the show including the
first public view of the brand new Exam Practice routines on Guroo's stand.
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
All Things Functional Curriculum
Conference
‘Really enjoyed it and found the
conference a good use of my day. High quality resources appreciated.’ Angela Tchetchner, Leicester College.
‘Very informative conference. I can’t
wait to share my findings with my team.’ Monica Marongiu, College of North West London.
A very successful day in Birmingham on
Friday with key notes from NIACE, Walsall College and Ofsted, more than 100
delegates and the promise of a further conference in November. Downloads of all the presentations
are available here and the picture below shows Cathy Vaissieres of
Guroo the evening before as the Guroo stand build was being completed.
Functional Maths achievement still
causing concerns
The initial assessment white paper
based on comparative research data by a major FE college and more than 50,000 completed
initial assessments using Guroo is now fully available from www.guroo.co.uk
Simply click to download from the information bar at the top of the screen.
One of the most interesting parts of
large scale research is looking at the national picture. David Hughes of
NIACE, speaking at the "All Things Functional" event in Birmingham
last week, said "We
need to stop the attitude of it's OK to be bad at Maths".
We couldn't agree more but we also know there is a long way to go.
How do we know that - the graph below
shows the average initial assessment score across 20,000 maths assessments was
working towards L1, a result that on average is 0.4 levels below the equivalent
English result and 1.5 levels below the Government's longer term target of
Level 2 for all Apprenticeships.
So far, so good say
AELP members
LSIS and AELP have released a further
study entitled "Functional Skills - six
months into delivery".
It's a generally supportive view that shows
significant progress has been made and Functional Skills has found support
amongst AELP members. One thing did catch our attention and that was the
take-up of GCSE provision which based on the survey of 93 organisations was
just 2% as a stand alone qualification and 1% as part of an apprenticeship.
In terms of success rates, Functional
Skills are proving to be more rigorous than Key Skills, with early results
showing 17% of providers finding success rates have increased with 44% the same
and 39% decrease.
Wednesday Webinar at 4.00pm
"Exam practice" is
Wednesday's webinar with Jonathan Wells.
The Guroo team are in the middle of
developing an extensive exam practice system which will feature more than 70 x 15
mark (20 minute) Functional Skills scenario questions, all with mark guidelines
for learners and marking templates for tutors.
This week's webinar is a brief look at
how this is developing and comments and suggestions will be most welcome. "Exam
Practice" 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.
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