November 12th - the Functional Skills
newsletter
Sharp eyed readers will have noticed
that the normal fortnightly newsletter didn't arrive last week. A
combination of the editors (my) hard disk crashing, house move and man flu (please
no sympathy needed) led to a one week delay.
So this week we have articles on the
Government's focus on English and maths, an update on events and webinars, and
support for Functional Skills from AELP.
As always, we aim to send this
newsletter out every two weeks, your comments and thoughts are always
appreciated - let us know what you'd like us to cover in the newsletter by
emailing the editor - jwells@guroo.co.uk
AELP backs Functional Skills
"Functional Skills can deliver
what employers need"
is the headline of a piece by Stella Turner of the AELP in supporting
Functional Skills in Apprenticeships published by FE Week. Stella goes on to say:
"Employers are beginning to
recognise that as well as developing vital skills in English and maths,
functional skills can help young people apply skills to different contexts,
solve problems, use their initiative and work independently."
AELP support for Functional Skills comes hard on the heels of
various Government announcements about the future of Maths and English in
Apprenticeships (see next article).
Massive changes to Maths and English planned by 2017
The
Government lead the way with multiple announcements about Maths and English
with the publication of the Apprenticeship Implementation Plan. New GCSE's
lasting two years with a single end of course exam; a requirement for all
learners to continue studying maths to age 18, even where GCSE A*-C has already
been obtained; changes to the way GCSE are graded and performance tables work;
there really is a lot going at the moment, most of it with a medium term
outlook. For more
detailed information, the BBC report on GCSE grades and the FE Week 16 page supplement about Maths and English including Functional
Skills are worth a good read. It
can be hard to summarise as the picture does change regularly, but it looks
like the key dates to consider at the moment are:
- From 2017/18, all apprenticeships will be
based on the new standards with relevant changes to the funding
frameworks.
- A transition period starting 2015 will lead to
this with new Apprenticeship standards and qualifications developed (to
replace frameworks) in 2013 and 2014.
- The requirements for English maths start to
get implemented from September 2014 when, irrespective of framework
requirements, all learners will be required to study to level 2 Functional
Skills
Stronger
requirements from 2015 eventually leading to the requirement that all apprenticeships
will need to have GCSE English and Maths (likely to be from 2017 and based on
the new GCSE specifications with first teaching in 2015).
Key events coming up
Guroo Open Training Sessions are selling out fast. The first
session in Milton Keynes filled up straight away, the second is also full.
We will organise more - in the meantime, the first
Northern event is in Manchester on 11th February. This event
features Sandra Kay (Head of Skills) for North Lancs Training Group as
the invited guest speaker. Click to
view and book!
EMSkills have announced a date for the Maths and English Skills
Conference of January 31st 2014, again at the Paragon Hotel, Birmingham.
Always well attended and informative, early bird prices are available for
delegates now. As usual, this event is being supported by Guroo and other
Functional Skills providers.
The
Learning and Skills show runs alongside the Learning technologies
exhibition and takes place on 29th and 30th January at Olympia in London.
All of the leading Functional Skills companies are expected to be there, Guroo will be on stand
329.
Apprenticeships 4 England are running their conference in
London on March 4/5. Another very well attended show, expected to be
supported by all the major Functional Skills providers including Guroo.
Wednesday Webinar at 4.00pm
"Guide to Guroo videos" is Wednesday's webinar with Jonathan
Wells, on Wednesday 13th November at 4pm.
A guided tour of nearly 100 tutorial and admin support videos - this is
a guide as to what they are and where to find them! Join us live, but we
record every session as we know that many more people enjoy coming back for the
recording afterwards, so if you want to join or just want to watch the
recording, just drop an email to info@guroo.co.uk
Join us on Wednesday 13th November 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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