14 to 19

Webinar Replay FS Policy, Rumour and Opinion

Jonny — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:19:40 +0000

This email provides you with the link to the recording of yesterday’s Wednesday Webinar on Functional Skills Policy, Rumour and Opinion.

You’ll have to login in – it’s the same as the webinar; any user name you like, but password must be “guroo”. The tips at the start of the webinar about resizing screen etc apply to the replay as well, so you can get rid of the sidebars to see the main screen as large as possible.

Once you are logged in, there are replay control buttons along the top of the screen.

https://onsync.digitalsamba.com/play/guroosh/6035-policy-rumour-opinion-feb-2012

We hope you found this webinar useful.

Guroo exhibiting at Learning & Skills

Jonny — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:37:20 +0000

Guroo Functional Skills will be on stand 223 at the Learning and Skills / Learning Technologies show in Olympia on Wednesday and Thursday this week. We’ll be promoting some great January offers, showing the new ICT diagnostic and how we map everything back to the Functional Skills criteria.

Functional Skills Wednesday Webinar

Jonny — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:22:14 +0000

The Functional Skills Wednesday Webinar will be presented by Stewart Hutton and will focus on an introduction to Guroo Functional Skills.

This webinar is designed to be a top level overview of what Guroo “is” and “does”, focussing on how it can help increase your learners’ chances of success in Functional Skills, and reduce your cost of delivery. We’ll touch on Initial Assessment, Diagnostics, and Teaching and Learning Resources.

The webinar will start at 16:05 promptly, and aim to complete within 20 minutes (questions permitting!).

If you need more detail afterwards, we can arrange to give you a more detailed 1:1 tour that is specific to your establishment.

To join the webinar, you should click on: http://onsync.digitalsamba.com/go/guroosh/fsnews

You will see a login box that requests a guest name and session password. Name can be anything you like (but your first name would be a good choice – and it would be helpful to include some reference to your establishment. For example, Bill – Mycollege, Jane – Training Ltd).

Password must be: guroo

Functional Skills Webinars - Policy

Jonny — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:07:18 +0000

This is a recording of the Functional Skills Wednesday Webinar focussed on current Government Policy.

Click the link and this will take you to the onsync site and bring up a guest login box. You can enter anything for the name, but the password must be: guroo

Once the recording starts, you can use the buttons in the bottom right corner of the main video screen to toggle between zoomed and full view. Pause and play buttons are at the top, beside a timeline that lets you dip in to any point.

Any problems? Please contact support@guroo.co.uk

7^th December: Functional Skills Policy Review http://onsync.digitalsamba.com/play/guroosh/5478-policy-dec-6th

Further recordings on other sessions can be found below

Initial Assessment and Diagnostic

https://onsync.digitalsamba.com/play/guroosh/5614-webinar-initial-assessment

Teaching and learning Resources

https://onsync.digitalsamba.com/play/guroosh/5617-webinar-resources-dec-14

Thousands of teachers failing basic English and maths

Jonny — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 09:48:54 +0000

All teachers entering the profession must have Grade C English and maths. Further proof that this qualification is no guarantee or indeed indication that holders can do basic English and maths comes with this story below. It isn’t news, teachers who have finished their PGCE can simply keep re-taking basic (and I do mean basic) English and maths tests until they pass.

But changes currently going through will mean that potential teachers will have to pass the test before they start training and with no more than 2 re-tests.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/trainee-teachers-must-try-harder-as-thousands-fail-basic-literacy-test-6278349.html

However, what I find disturbing about this story is the comment from a “teachers leader” who say that tests are irrelevant - shocking!

Problems with exams

Jonny — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 10:39:24 +0000

The Daily Telegraph has published a detailed and extensive expose of the way in which Awarding Bodies appear to be “manipulating” the GCSE system. The link is here and it makes very interesting reading

Unlike GCSE, Functional Skills has defined skills criteria that every assessment must test - it makes it much harder to design a test that “can be taught to”.

Morrison’s forced to send school-leavers back to “school”

Jonny — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 12:33:54 +0000

The standard of school-leavers is so poor that one supermarket has sent back three-quarters of its recruits for “remedial pre-job training” before they start work.

This report in the Telegraph goes onto mentions English and Maths as expected but also focuses on some very simple things like making eye contact and knowing what time it is!

Here’s the full report.

Expected announcement about adult skills this morning

Jonny — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:59:51 +0000

We’re expecting BIS to say what changes are about to take place to Skills for Life, particularly in relation to replacing Adult Literacy and Numeracy with Functional Skills.

More here later along with the link when I get it.

Apprenticeship Providers must offer Level 2 Functional Skills

Jonny — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:09:47 +0000

Announced by Vince Cable this week, a strengthening in the rigour of ALL apprenticeships as learners will be required to continue their Functional Skills Maths and English study throughout their apprenticeship programme. So even once they have passed the minimum requirement (typically level 1) Maths and English, they cannot “drop” it. The consequence is that all providers must offer Functional Maths and Functional English or GCSE training provision at Level 2.

Exciting times for Functional Skills in Apprenticeships!

Minister confirms Functional Skills will be mandatory in all Apprenticeships

Jonny — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:34:35 +0000

John Hayes MP, the Minister for Further Education and Skills, has confirmed in a letter to Jonathan Wells that Functional Skills will definitely replace Key Skills as a mandatory component of all Apprenticeships by September 2012.

Full details of the letter are here.