http://www.14to19.co.uk 14 to 19 education in the UK Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:19:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://www.14to19.co.uk/2012/02/webinar-replay-fs-policy-rumour-and-opinion/ 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. http://www.14to19.co.uk/2012/01/guroo-exhibiting-at-learning-skills/ 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 ... http://www.14to19.co.uk/2012/01/functional-skills-wednesday-webinar/ 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 ... http://www.14to19.co.uk/2012/01/functional-skills-webinars-policy/ 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 ... http://www.14to19.co.uk/2011/12/thousands-of-teachers-failing-basic-english-and-maths/ 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 ... http://www.14to19.co.uk/2011/12/problems-with-exams/ 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 ... http://www.14to19.co.uk/2011/12/morrisons-forced-to-send-school-leavers-back-to-school/ 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. http://www.14to19.co.uk/2011/12/expected-announcement-about-adult-skills-this-morning/ 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 ... http://www.14to19.co.uk/2011/11/apprenticeship-providers-must-offer-level-2-functional-skills/ 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. http://www.14to19.co.uk/2011/11/minister-confirms-functional-skills-will-be-mandatory-in-all-apprenticeships/