West Suffolk Consortium

Functional English & Maths

Julia Smith

Bob Read

Objectives

clarify the content & structure of the course highlight current issues in Functional Skills

delivery identify some key messages and teaching

approaches to be explored in specialist sessions

introduce the purpose, format and features of our course blog

The Great Big Functional Skills Quiz…prizes!

True or False – Stand up, Sit down or True/False Entry Level FS are assessed internally They must be taken in one sitting You are allowed to explain the vocabulary in the test Functional skill exam questions are not in the GCSE All assessment records should be kept for a

minimum of 5 years Spelling is checked within maths

The Big Quiz contd…

How many students at school are passing…

How does this compare to colleges? Work based learning? Prison!

What makes the difference?

What are the key issues?

On a post-it write down what you think the biggest issues are

A) in learners being successful

B) in learners not being successful

Did you mention these?

Where the exams came from… Students don’t know how to think… What resources are available… Skills transfer… An understanding of the qualification…

Chief Examiners Reports

Learners fail when they are not entered at a level for which they are ready

They need specific exam preparation time If a learner has chosen the wrong data but

correctly performed calculations they will not achieve because the “overall results must be reasonable”.

Learners cannot be given achievement if they have made a major error even if the calculations are correct. “If the candidate has omitted any significant part of the task, even with 8/10, they have not achieved” (p6 assessment pack for maths)

The Key Teaching Issues - Maths

Learners often don’t know where to startIdentifying which information they need – red herrings!Learners struggle to make decisions – making a

choice and playing a roleLiteracy difficulties – both reading and writingPresentation of work, data, numbersChecking & evidencing checking – reverse

calculations, estimating and magnitudeExplaining what they have done and whyCopying errorsUsing a calculator – mindless number crunchers!Specific detail – units, labels, headings

The Key Teaching Issues – English…

Writing, writing writing…colloquial, grammar, capitals, sentence construction, tense agreements

They don’t write enough and what is there is littered with errors – even insufficient evidence

Speaking and listening – is not a reading assessment – best practice: ensure that any supporting notes/ppt have suggestions for improvement

Reading for a purpose – many difficulties in this Using a dictionary

Accessibility

Learners with difficulties/differences should always be accommodated for

They are entitled to a scribe, reader, large font

They are put in for exams en masse, when they are not ready perhaps

Ofsted Good Practice

DV8 Training

The problem solving process

Here’s a problem Peter’s cube Your challenge is to make a 3d cube with a

letter on the outside of each face just by folding the paper

Active Learning in Functional Skills Teaching

what kind of skills would pupils be using in completing these tasks?

how are the tasks and the skills relevant to the demands of Functional English and Maths programmes?

Two Active Learning tasks

Active Learning in Functional Skills Teaching

practical, decision making tasks collaborative working confidence in coping with the challenges of

problem solving teacher: asking rather than telling pupils: reasoning rather than

answer guessing

Active Learning

pupils: active cognitively, not just in behaviour! transferable skills

- ‘how could we use this skill in other contexts?’ need to balance active learning with

graded skills development

Course Blog

Question Time…

??????

Objectives

clarify the content & structure of the course highlight current issues in Functional Skills

delivery identify some key messages and teaching

approaches to be explored in specialist sessions

introduce the purpose, format and features of our course blog

Review…

On 3 post-its write down

1 thing you have learned from today 1 thing that has surprised you 1 thing you still want to know