UCU Practitioners Event: Supporting Functional Skills and Maths and English Tutors
Friday 4th July, 2014 at the Mechanics Centre in Manchester
- What are the main issues/concerns that you have in delivering functional skills, maths and English?
Students:
Attendance – streaming or (embedding?) course groups
Closer links with vocational staff – sanctions?
Student buy-in – relevance, transferable skills
Funding – pressure to attend
PRP – what is ‘functional’?
Can reinforce a sense of failure
Some just can’t progress
Unfamiliar contexts – especially for some ESOL learners
ESOL students struggle with the language used within the texts of prep/materials
Screening – initial assessments
Students with grade C – vague requirements
Sanctions – support for dealing with bad behaviour
Not prepared to attend – fatigue of maths and english
Students set up to fail
Low morale
Students do not see the relevance to ‘real life’
SEN students are not considered in the ‘blanket’ of demands by Government
Lack of differentiation in delivery
Level 2 ESOL students do not have the ‘requirements’ for GCSE English
Grammatical mistakes
Engaging Students - staying on task
Students on the correct course – GCSE or functional skills
Staff
Who is responsible? Vocational/key skills
Lack of discipline if students do not attend
Low morale
Vocational tutors are expected to teach maths and English
Not much support for staff for exam boards
Teaching different vocational areas mixed together with delivering various levels
College (OFSTED) inspections are dependent on the English/maths department
Frustration of students not progressing
Some lack qualifications, experience, competence etc.
Some college have attitude that ‘anyone can teach it’
Time constraints for staff to get together
- Are there any areas of good practice that you can identify in the place/s that you work in delivering functional skills, maths and English?
Flexible qualification lends itself to being vocationally embedded
Created good resources – e.g. workbooks
Positive experience for adults
Students can re-take
Good preparation for life
Clear communication with FS staff involving pre-planning (when given the time)
Good screening of students (esol/functional GCSE working together)
Integrate maths/English into subject and vocational specialisms
SLDD units (E2/E3) use skills that would be beneficial to other levels of teaching/learning (need to share these practices)
Use of practical activities to learn the skills in maths /English (away from classroom)
Using the environment and community as a resource (park project)
All colleges invited to a ‘sharing good practice’ consortium
Peer observation
Links with vocational areas
Designated base room
Variety of activities – ‘starter of the day’, Nrich, kangaroo maths
Routine – quick-quiz, plenary
Shorter lessons
Time allocation – same as GCSE
Maximum class size
- What could UCU do more of, to help you with your role?
Lobby exam boards for more flexibility in the choice of questions for exams to make it more relevant to the learners
Consideration of the language level in maths (especially for ESOL learners)
Negotiate with employers about expectations on staff teaching across all functional skills subjects and teaching GCSE
Negotiate for a ‘subject specialist status’
Negotiate on pay increase – pay issue for GCSE not on a par with schools
Negotiate for transition courses that must be provided for GCSE before teachers should be asked to deliver
Campaign to maintain functional skills rather than GCSE for vocational programmes
Negotiate with employers to provide training and policies on ESOL awareness and ILP awareness, and how to work closer with personal/progress tutors for all staff
Lobby for ‘building blocks’ of maintaining skills (funded) rather than pushing people up to the next level too soon
Highlight areas that can benefit from the practical sharing of skills/units particularly SLDD units within social/emotional skills
Inform or provide training on different levels of learning from both males and females. I.e. men(dyslexic) female (dyscalculia)
Raise awareness of effective feedback that is specific i.e. connectives/sentence structure
Raise awareness of the need for maths and English external to education
Campaign against graded lesson observations linked to pay
Janet Newsham
UCU Learning Development Organiser