Skills for Life Improvement Programme Embedding Literacy, Language and Numeracy through a Whole Organisation Approach Development Adviser Briefing – Day 2 Reading 14 October 2008

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Aims To provide a range of information, support materials and guidance that will enable you to: Develop a shared understanding of the changed context and model of support for 2008/09 Continue to work effectively with providers. The Skills for Life Improvement Programme is delivered on behalf of the Quality Improvement Agency by CfBT Education Trust and partners

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Objectives For Day 2, these are to: Brief you on your own role in PDP when working with providers Focus on ways of integrating numeracy in all aspects of your work with providers Have an overview of the SfLIP flexible delivery models Explore integrating Move On approaches into your work The Skills for Life Improvement Programme is delivered on behalf of the Quality Improvement Agency by CfBT Education Trust and partners

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Professional development planning The Skills for Life Improvement Programme is delivered on behalf of the Quality Improvement Agency by CfBT Education Trust and partners Information and guidance at peer working groups Support for individual providers Role for development advisers

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Integrating Numeracy QIA requirement linked to government policy/targets Expectations – use and support of specialists Upskilling: strategy development and embedding The Skills for Life Improvement Programme is delivered on behalf of the Quality Improvement Agency by CfBT Education Trust and partners

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Workforce Development Strand The Skills for Life Improvement Programme is delivered on behalf of the Quality Improvement Agency by CfBT Education Trust and partners Strengthen integrated programmes through : Regional professional exchange networks Focus on numeracy to enhance capacity and expertise of teacher education teams

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Models of flexible delivery QIA SfLIP 2008 activity – led by NRDC Arose from “Stick with it” research/development Learners with complicated lives need personalised and responsive learning - traditional delivery patterns not suitable Innovative development work on some form of flexibility (26 providers funded up to £8k ) Investigated scope for flexibility in relation to cost effectiveness The Skills for Life Improvement Programme is delivered on behalf of the Quality Improvement Agency by CfBT Education Trust and partners

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Research questions What needs did flexibility meet ? What models of flexibility developed ? Scope of models – which learners, levels, subject ? Pedagogy – what developed, how developed ? Resource implications – teachers and CPD, materials including ICT, QA ? Funding implications ? Impact on learners and organisation ? The Skills for Life Improvement Programme is delivered on behalf of the Quality Improvement Agency by CfBT Education Trust and partners

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Variety of flexible models Majority flexed pattern of attendance (time, place, frequency, duration) OR materials Blended learning – majority looked at combination of face to face and distance or self-access learning (1:1, group, self-study, workshops, e-learning) Majority who developed blended learning developed L1/2 resources “Amount of face to face needs to vary according to learner’s level of confidence and aptitude”

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Examples of developments Moodle site developed, accessible to college teachers and learners Resourced Learning Centre on employers’ premise offering flexible access On-line and paper-based materials for those unable to attend regularly On-line ESOL IA tool for use in Train to Gain On-line numeracy learning materials for Primary School teaching assistants

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Examples of developments IT-based blended learning materials for ACL hard to reach learners in community class Whole college menu of different ways to learn, building on joint expertise of ESOL and Key Skills teachers Blended learning course embedded into employer’s training programme on problem-solving

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Issues relevant to DA work Majority developed literacy; only 3 specifically numeracy some thought it harder to embed numeracy because most qualifications covered only small part of numeracy some said employers didn’t recognise their employees’ numeracy skills needs in their workplace Hard to develop speaking and listening in distance learning Said to be particularly difficult to deliver ESOL in employer-facing contexts funding constraints need E2 ESOL for Work assessment developing

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Blended learning issues Only meets the needs of some learners Most providers recommend a combination of face to face + distance learning Move On, BBC Skillswise + providers’ resources on VLE thought better than some commercial products Structurally complex to develop a Moodle site to reflect individualised learning goals + spiky profiles Time and cost constraints - blended learning is not a cheap option

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Train to Gain issues Tensions between what employer and employees want and what fundable providers looking to maximise “time on task” by developing distance learning approaches particular issue re E1/E2 learners in workplace Many providers looking to embed LLN some employees demanding contextualised resources Assessor roles extended some delivering initial assessment + signposting to SfL issues round assessors’ role, pay, training

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Integrating Move on approaches into your work as a DA

Skills for Life Improvement Programme Next steps Allocation of providers Contracting Day 3 training