LITERACY NUMERACY & ILT Embedding Functional Skills

Aims By the end of this session you will be able to: Give examples of literacy/numeracy/ICT skills required in your area. Explain literacy/numeracy/ICT needs could be supported. Record this support on your lesson plans. Explain the referral process for needs which cannot be met within your own teaching.

What are Functional Skills? Take a minute to think about the first half hour of your day this morning. Did you use your literacy, numeracy or ICT skills in any way?

The First Half Hour ActivitySkill Wake up to alarm clockNumeracy – had to understand how to tell the time Showered and washed hair Literacy and Numeracy – estimated volume of shampoo. Recognised bottle due to writing/pictures on the front. Made a cup of teaNumeracy – made estimations of measurement and volume (amount of water in kettle/milk and teaspoon of sugar). Check diaryICT – Used calendar function on smart phone.

Why Bother? Literacy, numeracy and ICT skills underpin everything we do. Embedding these skills into our teaching should lead to improved success rates/learner satisfaction. It is an OFSTED requirement that these skills are embedded across all curriculum areas. These skills are often referred to as: FUNCTIONAL SKILLS

Literacy, Numeracy & ICT in Your Own Teaching Take 10 minutes to think about the literacy and numeracy and ICT needs in your own area. Jot these needs onto the literacy, numeracy and ILT ‘trees’ provided. Now think about how these needs might be addressed within your own teaching. What could you do to help?

Your Lesson Plans Several ways to show how you have embedded literacy, numeracy and ICT skills into your teaching. How you show this on your plan will depend upon your own teaching area BUT Should be as specific as possible

Example Lesson Plan 1 (original on college VLE) If you look at this example you will note: Literacy needs mentioned in the differentiation column on the front. Separate column on main body of lesson plan ‘How is literacy, numeracy embedded?’ Now consider: How well does this plan demonstrate the embedding of literacy and numeracy? Are there any changes you might make?

Example Lesson Plan 2 If you look at this plan you will note: A separate area for literacy/numeracy/ICT on the front page of the lesson plan. Notes regarding embedding of literacy, numeracy and ICT included with the differentiation column of the main body of the lesson plan. Now consider: How well does this plan demonstrate the embedding of literacy, numeracy and ICT? Are there any changes you might make?

Referral What if the needs are too complex for you to deal with? Refer to your Curriculum Manager. He or she will then consider whether the student should be referred to the college’s literacy/numeracy courses or whether some kind of in-class support would be appropriate.

Conclusion Literacy, numeracy and ICT skills are required in every curriculum area. We all address these areas as part of good teaching practice. We need to demonstrate that we have embedded literacy, numeracy and ICT within our own teaching areas. Remember these are all FUNCTIONAL SKILLS