1. Hip Hip HURWA! (How to uncover reading, writing and arithmatic) WEA North West

2. Aims of the Workshop  To consider the importance of including the development of functional skills in our courses.  To recognise how functional skills are covertly included in WEA courses across the wider curriculum. To produce some functional skills learning outcomes for your subject area.

3. What are Functional Skills?  Functional skills are the essential English, mathematics and ICT skills that will enable learners to deal with everyday situations and practical problems in education, in work and in their everyday lives.  Functional skills qualifications assess the practical application of knowledge, skills and understanding when using English, mathematics and ICT in everyday life and work.

4. How do we teach Functional Skills?  Functional Skills has replaced the Key Skills qualifications (i.e. Communication, Application of Number and ICT) and SfL adult literacy and numeracy qualifications at levels Entry 1 to level 2.  Functional Skills is taught mainly through straight English and Maths courses and may also be embedded or contextualised within other subjects.

5. What is different about Functional Skills?  Focus on skill rather than subject and doing rather than theoretical study or recall.  For courses within the wider curriculum this involves embedding activities and learning outcomes that aim to develop practical and transferable skills.

6. Discussion 1.What is the impact of poor Functional Skills for students attending your courses? 2.How do you consider you are supporting the development of Functional Skills for students attending your courses?

7. Activity 1 - What skills to develop In pairs or small groups consider the range of activities that may be embedded into a course with the aim of developing the following skills: – Reading – Writing – Speaking and Listening – Maths

8. ReadingWritingSpeaking & Listening Maths ResearchListPresentationAnalyse Skimming/scanningRecordDiscussionSelect InvestigateRole PlayEstimate CommunicateCalculate DescribeInterpret Measure

9. Activity 2 – Learning Outcomes Using the list of skills identified in activity 1, in small groups identify at least 3 ‘functional’ learning outcomes that you could include on your course. Please note, the intention is not to highjack your course/subject with functional skills but to tease out the range of skills that you are likely already to be supporting.