1. The Skills Pledge can do it for you and your colleagues……

2. Our Skills Pledge commitment All staff should be supported and encouraged to develop their skills and gain qualifications up to Level 2 (and beyond) NVQs and certificates Apprenticeships Maths and English

3. Skills for Life Skills for Life is the national strategy to improve the language, literacy and numeracy skills of adults. It includes English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL). It focuses on the functional English and maths that adults use at work and in everyday life.

4. Skills for Life Qualifications National standards and national qualifications available in Adult literacy, Adult numeracy, ESOL and ESOL for work Qualifications from Entry 1 to Level 2 National Test at Level 1 and 2 is available online or on paper – 40 multiple choice questions

5. The Range of Skills for Life From Entry level 1 skills… Reading signs, writing your name and address Counting to 10, recognising coins … to Level 2 skills Producing a well written report Knowing how to calculate and use percentage increase and decrease, ratio and proportion, mean, median and mode

6. The local authority context 780,000 local government employees (40% of the workforce) below Level 1 in numeracy. 230,000 local government employees (11% of the workforce) below Level 1 in literacy.

7. How many people do you think have Level 2 skills in English? How many people have Level 2 skills in maths? How many people have Level 2 skills in both?

8. 44% 14.1 m adults 56% 17.8 m adults 35% 10.1 m adults 75% 21.8 m adults 20% 6.4 m adults 80% 25.5 m adults Literacy Numeracy Literacy/Numeracy Level 2

9. Why develop Skills for Life? Improvements identified by Staffordshire CC and Unison A reduction in staff turnover Training has helped with recruitment The number of accident reports has reduced by 72% Complaints reduced and compliments increased Expenditure saving of £12,000 in one year in respect of chemicals used in one service area

10. Why develop SfL at Surrey CC? Equipping our people to meet the priorities and challenges we face Supporting our people to reach their full potential Improving service Saving money

11. Our approach to SfL training Positive promotion An opportunity for all staff to brush up skills - not identifying those with a SfL need or problem SfL champions or recruiters who will talk confidently and enthusiastically to prospective learners A range of relevant and flexible range of training opportunities to improve workplace performance and prepare staff to achieve national qualifications

12. Developing the training offer Working with our NVQ providers to ensure SfL is an integral part of the training Offering short courses and workshops to meet specific training needs, e.g. maths for managers, lunch-and-learn sessions Supported or independent learning through the Learning Hub

13. What will encourage individuals to take up the opportunity?

14. Your role? Can you help us? What could you do? What do you need to help you do this?

15. Next Steps? This resource has been produced with the support of a grant awarded by LSIS. The grant was made available through the Skills for Life Support Programme in 2010. The resource has been developed by managers and practitioners. The content should not be compared with commercially produced resources, although in many cases it may have comparable or better outcomes.