Develop CPD opportunities for Skills for Life teacher trainers
We now have a group of Skills for Life teacher trainers we have contact with. This has enabled us to run two events for the group. Recently we have widened the group to include two new providers of initial teacher training for Skills for Life teachers:
South Birmingham College and North East Worcester College. This has meant that we have been able to update the information on the website about current provision for Skills for Life teachers to access. The most recent event was well attended by 12 teacher trainers from five organisations. We were able to discuss issues around the delivery of the programmes but also to share resources/activities used on different programmes.
Mentor support has been given to two individual staff at Leicester College; the first was to the teacher trainer delivering the additional diploma (literacy) for the first time; the second was to discuss the possibility and practicalities of delivering literacy contextualised PTLLS for volunteers working within the Skills for Life department.
Test and trial a level 5 diploma for adult numeracy teachers
The scheme of work and website were constructed throughout the summer of 08 and the courses began in September 08. Seven two year trainee teachers were recruited and nine one year trainees. There has been100% retention and as far as we can tell we expect everyone to complete. The website has worked well facilitating the distance / flexible learning tasks and supporting the learning process. The Staff
Student Liaison (SSL) meeting gave good feedback about the way the course was structured and delivered.
Test and trial a two year partly integrated ITT qualification for adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL teachers (flexible learning model)
The additional module required was written and added to the website and appropriate materials developed. In addition tasks designed to cover the minimum core were added to the website and trainees have been completing these throughout the course.
Twenty eight trainees were recruited on to the two year programme and only three have dropped out; two because they did not have the appropriate teaching. The remaining 25 have completed the inclusive learning module written and of these 23 have completed the assessment.
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The course is going well and we have received good feedback from those learners who have been involved in the SSL meetings.
At the end of March we met with Skills for Life numeracy teacher trainers in the East of England to share what we have been doing.
Develop, test and trial a CPD level 4 qualification for vocational lecturers in embedded learning
A course has been developed and approved so is ready to be delivered. The materials and website are almost complete. However no provider has offered to pilot the course.
Disseminate materials for delivering a PTTLS plus literacy course across the region
A course was delivered at Telford College of Art and Technology with a teacher trainer shadowing the course so that it could be delivered there in the future. In addition these materials were also shared with Leicester College in the East
Midlands.
At the end of March 09 some of the materials were shared with South Birmingham
College as they will deliver a PTLLS contextualised to literacy and Train to Gain
(TTG) in May 09. We were also able to add value to our programme by using a grant from NRDC to support the development (Mar 09) and delivery (in conjunction with
WMCETT) of a numeracy contextualised PTLLS in TTG. (Delivered in April/May 09)
Develop and deliver three e-learning CPD opportunities for Skills for Life teachers
One course has been delivered at the university and 8 participants were awarded certificates. A further course was planned for Solihull College but only 4 participants attended the first day so the course was postponed. NEW college still plans to deliver the course.
Provide a framework of Skills for Life CPD opportunities across the region
A very successful, Skills for Life conference was held in Worcester in July 08, when almost 50 Skills for Life teachers and managers attended a full day conference where
8 different workshops were offered.
In addition one off sessions have been delivered in the west of the West Midlands.
One session delivered in Ludlow was on Numeracy Awareness (for front line workers) in line with the Government’s strategy to promote numeracy. From this a request has been made for a further session in Telford. Also workshops promoting the GPRLS scheme have resulted in an increase in the number of forms requested from SVUK in these areas (reported by SVUK).
At the university we have liaised with and supported sessions delivered by the Move
On project (around Train to Gain); and a dyslexia teacher/assessors group.
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Scope feasibility of establishing outreach centres to deliver the stand alone
Skills for Life diplomas
NEW College will deliver the additional diplomas for literacy and numeracy teachers in the new academic year.
Develop trial and test an award in Skills for Life awareness with two organisations
The award has been developed and the first two days delivered to staff from English
Heritage but then the participants failed to complete the rest of the course.
Contact with 40 Skills for Life managers in Hereford, Shropshire and
Worcester – of these approximately half have met with WMCETT Skills coordinator for that area.
Supported internal review procedure by carrying out observations of SfL lecturers at Walford and North Shropshire College
On going specialist IAG given to groups and individuals re Skills for Life qualifications and GPRLS
Meeting with Skills for Life managers in Coventry and Warwickshire held
Skills area coordinator has been a member of NCETM advisory group
Materials that support the evidencing of the minimum core were sent to the national CETT website to be uploaded
The numeracy level 5 courses seem to be very successful because of the previous experience of the Skills for Life teacher training team but also because of the dedicated time allowed for planning and development.
Similarly the development of the two year course is progressing well.
The contextualised PTLLS courses have been successful and in particular have added a very useful dimension to the skills knowledge and understanding of staff working in workbased training settings. These courses were developed early on in the year so we were able to take advantage of some funding which came very late in the year from NRDC for contextualised numeracy courses within the TTG context.
The e learning course was very successful and resulted in some innovative projects being completed to change practice. The success was due to the fact that it was something that practitioners wanted; it was delivered through a flexible model and because the assessment could be directly related to the participant’s practice.
Having a dedicated Skills for Life specialist working in H, S and W has been particularly successful and has resulted in some key activities which have impacted on the sub-region.
The IAG workshops at road shows were generally well received. They were especially useful for non-college providers. Some attendees were not aware of the professionalisation of the workforce. In addition to discussing qualifications, there were some interesting discussions about literacy and numeracy qualifications for staff. All attendees received information about the
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Move On site as this is a good starting point for those interested in improving their skills.
Numeracy Awareness Raising event at Ludlow. Most of the attendees were front line workers. It was useful to give the attendees a flavour of how learners are taught maths in SfL classes. There were opportunities for the attendees to discuss their own feelings about maths and about how they could support those with whom they come into contact.
GPRLS events. On the whole, most people do not know about this scheme.
The events were well-received. SVUK have commented that they have had an increase in the number of packs. This could lead to further work with
SVUK.
Walford and North Shropshire College are without a SfL manager. The new person was invited, along with others, to carry out some observations. Four observations were completed and a moderation meeting was attended. Once they have someone in place, it was suggested that additional support could be offered by WMCETT.
There are two evaluations outstanding because it seemed more appropriate to carry them out at the end of the first year rather than at the end of March
In H,S and W, although a large number of SfL managers were contacted, only about half agreed to meet. Even when they did meet, there seemed to be some reluctance to share good practice or discuss training needs. Now that some successful training in the area has been completed, it may have been better to do that in the beginning. Once people started to get to know the trainer through training, they may have been more open to talking about their provision.
It has been difficult to organise Skills for Life teacher trainer events because there is no one day that is good for everyone and the team is relatively small
No forum has been set up for the above group because it seemed more sensible to ask if they would like to be part of the community of practitioners for all teacher trainers which they agreed to join.
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