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English Work for All report. “GCSE English is seen as a gold standard, but its emphasis on analysing texts is really aimed at preparing people for A Levels and university,” she says. “It does not really demonstrate the skills that students will actually need in the workplace. That is what the Functional Skills qualification is doing and it needs to be recognised as such, rather than a stepping stone qualification.” But perhaps the most controversial element will be the introduction of phonics for adults in the English assessment.
The method, which focuses on breaking down
words into component sounds, as opposed to a whole word approach to reading, has been criticised as being too decontextualised for adult learners who already have basic reading skills. Tutors have also pointed out that the regular attendance needed to follow a phonics programme is often a challenge for this cohort.
“Many teachers will need specific training and will
need to rethink their approach to ensure that phonics is embedded in their teaching,” says Sallis. “Do we have enough adequately trained teachers? The answer is no. There is a real shortage.
“I work with a college that struggles
to find good staff in both English and maths and I know that the same problem exists at colleges across the country. The ETF has really helped, but there is still a way to go.” “It is a big shift,” acknowledges Djouadj. “But there are some misconceptions around teaching adults phonics. It is not about drilling. It is about building on adults’ prior knowledge. The phonics approach is one of a range of instruments in a teacher’s toolkit and can be used in conjunction with other methods. The ETF has a range of resources and training packages to help support teachers in teaching phonics.” However, providers have pointed out the perennial
problems of finding the time and resources to train part-time and casual teachers, upon whom the sector is highly reliant.
“Many of our staff are sessional tutors. So, we Sam Hart
is an English teacher whose job includes teaching Functional Skills English, and a teacher educator at Brighton Metropolitan College. She is a Member of SET.
need to find opportunities for training outside their working/contracted hours,” says Ysolina Arvelo, a maths FS and GCSE teacher for Leicestershire County Council Adult Learning Service and a member of SET’s Practitioner Advisory Group. Although professional updating for maths and English teachers is likely to put the biggest strain on the system, there is also the matter of planning courses around the new content. Once the summer exams are finished, tutors and curriculum leads will be poring over subject specifications to chisel out new programmes of study.
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These pressures will be amplified by tight deadlines and lack of resources. At the time of going to press, only two awarding bodies – City & Guilds and Pearson – had been approved to deliver the qualification. “This is a real challenge for us,” says Haig Smith, “Tutors have very little to go on.” Kirstie Donnelly, group managing director for the City & Guilds Group, said that the organisation had been updating its customers regularly on the Functional Skills reforms since the new subject content documents were published by the Department for Education (DfE) in March 2018. This has included a monthly series of reforms update webinars, a ‘readiness’ checklist and detailed mapping grids comparing the new subject content statements to the legacy standards, and sample assessments. Donnelly added: “Like all awarding
organisations, our reformed Functional Skills qualifications have been subject to a technical evaluation process where Ofqual has looked in detail at our proposed new assessments and operational plans. We’re
nearing the conclusion of that process, although in the meantime we have taken a conscious decision to make our assessment and other documents available in draft form.”
As with all qualification reforms, there are inevitable teething problems. But the consistent message from employers is that it is skills in English and maths, rather than qualifications necessarily, that they are interested in.
With the UK ranked at 22nd in international league tables for English and slipping to 27th place for maths, employers, educators and learners alike will be waiting to see what the new qualifications can deliver.
LINKS
• The ETF has a range of resources to support teachers in delivering the new suite of qualifications:
www.et-foundation.co.uk
• You can also access the City & Guilds resources on its Functional Skills updates page at
bit.ly/CityandGuildsFSUpdates
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS REFORMS AT A GLANCE • Introduction of the teaching of phonics for entry levels • Prescriptive spelling lists for English • More underpinning knowledge for maths • More non-calculator work and use of times tables • Exams for both subjects divided into skills as well as problem- solving context-based scenarios
• Increased consistency across awarding organisations for both subjects
• Exams on demand • Fewer awarding organisations • More distinction between the levels
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