Functional Skills
At Heart of Birmingham Vocational College each learner will explore bespoke Maths and English sessions within their learning journey, alongside the Core Curriculum and the Independent Living Skills Curriculum.
Bespoke sessions will allow for all learners to begin to master those underpinning skills that are crucial for people to succeed, both in work and their wider lives. Sessions will create a foundation of learning and understanding that can be built on when applying those skills to enhance classroom learning, living independently and when out at work.
Sessions will allow for all learners to make good progress towards their Maths and English initial assessment scores, with some learners going on to achieve a Maths or English qualification.
Pre-entry learners will explore a bespoke Functional Skills curriculum with core tutors, supported by a FS specialist and a Speech and Language Therapist. The FS curriculum allows for learners to embed Maths and English practically into everyday tasks, developing a foundation of skills that will support with things like: using money, identifying universal signs, implementing ICT to assist with day to day independence, and refining the functions within communication.
Implementation
Initial / mid / end of year assessments
All learners when starting their journey at Heart of Birmingham Vocational College will take part in a paper based initial assessment with their core tutors, supported by the Maths and English tutors to gauge their starting point with accessing bespoke sessions.
Learners will take part in a mid-year assessment to measure progress towards Maths & English outcomes, findings will inform future learning and possible group swaps.
At the end of the academic year all learners will complete an end of year assessment to identify the total progress made towards Maths & English outcomes over the academic year.
Timetables & Groups
Learners working at E1-L2 will have an hour of Maths and an hour of English scheduled into their weekly timetable, sessions are led on by a Maths and English tutor in the Functional Skills flat.
Core class groups are split into the relevant subgroups (E1-L2), to allow for smaller group sizes (averaging 5 learners) and similar outcomes to be worked towards in sessions.
Maths and English tutors will be supported by the class learning coach and sometimes the class tutor. This allows for the class staff to build on recent Maths and English learning in other sessions.
Pre-entry learners will explore a bespoke Functional Skills curriculum with their class tutor supported by a FS specialist and occasionally a speech and language therapist in their classrooms and when out in the community.
Maths and English tutors will timetable in additional sessions throughout the week with for those learners who need either additional stretch and challenge opportunities or specify that they would like additional Maths and English sessions.
Curriculum
Learners working at E1-L2 will work to the framework from the Maths & English awarding body. Skills and new learning will be transferred and embedded into the classroom, when engaging with the community and when out on work placements. Maths and English tutors are creative in how criteria is lifted and then delivered to students, linking in key topics and celebrated days into session delivery to compliment the theme of learning for the week.
Pre-entry learners will explore a bespoke Functional Skills curriculum with their class tutor, supported by a FS specialist and occasionally a speech and language therapist. Sessions will last 1-2 hours per week and will put emphasis on the use of embedded Maths and English when exploring Functional Skills in the classroom, when out in the community and when on a work placement.
Like the core curriculum the pre-entry Functional Skills curriculum will allow for three points of entry, pre 1, pre 2 and pre 3. This enables us to produce a framework that showcases how learners can make significant progress through the pre-entry criteria. As with the Core Curriculum, the pre-entry functional skills curriculum will be divided into the three terms, to enable us to plan for a sequenced delivery of themes and topics throughout the academic year.
Qualifications
Some learners will have the opportunity to explore gaining an E1-L2 accredited qualification in Maths & or English through Open Awards.
Independent living skills qualifications and units lend themselves well to the functional skills curriculum map. Key themes and learning will be cross referenced both in functional skills sessions and ILS sessions.
Impact
Working through this Maths and English programme will ensure learners are equipped with the underpinning skills needed to go on to become lifelong learners. Maths and English sessions provide the foundations for a bed of learning where skills can be transferred and built upon in the classroom, out in the community, when on work placements and when living independently.
Some learners will have the opportunity to go on to complete an accredited qualification and pre-entry learners will explore a sequenced curriculum that allows for Maths and English to be a focal point when completing everyday tasks; this will allow learners to become more independent and more employable. The Functional skills curriculum will allow for progress to be measured within the pre-entry framework.
