Blog posts for tag:English and maths

The need to focus on basic, work-ready skills has been in the spotlight again, with some in the Further Education sector arguing that the government should be focusing its efforts on improving basic skills rather than its heavy emphasis on Apprenticeships. As recently reported in FE Week, “the BIS Select Committee’s report on the Government’s productivity plan raised concerns about the lack of focus on a variety of policy areas, including Apprenticeships, but what has escaped most attention was the call to address the poor level of basic skills in the workforce”. 

The government is introducing new exams from next year that will mean that primary school pupils need to know their times tables off by heart. In what it sees as part of its “war on innumeracy”, the government’s new exams will see pupils expected to memorise their times tables, and be able to recite them by heart. Commenting on the new tests, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan stated, “Maths is a non-negotiable of a good education. Since 2010, we've seen record numbers of 11 year olds start secondary school with a good grasp of the three Rs. But some continue to struggle.

The cuts to funding for adult skills in 2015-16 have been widely documented in the last month as the Association of Colleges warns that up to 190,000 adult education places will be lost next year. However, the government has stated that although overall funding is being cut, high quality apprenticeships and English and maths are being prioritised to ensure that learners are literate and numerate, with vocational qualifications of prestige.  At NCFE, we have been working hard to ensure that our popular and valued vocational qualifications have their funding protected and we’re pleased to say that we now have almost 100 funded qualifications available for 15-16 with further qualifications pending approval. These qualifications include courses within Health and Social Care such as Level 2 Certificate in the Principles of Dementia Care, Level 2 Certificate in the Principles of the Prevention and Control of Infection in Health Care Settings, as well as substantial qualifications such as Level 1, 2 and 3 Diplomas in Entry to the Uniformed Services and many more.

It’s encouraging to see literacy and numeracy high on the political agenda throughout the pre-election campaigns. This month, the Liberal Democrats have committed to eliminating child illiteracy in England by 2025 if they remain in power following May's general election. It’s a positive step in raising the bar of achievement. If young people have a strong foundation in English and maths, they can then build on this to further their skills in their areas of interest. A core understanding of numbers and an ability to communicate effectively is absolutely vital for a pupil to progress from school into further education, an apprenticeship or a job.

Apprenticeship reforms ‘not in long grass’ — Boles (p3) – The Skills Minister is under pressure as it was confirmed this week the government has gone back to the drawing board with plans to route apprenticeship funding through employers. Boles has had a tough week, he was in front of the Education Select Committee following the publication for the government’s plans for Apprenticeship funding, where he admitted that time was running out for the funding reforms, and that any announcement might be delayed until after the General Election (which, as you all should know by now, is 7 May).

English and maths are vital skills needed for learners to progress onto higher level study and/or employment. In order to develop learners’ English and maths skills, it is important that the two subjects are embedded into every session.

It was great to catch up with many of you during the AoC conference last month. I hope those of you who attended were able to find a few spare moments during conference’s packed itinerary to drop by the NCFE stand to pick up your education elephant and thumb through our recently published digital Directory of Products and Services. With the end of the calendar year looming, I always find the conference provides a valuable opportunity to reflect with colleagues over the events of the past 12 months and discuss the challenges facing the sector for the following year.

Are you up to the new standards? There’s going to be a new set of professional standards for teachers and trainers in Further Education (FE) – 20 ‘inspirational’ standards based on improving teacher practice are being published by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF).These standards will be referred to by Ofsted in their inspections and in informing their judgements, and aren’t intended to be a prescriptive checklist, but rather ‘to be owned by the teaching workforce…based on the model of the reflective practitioner’.

Talking to the British Chambers of Commerce Conference in April this year, Education Secretary Michael Gove said that the UK should regard the battle against illiteracy in the UK in the same way as a developing country may treat malaria. Mr Gove stated that “we need to ensure we eliminate illiteracy and innumeracy in Britain in the same way as developing nations know they need to secure clean drinking water and eliminate malaria if their children are to flourish.”

Welcome to the first ‘English and maths Made Easy' column by Bolton College! Over the next few months, Pat Harrison, Director of 14 – 19 and Strategic Lead for English and Maths, and Catherine Langstreth, Advanced Practitioner and English and maths Tutor, will be dispelling myths about the two subjects, providing hints and tips to help you in everyday life, as well as telling some inspirational stories about how developing maths and English skills has transformed the lives of people in Lancashire – at home, at work and when out and about in their home town. Most of the time we don't think about maths and English – but the funny thing is, they're everywhere we go. At home: paying for bills, reading letters, reading instructions on how to cook something. At work: communicating with colleagues, customers, calculating our wages, booking holidays. In our social life: reading road signs, paying for shopping/petrol, sharing a bill in a restaurant, reading a menu. Sometimes, it's the simplest things that stump us, but it doesn't have to be that way. The two subjects combined can open up a whole host of opportunities – promotions at work, new interests in life and jobs we thought that weren't possible.