Skills, skills, Functional Skills and You

John Pallister

Wolsingham School and Community College

By the end of this session:

• You will have listened, watched and made some notes about Functional Skills;

• You will understand why skills are important to you and to the UK;

• You will know something about Functional Skills;

• You will know what we expect you to do to complete your assignment.

Wolsingham School and Community College Memo.To:                  Year 8 Students From:             Mr Pallister   Cc:                  Miss Fawcett, Mr Campbell  Date:               5th December 2008  Re:                  Functional Skills Letter to Parents   ___________________________________________________________

We need to tell all parents about Functional Skills. We need to tell them what they are, why they are important and why our students will need them. Please research this and prepare a letter that I could send to parents.  I would also like to know what it would cost the school to send out these letters. Please prepare some costings for each of the options that are available to us to get the letters to parents.

This presentation

• Has been uploaded to

www.slideshare.net/jpallis001

What are skills?

• “the ability to do an activity or job well”; http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?

key=74139&dict=CALD

• something you've learned how to do; • something you have practised to develop;

– standing on one leg– making paper aeroplanes– writing– riding a bicycle– delivering a presentation – ?

Skills are valuable if:

• They help you to survive/live

• They help you to learn

• They help you to earn your living

• They help you to …

Skills and jobs

• Every employer will want their employees to have the set of skills that will enable them to do the ‘job’.

• Different jobs need different sets of skills;

• there are some common skills that you will need whatever job you do.

employers want young people:

• who are literate, numerate and communicate well.

• to turn up on time and show enthusiasm and commitment.

• Who have positive attitudes.

The skills you need to be employable:

• Timekeeping 80.0%• Literacy skills 79.0%• Numeracy skills 77.7%• Enthusiasm/commitment 75.3%• Personal presentation 53.3%• Communication skills 41.6%• General IT skills 33.6%• Team-working skills 23.6%• Problem-solving skills 22.7%• Enterprising 21.3%• Customer-care skills 20.8%• Vocational job-specific skills 13.9%• Business awareness 11.2%• Advanced vocational job-specific skills 8.6%

The job market

• unemployment in the UK - 5.2%

• unemployment among 16–24 year olds 14.1%. Prince’s Trust

• Employers need employees with the ‘right’ skills, at the right Level so that they can do the jobs;

A UK Skills Problem

• 35% of the UK working age population do not have Level 2 skills;

• Only 36% of the UK working age population have Level 2-3 skills;

• What about our competition? Over 50%of the working population in Germany and New Zealand have Level 2-3 skills;

• 7 million adults lack functional numeracy

• 5 million adults lack functional literacy

The UK - competing with other countries

• Out of the top 30 developed countries in the world the UK ranks:– 20th for intermediate skills (this is the group

that have A level or NVQ3 type qualifications)

– 11th for high skills (we’ve gone down from 4th)

New jobs require higher level skills

• The basic skills required for most jobs in manufacturing and services are likely to rise.

• by 2010 around 95% of all new jobs will require Level 2 skills or higher. (Level 2 is 5 A*-C

qualifications or NVQ2) Work Skills In Britain, DfES

The implications for the UK

• Unless we increase the skills Level in the UK workforce we will not be able to compete with other countries;

• If we do not, we will not earn as much money as other countries – everyone in the country will be less well-off;

Functional Skills

‘… the core elements of English, mathematics and ICT that provide an individual with the essential knowledge, skills and understanding that will enable them to operate confidently, effectively and independently in life, education and work.’.

Functional:

• English

• Mathematics

• ICT.

16

Qualifications that are available at:

• Entry Level

• Level 1

•

• Level 2

Your GCSEs

You will need to have achieved Functional Skills at Level 2 before you can achieve a GCSE in Maths or English.

Or your 14 -19 Diploma

You will need to achieve all three Functional Skills at Level 1 if you take a Foundation Diploma.

You will need to achieve all three Functional Skills at Level 2 if you take a Higher or Advanced Diploma.

Or your Modern Apprenticeship

It is likely that you will be expected to achieve Functional Skills before you can complete your Modern Apprenticeship.

Most importantly:

• To get the most out of you education;

• To survive in your everyday life;

• To be able to get a job;

• To be able to do your job;

You will need Functional Skills

Functional ICT

• Use ICT Systems

• Find and select information

• Develop, present and communicate information

Functional Maths

• Representing (making sense of situations and representing them)

• Analysing (processing and using maths)

• Interpreting (interpreting and communicating the results of analysis)

Functional English

• Speaking and listening

• Reading

• Writing

Nothing new! - You are already ‘doing’ Functional Skills

• In Maths, English and ICT

• AND in most other subjects

• What you are ‘doing’ now is Functional Skills

Solving Problems

• You need to develop the Functional Skills that will let you solve a wide range of ‘real life’ problems, independently;

• To develop skills you must practise them!

Your Task:

• Find out about Functional Skills – listening, research, discussion;

• Write a letter to parents;

• Investigate printing options – calculate printing and postage costs;

• Prepare a Memo that describes the options and costs.