From: jwells@guroo.co.uk on behalf of Jonathan Wells [jwells@guroo.co.uk]

Sent: 22 February 2011 08:21

To: pemitchell@btinternet.com

Subject: News and Comment about Functional Skills

You can read this email online here.

Making Sense of Functional Skills - fortnightly news and comment about Functional Skills

edited and compiled by Jonathan Wells - jwells@guroo.co.uk 0191 305 5051

	February 22nd - in this issue It's not just the UK where Functional Skills are high on the agenda; brand new (and completely free) Functional Skills resources on Promethean Planet; national performance tables for skills download link; win fantastic executive box tickets to see Take That in Sunderland and a reminder about Sec-Ed diploma conference.

	Functional Skills on the US agenda now? "In the 2010 Critical Skills Survey by the American Management Association and Partnership for 21st Century Skills, US employers say they need a workforce fully equipped with skills beyond the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic to grow their business including:  Critical Thinking and Problem Solving - The ability to make decisions, solve problems and take appropriate action Effective Communication - The ability to synthesise and transmit ideas in both written and oral formats Collaboration - The ability to work effectively with others including those from diverse groups and with opposing points of view Creativity and Innovation - The ability to see what's not there and make something happen" This is not yet US Government policy, but with support from 30+ major stakeholders in Education, Business, Community & Government and taken with the US Common Core State Standards Initiative started in 2010 it does show other major economies are focussed on similar problems to ourselves.  Click here for a link to the P21 site which includes the really clear diagram below.

	Performance tables for 2010 We had lots of requests for this spreadsheet so with pleasure here it is. It's produced in Excel and is fully "sortable" with two worksheets for schools and LAs.  Click here and it should download automatically - it's about a 1Mb though - do call me if you'd like any explanation about how I pulled the data together.

		Free Functional Skills flipcharts now on Promethean Planet Our friends at Promethean asked if they could produce some interactive Flipcarts based on Functional English and Maths at levels 1&2. Absolutely we said, and the results are now freely available on Promethean Planet - even better, you don't need to be a Promethean whiteboard user to take advantage, the flipcarts work for everyone. Click here for a quick link to English And here for Maths Registration for Promethean Planet is free, please do let us know if you download and use them - we're really keen to find out how useful they are.						Diploma Conference and Take That! Click here to get the full rules and download the entry postcard - and yes you will have to think, it's not a free prize draw to win Take That tickets to an executive box on Tuesday 31st May show at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.  All you have to do is get to Sunderland but if you don't fancy that, how about Birmingham on March 28th when our friends at Sec-Ed are holding the 7th National Conference on Diplomas focussed on maintaining delivery and cost-effective partnerships.

The next newsletter is scheduled for Tuesday March 8th - if you have any comments, suggestions or your own news that you'd like to publicise, just let me know.

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