Welcome

Welcome to my latest quarterly newsletter. I hope you are all staying well, and adjusting to the new way of doing things.

As usual, my newsletter is to keep you updated with what's going on in our sector, and what I've been working on.

COVID-19 has impacted most of us in ways we would never have imagined. It's made us change how we do things, particularly in education where most training is now online. Many organisations are considering making this permanent. Sadly, many new online courses are being advertised which are misleading learners into thinking they will receive a qualification upon completion. I've added some tips further down this newsletter to help learners to find a legitimate provider.

The Education and Training Foundation have lots of online courses and support for those teaching online, you can access them here. Many are free. They also have lots of advice to support remote working.

Updates in our sector

Ofqual have been dominating the news with the issues surrounding grades for A levels and GCSEs. This shows just how important ongoing assessment and accurate decisions are to the futures of all learners. In our vocational sector, most assessment decisions are by humans - people like you and me. We have a duty to get things right. However, there are many situations which could pose a risk to your decision. I've added a list towards the end of this page.

You can find the latest coronavirus information for FE and HE from GOV.UK here. The page is regularly updated.

The Department for Education has announced that it will make a one-off grant of up to £96m for colleges, sixth forms and all 16-19 providers. This is to provide small group tutoring for disadvantaged 16-19 students whose studies have been disrupted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has published information on additional funding for school and college leavers. This will be available for the delivery of high value subjects such as maths, English and digital skills.

Online education in FE and skills - an Ofsted blog about online learning and what works. It's based on what Ofsted inspectors asked learners about what worked well and what was not working so well, regarding the online education they received. There are some interesting points if you have time to read it.

The government is working on a plan to bring colleges in England back into public ownership with work on a white paper being followed by legislation.

If you are a student working towards an initial teacher education qualification, you can join the Society for Education and Training for free.

New webpages

I have added some new pages to my website with information to help practitioners:

Quality - information about quality improvement; quality control; quality cycle; quality systems and quality assurance.

Professional support: vocational - links to professional organisations who can support particular subject areas. This page is in addition to the current one for generic organisations.

Using technology - lots of useful information and weblinks for anyone new to using technology in their role.

Fraudulent certificates

I have been hearing some horror stories about training organisations issuing certificates for qualifications, but not being accredited to offer them. Many are in relation to the L3 Award in Education and Training (AET). People had been told they did not have to deliver a micro-teach session due to COVID-19. This is not true. The micro-teach session can be delayed, but it still has to be done.

If you have been affected by this, and you need to achieve a legitimate AET qualification, a free informal assessment of your work is available. See the next section below.

If you are considering taking an online course, I've produced some tips to help choose a legitimate online provider. I hope you find them useful.

L3 AET assessment only route

If you have received a fraudulent certificate (or none at all) and you have electronic copies of your completed assignments, there is an 'assessment only' route you can take with KMF Training. I collaborate with them for my online courses.

They will assess if your work meets the requirements, and guide you with anything else which needs to be done. You will only need to partake in additional online learning if there are any gaps in your work.

Contact me for details - a free consultation and informal assessment of your work is available.

Text books: latest news

Most of you are familiar with the way I write. I've even been told that when reading one of my books, people feel that I'm talking to them and explaining things to them in an easy to understand way. I'd like to thank everyone for the positive feedback I have received, and which is posted on Amazon and other review sites.

The qualifications for teachers, assessors and quality assurers will be updated next year. As my 'Principles and Practices' books are not linked to a particular qualification title, their content will still be applicable.

If you are a centre and you would like to offer my books as e-books for your learners, you can now get individual access codes for each learner, or pay an annual subscription for groups of learners. Just contact despina.maclaren@sagepub.co.uk for further details.

You can see details of all my books here.

More new online CPD modules

In association with KMF Training, I am pleased to announce that new online CPD modules are now available for end-point assessment (EPA).

They compliment the other modules which are available for: teaching & training; assessment; IQA and EQA.

They are ideal if you want to know what the role involves, if you need to update your knowledge, or if you want to supplement your studies towards a relevant qualification.

All modules are only £18 each.

If you are a centre, you can use the modules as CPD for your staff, or as an online course with your learners.

Another new online course

In addition to the Award in Education and Training, I'm pleased to collaborate with KMF Training to now offer the Assessment qualifications.

I have written the course content which includes downloadable resources, an e-version of my book, activities, videos and animations. Just click the links above to find out more.

Don't forget...

There's lots of information on my website to support new teachers, trainers, assessors and quality assurers with their role. I've recently been updating the site, so please let me know what you think, particularly if you spot a typo or a broken link!

If you don't already know, I have created teaching and learning resources which range from 50p for handouts to £10 PowerPoints.

There are lots of videos and reading lists to view on my site (by me and others) to help you with your role.

And finally ... as always ...

Please feel free to forward this e-mail to your colleagues.

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Stay safe, stay happy, stay healthy.

Best wishes

Ann

website: www.anngravells.com

social media: Ann Gravells

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