Functional Skills case study school: Penair School, Truro

Functional Skills case study school: Penair School, Truro

This case study focuses on the strategic implementation of Functional Skills in the school.
1. Context of case study
Penair School is a comprehensive school of approximately 1200 pupils in Truro, Cornwall.
The teacher leading the introduction of Functional Skills is Martin Holmes
The learners involved in the Functional Skills pilot were 20 Year 9 pupils who have opted to do the Creative and Media Diploma from next September. The school decided to enter them all for Level 2 Functional Skills in English, maths and ICT in June 2008
The learners were taught by a variety of teachers throughout KS3 and had not been a taught class until the Functional Skills preparation.
The group were entered for the Edexcel ICT Functional Skills qualification at level 2


2. Focus of case study
§ The centre decided to take part in the pilot as the consortium of which they were part was successful in their bid to offer the Creative and Media Diploma from 2009. A Functional Skills entry in 2008 would enable the school to become familiar with the new assessment arrangements and the Year 9 pilot group could complete this requirement in advance of beginning the new Diploma course the following year.
§ This case study could be of interest to schools wishing to try a small group at the end of KS3.

3. Implementation
§ The group sat the Edexcel Functional Skills qualification in June 2008. This assessment was at level 2.
§ The group had experienced the full programme of study for ICT when they were in KS3. To prepare them more specifically for the Functional Skills assessment the school arranged three deep learning days the week before the exam, one for each of English, maths and ICT. All learners attended the days.
§ The teacher also prepared a number of booklets with background information for the students to brush up on IT skills areas they felt they had forgotten and to cover the full syllabus content.
§ The subject leader had attended all four days of the national training for Functional Skills. Since he was the only teacher in this school entering learners for Functional Skills, there were no further training implications for others at this stage.
§ The teacher was willing to allow the LA SNS consultant to visit to gain an insight in to the preparation arrangements (deep learning day) and the view of learners of the nature of the Functional Skills assessment and qualification. (See feedback write-up)
§ The teacher made the resources for the practice assessment available to the learners on the school Moodle, to support the learners in their preparation for the assessment. The exam board practice test was quite similar to the actual test.

4. Challenges and solutions
The main challenge was the fact that the pilot group had not quite finished year 9 and therefore had not completed a module on using databases and were not as prepared as the teacher hoped for the exam. It was quite ambitious to fill all the gaps in the KS3 POS in one Deep Learning Day and the school is aware that this will not be the case in subsequent years as more Functional Skills are covered within normal KS3 time.
The choice of the June window of Year 9 meant that the learners were not already involved in their SATs or their main GCSEs. It also meant that any who were not successful or who were absent would get a further opportunity to sit the test during Year 10.
Although they appreciated that Functional Skills are intended to prepare them for life and work, some students found the context and the content a little unfamiliar, unappealing and adult and the school will address this in future years.

5. Outcomes
20 of the group of 20 learners were present for the exam. They completed it in the time allowed but felt the printing and collating of work was rushed as it had to be completed within the allocated time.
Some aspects of the exam were unfamiliar to the learners (eg an ‘if’ statement in the spreadsheet) as they were not normally covered in KS3 yet the level 2 Functional Skills exam was the appropriate level of entry for the students.
The school will reflect on its programme of study in KS3 and ensure either that it is modified to cover the additional requirements of the Functional Skills assessment or they will take the decision to enter students in year 10 or 11 instead.

6. Key factors to support success
What was the crucial thing that made a difference?
Management team of the school committed to piloting all three Functional Skills with this group of learners.
It was of benefit to the learners as the Functional Skills is a requirement of the Diploma
The school had made learners aware of the ‘big picture’ and they were all very positive about being part of a national pilot and their experience being important in future decision making.
ICT teacher (and department) willing to take and respond to feedback from learners.