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Creating lifetime opportunities through outstanding education and training
English and Mathematics Policy
Developing English and maths skills is one of the College’s seven ‘non negotiable’ Teaching, Learning and Assessment elements.
Vision: To provide consistent and regular opportunities for our learners to improve their skills in English and mathematics, embedding these skills so that they are developed and applied in all aspects of students’ learning.
1
Key risks of failure to agree and implement a policy for English and mathematics
• Teaching, learning and assessment profile across the College will not exceed 75% good or outstanding lesson observations
• Learners will not see the importance of English and maths as an integral part of their studies and essential for their progress to the next level of learning
• Negative impact on the College’s success rates
• Negative impact on College’s current and future funding
• Negative impact on our College OFSTED Inspection with too few students achieving the next level of attainment in English and maths
• Poor progression opportunities for our learners within college and externally to HE and/or employment based upon failure to achieve Level 2 in English and maths
Impact Measures
We will know when this policy is fully implemented when:
• All 16 – 18 students without a C grade in English or maths are attending an appropriate course with a clear progression route to Level 2 in English and maths
• All staff understand how to embed English and maths in their teaching, learning and assessment planning and delivery
• The College’s teaching, learning and assessment observation profile shows at least 75% of English and maths sessions rated as good or outstanding for the development of English and maths skills linked to 16 – 18 Study Programmes
Rationale for the policy
At City of Bristol College, we want our students to improve their confidence and competence in English and maths skills so that they can function independently in all aspects of their personal and professional life. These are the skills that are essential for both progression to and within employment or to further study.
“… ensuring that young people and adults have good English and maths skills is the single most important thing that education can do for them. If they don’t, doors everywhere shut in their faces and it is extraordinarily hard for them to come back into education, do well in training programmes, start businesses, win promotions, lead successful lives, manage their affairs”
Alison Wolf, Review of Vocational Education 14 - 19
2 English and Mathematics Policy
Policy Statement
By developing the English and maths skills of learners, City of Bristol College is clearly demonstrating its intent to support employability, excellence, enterprise and progression for all.
It is a condition of funding that any 16 – 18 learner enrolling on a study programme without a C grade or above in GCSE English and/or maths has to continue studying in these subjects. They have to have timetabled classes leading to a funded qualification. This policy shows how students have a clear and appropriate pathway to achieve GCSE English and maths at grade C or above.
Aims
• All students starting on a 16 – 18 study programme at Levels 1, 2 or 3 will achieve either a C grade or above at GCSE or a Level 2 Functional Skills qualification by the time they leave City of Bristol College.
• All 16 – 18 year olds who start their vocational study programme already having achieved a C grade or above in English and maths will have timetabled directed study time to complete a project linked to their main learning which gives opportunities to develop further their skills in English and maths
• Part time adult learners without a C grade at GCSE in English and maths will be assessed and offered a place to improve their English and maths skills in order to improve their opportunities for employment and further study.
• HE learners will be supported in developing their English and maths skills with their career destinations in mind.
• Learners on apprenticeship programmes without a C grade or above in English and maths will have timetabled English and maths sessions at the level appropriate to them which is at or above the level required by their framework.
3
To achieve these aims, City of Bristol College will:
• Provide high quality, impartial advice and guidance together with initial and diagnostic assessment to inform recruitment for each student to the right level and appropriate qualification pathway for English and maths.
• Develop a consistent approach to the delivery of English and maths
• Create a team of specialist English and maths teachers to deliver English and maths across the organisation
• Improve standards in teaching, learning and assessment of English and maths across the college by embedding them in all learning
• Raise success rates in English and maths
• Where appropriate, provide learners with the opportunity for in-year progression to the next level of attainment or qualification
• Ensure that the delivery of English and maths is flexible in terms of location, time, method and vocational context so that learners’ needs are met
Funding
The condition of funding for 16 – 18 year olds on study programmes states that a learner who does not have a C grade or above at GCSE in English and/or maths must take one of the following:
• English and mathematics GCSE
• Functional Skills
• ESOL qualifications registered with OFQUAL as stepping stones to GCSE study
Funding is also available for learners over the age of 19 to take GCSEs in English and maths or Functional Skills qualifications.
4 English and Mathematics Policy
Timetabling and Teaching Hours for English and Maths
Hours allocated to delivery are as follows:
• English or mathematics GCSE: 3 hours per week (2 x 1.5 hour sessions) on a central timetable grid for 2015 - 16
• Functional Skills: 1.5 hours per week timetabled by vocational areas
• Directed study for English and maths: 1.5 hours per week timetabled by vocational areas
Learner Pathways for English and Maths
• Students who have achieved a D grade at GCSE in English and/or maths will retake their GCSE
• Students starting their College course with a GCSE grade below D will take a Functional Skills qualification at the appropriate level unless their initial and diagnostic assessment indicates under-performance at GCSE and the ability to succeed at Level 2.
5
Gra
de D
in b
oth
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ish
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hs G
CSE
(and
info
rmed
by
initi
al a
sses
smen
t res
ults
)
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de D
in e
ither
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lish
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hs G
CSE
(and
info
rmed
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al a
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t res
ults
)
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des
E, F
or G
in E
nglis
h or
m
aths
(and
info
rmed
by
initi
al
asse
ssm
ent
resu
lts)
Level of learner’s main programme
Leve
l 3
Mai
n le
arni
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t Lev
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ly
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rrec
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r thi
s le
arne
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take
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whe
re
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or t
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nctio
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ill a
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Mai
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t Lev
el 1
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bab
ly
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rrec
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earn
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as D
gra
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lish
and
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hs a
t GC
SE
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ke G
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ubje
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here
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ill a
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l Sk
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) the
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gra
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yM
ain
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ntry
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earn
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as D
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oth
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Lear
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Pat
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r E
nglis
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d M
aths
6 English and Mathematics Policy
Initial Assessment
• All learners will take the College’s BKSB initial assessment at interview or prior to enrolment to support placement to the right course level
• It is the responsibility of the Vocational Curriculum Leaders to ensure that ALL learners take the initial assessment and that this is recorded electronically in a timely manner.
• Learners who have achieved a grade C or above at GCSE in English and/or maths also have to complete an initial assessment. This is because all learners are expected to develop their English and maths skills
• Initial and diagnostic assessments are critical, regardless of GCSE grades, to ensure that each learner is making good progress. GCSE grades are not always a reliable indicator of skills.
Embedding of English and Maths in 16 – 18 Study Programmes
The delivery of English and maths has to support and underpin students’ main learning. Every lesson should develop English and maths skills in the context of vocational and academic subjects to support high quality teaching, learning and assessment.
English and maths should be embedded into students’ main learning . Below are some examples of good practice:
• Consistent marking of students’ assignments for spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG)
• Extending the opportunities for the use of data in coursework eg using graphs and charts in presentations
• Encouraging the use of verbal and written language in a wide range of contexts including presentations, written reports, role plays and real working environments
• Identifying the development opportunities for English and maths in schemes of work and lesson plans
• Close working relationship between vocational staff and specialist English and maths colleagues
7
Roles and Responsibilities
Vice Principal (Curriculum and Learners)
• Strategic and Executive Lead
Director of Learning for English, Maths and A Levels will:
• Oversee the implementation of the English and maths policy
• Support Curriculum Leaders for English and maths to implement the policy
• Centrally plan and timetable all GCSE classes for 16 – 18 year old learners
Directors of Learning will:
• Implement and deliver the English and maths policy
• Ensure that every learner has taken and has an electronic record of their initial and diagnostic assessment
• Be accountable for the GCSE and Functional Skills English and maths success rates for students in their area of learning
Curriculum Leaders for English and Maths will:
• Ensure that GCSE English and maths results are collected and recorded in students’ ProSolution e-ILP
• Be responsible for the central timetabling of GCSE English and maths
• Recruit, select and line manage the College’s qualified English and maths teachers and all aspects of quality assurance including standardisation, internal verification of Functional Skills Speaking and Listening tasks and moderation of GCSE Controlled Assessments for English
• Support and deliver staff development for vocational teachers on the embedding of English and maths in main learning
Vocational Curriculum Leaders will:
• Ensure that GCSE English and maths results are collected and recorded in students’ ProSolution e-ILP
• To ensure that vocational timetabling allows all students to access appropriate English and maths classes
• Maintain regular contact with English and maths teachers for students within their curriculum area to check attendance, behaviour, success and performance in the same way as happens for vocational unit delivery
• Check and confirm that every learner has a GCSE grade and initial assessment result for English and maths which are both entered on ProSolution
• Check and confirm that English and maths has a Performance Result to ensure each student is on the right English and/or maths course for correct entry to external examination
8 English and Mathematics Policy
• Work with English and maths specialist teachers to provide student and course information so that learning can be contextualised for the group and individualised to meet learner needs
• Where students already have a C grade or above in GCSE English and/or maths, students have planned, timetabled and directed study time dedicated to improving their English and maths skills.
Curriculum Leaders for Work Based Learning
As for Curriculum Leaders above but data to be in Smart Assessor as opposed to ProMonitor
English and Maths teachers will:
• Plan and deliver good sessions based on student and course information, contextualised to students’ main learning as appropriate
• Provide regular homework with feedback
• Ensure all learners have completed an initial assessment
• Track and record students’ progress using ProMonitor
• Keep students’ Curriculum Leader informed about attendance, progress and performance and identify students at risk of failure
• Attend staff development sessions
• Support vocational staff to embed English and maths in main learning subjects and help to give consistent feedback on the marking of errors in English and maths
All Teachers in all curriculum areas
• Identify clear and relevant learning objectives in lesson plans for English and maths in every session
• Use the college guidelines for feedback on spelling, grammar and punctuation when marking assignments, assessing presentations, improving students’ pronunciation, for example.
• Promote and encourage accurate and consistent use of English and maths’ skills within your planned learning and classroom environment as appropriate
• Seek ideas, consult with colleagues and introduce innovative ways to embed the accurate and consistent use of English and maths’ skills in your planned learning
9
Assessors
• Deliver and assess English and maths Functional Skills in the workplace and in the classroom
• Support, develop and prepare learners for successful and timely achievement of functional skills in order to complete apprenticeship frameworks
Additional Learning Support staff will:
• Support students’ progress in English and maths either through 1:1 sessions or in class
Learning Improvement Manager will:
• Ensure all staff teaching English and maths are included in the College observation schedule
• Support the improvement of teaching, learning and assessment in English and maths through, for example, specific workshops and sharing of good practice as identified through observations of learning
• Coordinate the work of the Teaching, Learning and Assessment Coaches (TLACs) to accelerate improvements in English and maths
Quality Improvement Manager for Work Based Learning:
• Support work-placed assessors and Curriculum Leaders to deliver full apprenticeship frameworks which include Functional Skills English and maths
Teaching, Learning and Assessment Coaches (TLACs) will:
• Support the development of excellence in teaching, learning and assessment for English and maths
• Work with Curriculum Leaders for English and maths and Vocational Curriculum Leaders to organise and deliver relevant staff development sessions to specialist and vocational teachers
10 English and Mathematics Policy
Awarding Body and Assessment
• The Awarding Body for GCSE English is WJEC
• The Awarding Body for GCSE Maths is Edecxel
• The Awarding Body for Functional Skills is City and Guilds
Examination entry for GCSE English and Maths
• Entries will be made by the Examinations’ Team, now under the MIS Functional Area
• Entries will be made after Christmas and by the end of January at the latest. Candidates will be sent their provisional entry information at the beginning of February by email so they must be encouraged to ensure that they have a working email address registered with the College systems by then. Any queries regarding their entry, including access arrangements or not receiving an email of their provisional entry, will be directed to their Tutors in the first instance.
• The Exam Team will send out lists of students by course code attending GCSE classes.
• GCSE Maths and English teachers will check lists, then return with amendments for entry by Exams Team
• Maths and English teachers will make entries via Exam Change Requests in ProSolution for entry by the Exams Team.
• On GCSE results day, 20 August 2015, The Exams team will send out results by email to the students’ email address as recorded on ProSolution and will be available to provide a service to print copies of the Examination Board results in person on an on-demand basis at College Green campus only. Certificates will be sent out by second class mail to the student’s home address as recorded on ProSolution when the certificates arrive. It is the student’s responsibility to maintain both their email address and postal address by the use of either ProPortal or by visiting Student Services.
Moderation of English GCSE Controlled Assessments
This will be led by the Curriculum Leader for English
Internal Verification of Speaking and Listening for English Functional Skills
The Listening and Speaking element of English Functional Skills at Levels 1 and 2 is internally verified and externally moderated. All Entry Levels of Functional Skills are internally verified and externally moderated.
Cross College Curriculum Leader for English will organise and hold regular standardisation meetings. To comply with Awarding Body regulations and internal quality assurance, 25% of students’ work from each Functional Skills teacher will be sampled. The Curriculum Leader for English will then sample 10% of these. This sampling will form the basis of data to be sent to the External Verifier for City and Guilds when paperwork is requested.
Listening and Speaking internal verification will be coordinated by the Curriculum Leader for English. External moderation visits will also be coordinated by the Curriculum Leader for English.
11
Entry for external Functional Skills Assessments
• For Levels 1 and 2 Functional Skills in English and maths, we will move towards greater use of onscreen testing. Tests will take place ‘on demand’ when students are ready with the process being managed by the Exams team.
• The default for Level 1 & 2 assessments is to be onscreen with all exceptions being routed via the appropriate CL for approval.
• Entry Level assessments will be printed and distributed by the Exams team. They will be available to be booked out during College hours only from Student Services in the appropriate campus and will not leave the premises unless the assessment is recorded as being run offsite. They will remain at the campus for a week to be available for marking and IV’ing before being automatically returned to Exams at CG for secure storage. The assessments will be available for IV’ing and can be sent to other campuses if required.
• For all assessments they will be booked via ProSolution using an Exams Change Request (currently not active) with two weeks’ notice.
• All Level 1 & 2 assessments will be invigilated by the Exams team. All Entry Level to be run by the relevant Tutor.
• All Level 1 & 2 assessments will be run in two two-week windows – one w/c 13th April and the other w/c 1st June. The timings are designed to give plenty of time for teaching, then to allow time for the results to return before the next window and to allow time for some ad hoc exams late in June for candidates who missed the second session. (This obviously needs revision for English with the two externally assessed units and possibly an additional series to accommodate them being examined separately.)
Operational Information
Base rooms for English and Maths have been set up as follows:
• College Green: 3 E 19
• Ashley Down: AB034
• Soundwell: SE2.02
• Parkway: PA1.08
12 English and Mathematics Policy
Func
tiona
l Ski
lls
Eng
lish
and
Mat
hs
Cap
acit
y B
uild
ing
Aud
iting
Ob
serv
atio
nsO
utco
mes
• En
glis
h &
Mat
hs P
olic
y•
Gui
del
ines
for m
arki
ng•
Tip
s fo
r eff
ectiv
e em
bed
din
g o
f E&
M
• C
om
plia
nce
with
Po
licy
• A
tten
dan
ce•
Teac
hing
pra
ctic
e•
Staf
f Util
isat
ion
• A
sses
smen
t and
tra
ckin
g
(Pro
Mo
nito
r and
Sm
art
Ass
esso
r)
• O
bse
rvat
ions
and
le
arni
ng w
alks
• Im
pro
ved
suc
cess
rate
s fo
r Fun
ctio
nal S
kills
• A
tten
danc
e at
less
ons
fo
r Fun
ctio
nal S
kills
in
line
with
Col
lege
ave
rage
• A
ll sta
ff ro
utin
ely
embe
ddin
g En
glish
an
d m
aths
with
in th
eir
sess
ions
• Le
arne
rs w
ork
ing
to
war
ds
Leve
l 2 a
nd
func
tioni
ng a
t a
leve
l th
at m
eets
the
nee
ds
of e
mp
loye
rs
Joy
Hun
ting
ton
• En
glis
h &
Mat
hs s
tand
ard
ag
end
a at
team
mee
ting
s•
Faci
litat
ing
sha
ring
of
go
od
pra
ctic
e•
Tip
s fo
r eff
ectiv
e em
bed
din
g o
f E&
M
• Q
ualifi
catio
ns o
n en
try
• A
tten
dan
ce•
Teac
hing
pra
ctic
e
– Le
sso
ns
–
Sche
mes
of w
ork
– Ta
rget
set
ting
• A
sses
smen
t and
tra
ckin
g
(Pro
Mo
nito
r and
Sm
art
Ass
esso
r)
• O
bse
rvat
ions
and
le
arni
ng w
alks
Dire
cto
rs
of L
earn
ing
Wo
rkin
g in
co
njun
ctio
n w
ith
the
Lear
ning
Imp
rove
men
t M
anag
er a
nd T
LAC
s
All
staf
f ob
serv
ed b
y C
hris
tmas
(1st
roun
d)
Wo
rkin
g in
co
njun
ctio
n w
ith
the
Dire
cto
r of L
earn
ing
, Le
arni
ng Im
pro
vem
ent
Man
ager
and
TLA
Cs
Wo
rkin
g in
co
njun
ctio
n w
ith e
Lear
ning
A
sses
smen
t Tr
aine
r(s)
Creating lifetime opportunities through outstanding education and training
