Resources
The Resources section allows you to browse useful materials from the Functional Skills Support Programme and other sources.
You can use the filters to show, for example, only resources that are specific to a schools audience, or resources on a particular topic within functional skills, such as Diplomas.
To show only resources produced by the programme, select ‘Functional Skills Support Programme’ from the Source dropdown.
As a starting point in looking for support, you may wish to download the Readiness tool, to help you evaluate your centre’s readiness to deliver functional skills.
Schools can also access a wide range of resources on the National Strategies website.
Coming soon
The following new publications in the Functional Skills in Diplomas series will be available from spring 2010:
- Functional skills in Retail
- Functional skills in Travel and Tourism
- Functional skills in Public Services
- Functional skills in Sport and Active Leisure
Apprenticeships and functional skills
This page from the QCDA website gives guidance on Apprenticeship frameworks.
Assessing and recording progress in functional skills
This activity will help you develop your understanding of functional skills in order to assess learners' progress, which will inform your assessment decisions. By using effective assessment for learning methodologies and tools, you will be able to support learners in their skills development and prepare them for final assessment.
Consortium Support Guide (PDF)
This guidance document from DCSF sets out the support available to help you deliver the Diploma from September 2010 and 2011. It describes what support is available, how you can access it, and how it will help you to deliver the Diploma.
Design for success: functional skills delivery and the Diploma (PDF)
This document accompanies 'Design for success: shaping your curriculum to incorporate the Diploma'. It provides detailed examples and illustrations on functional skills delivery for schools and colleges in Diploma consortia.
Developing a delivery model for functional skills
This activity will help you develop your understanding of embedded approaches to functional skills delivery and consider the approaches being taken in your line of learning.
It will help you to identify opportunities within your Diploma programme for your learners to develop their functional skills.
Embedding functional mathematics in your line of learning
This activity explains the importance of embedding functional mathematics skills in the principal learning for your line of learning. By identifying opportunities to develop these skills, and the everyday sector contexts where they will be used, you can embed functional skills into the assignments and tasks you design.
Embedding functional skills in applied contexts
This activity will help you develop your understanding of approaches to functional skills delivery and of how both discrete and embedded models might be blended in the delivery of your Diploma programme. This will inform the way you incorporate functional skills into the schemes of work for your Diploma.
Embedding functional skills to support Foundation Learning delivery
These materials are the outcome of one of the 2008/9 FSSP Development Projects.
Collingwood School and Media Arts College is a special school with provision for children aged 4-16 with a wide range of special educational needs. The focus of the development project was to adapt existing learning resources in order to create new resources that would support functional skills delivery.
Foundation Learning Action Planner
The Foundation Learning action planner is a tool to help managers in colleges and learning providers to assess how ready they are to implement Foundation Learning programmes and to develop an action plan to improve their readiness and address the eight characteristics for the effective delivery of Foundation Learning.
Foundation Learning and the learner journey
A general introduction to Foundation Learning, this document outlines how functional skills are one of the three components of FL. Further information, including experiences from centres, covers initial and summative assessment, as well as approaches to the delivery of functional skills.