Support for Firsts and Nationals: Beginner to Practitioner in 6 easy steps

Support for Firsts and Nationals: Beginner to Practitioner in 6 easy steps
13 Oct 2010	WS2506	£245	Leeds City Centre
14 Oct 2010	WS2505	£245	Birmingham City Centre
20 Oct 2010	WS2504	£259	London Euston
Click on dates above for details & booking

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This workshop is designed, developed and delivered by Excellence in Learning as a practical introduction to Firsts and Nationals programmes. It provides teachers/lecturers and programme managers new to Firsts and Nationals programmes with a detailed understanding of the techniques and approaches that underpin effective development and delivery. In doing so, the workshop highlights the barriers and obstacles that are frequently encountered by Firsts and Nationals practitioners and most importantly, demonstrates effective solutions.

Designed and delivered with multiple perspectives in mind - including those of Firsts and Nationals teachers/lecturers, team leaders, co-ordinators, programme managers and heads of department - the workshop provides tried and tested pro-formas to help with tracking and pre-standardisation.

Aims and Objectives

This intensive one day workshop aims to help participants to develop or enhance their understanding of:

Firsts and Nationals assessment philosophy
Ways to select programme units
How to design an effective and user-friendly assignment brief
How to ensure effective and pro-active:

learner support
tracking systems
quality assurance

The Potential Barriers and Obstacles within Firsts and Nationals Programme assessment and delivery and how to overcome them

For Whom

This workshop is designed to help those new to Firsts and Nationals qualifications or new to managing a Firsts and Nationals area, to meet the challenges of Firsts and Nationals programme leadership, development and delivery. This includes Teachers/Lecturers, Team Leaders, Course Coordinators, Programme Managers, Heads of Department, Firsts and Nationals Quality Nominees, Teaching and Learning Managers, Quality Managers from all sectors including schools, colleges and private providers

The workshop may also serve as a model for managers and those tasked with introducing others to Firsts and Nationals programmes.

Note: Workshop content is NOT designed to cover “OCR Nationals Programmes”

Content

The Workshop is split into 6 related but distinct sections:

1. Firsts and Nationals overview and assessment philosophy

Level 2 and Level 3 programme structure and minimum unit achievement requirements.
Core units and specialist units.
Assessment – methods, grading criteria (and progression from Pass to Merit and Distinction) and unit grades.

2. Selection and delivery of programme units

Selection of units – on what basis could specialist units be selected (e.g. progression, specialist business stream, delivery team expertise)?
Should all or most of the core units for Firsts and Nationals National Certificates and Diplomas be delivered in the first year or be spread across the two years? What are the relative merits of each approach?
‘Pick and Mix’ approach: the relative merits for learners and colleges/schools of combining A levels with Firsts and Nationals programmes.
Models of delivery: ‘short and fat’ (semester-based) and ‘long and thin’ (throughout the year).

3. Learner support

Beyond ‘screening’ and ‘diagnostic testing’: the induction assignment – timeframe, content and relative merits.
Towards early intervention: using the first task submission as an opportunity to review learner support requirements across units and establishing expectations.
Long-term progression planning: identifying and responding to learner goals and entry requirements for higher level courses at the start of the programme.
Using assessment methods to develop wider skills.

4. First principles of assignment brief design

Should a standard assignment brief template or approach be adopted across the programme and levels, and what are the merits of doing so?
Meeting with the Firsts and Nationals team and agreeing assessment methods across each unit – spreading learner workload and increasing variety.
Identifying links between programme units, with a view to partial integration.
Making the assignment brief user-friendly for teachers/lecturers and learners.
Providing guidance.
Building-in progression themes from level 2 to level 3 (e.g. complementary units and similar assignment brief design philosophy).

5. Tracking systems

Task tracking and grade tracking systems (pro-formas will be provided)
Using tracking systems to identify initial and on-going learner support needs across units.

6. Quality assurance and key dates

Internal verification of assignment briefs: who can internally verify assignment briefs, what type of feedback should be provided and what is the timeframe?
Using a pro-forma for internal verification of assignment briefs.
Selection of units for National Standards Sampling (NSS) – key dates for contact with external verifier and submission of assignment briefs for the units selected.
Interim summative and formative feedback to learners.
Standardisation – purpose and approach.
Pre-standardisation – ‘front loading’ quality assurance (a pro-active approach to standardisation). Pro-formas will be provided for this approach, which has already been successfully trialled at a Firsts and Nationals centre.
Selecting the sample for NSS.
Checklist and organisation of the sample content.

Presenter

The presenter has experience and expertise in Firsts and Nationals Programme quality, equality, diversity and change management together with a successful track record as Head of Department, Programme Quality Nominee, Vocational Quality Manager and Quality Manager in an FE environment. He has initiated and led developments and innovations in Firsts and Nationals centre risk assessment, quality systems and programme delivery including improvements to assessment methodology and assignment briefs within Firsts and Nationals Programme areas. He has also had good experience as a First and National Programmes External Verifier for one of the UK’s largest awarding bodies

Style of the event

The seminar/workshop will be a blend of presentation and Q&A sessions at group and room level. Time will be allocated to addressing individual questions and quality and strategic issues and for networking and sharing of good practice.

Related Development and Support for Firsts and Nationals Programmes Workshops

Certificates of Professional Development.

Formal Certificates of Development will be issued, by post, to participants who complete this workshop. These certificates will detail the key learning aims and the face-to-face learning hours undertaken, enabling participants to update their CPD records and logs accordingly. The workshop also allows time, during the day, for participants to reflect on and record their personal learning development and consider how best to apply the knowledge gained on return to work. This element of the programme is designed to maximise the benefits from attending and enable participants to make better review judgments when recording their CPD activities.