Enhancement of Learning Support Materials Go live

After a number of months and a lot of hard work by all involved the materials produced as part of the ELS have gone live on the Excellence Gateway. You may have had it from a number of sources but here is the link in case you missed it.http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/316191

We are obviously particularly pleased because we were involved in the initial research and the project management of the second phase of the project. So we think it is great, well we would, but really the great think about a lot of the resources is that they are very practical - if you are looking for documents you can use pro-formas that you can adapt stuff that will help you out and save you time there are things here for you!
Obviously there is a lot to take in and you are short of time so  we thought we would point you in the direction of a few things that are valuable that you can consider and start using straight away.

Profiling Tool and Organisational Audit

Do your Learning support managers have difficulty planning and delivering effective appraisals and really focused personal development plans for the staff they manage. If so the Profiling tool , the PDP is for you. The profiling tool does what it says on the tin really it  is an online self evaluation tool which provides each member of your support staff with a detailed picture of their strengths and weaknesses and a whole host of reports  for individuals, managers to get a clear view of each support staffs CPD requirements
http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=317522

Of course that is great for individuals but  the other side of the coin is how are we doing as an organisation?  The  organisational audit tool provides a series of effective practice indicators, linked to the National Occupational standards  for LSAs are also  cross referenced with the Common Inspection Framework (CIF). You can edit them to fit your situation but the  evidence generated will provides an effective way of answering the question " where are we know " with our learning support practice. There is also a helpful  user guide - what could be easier. Its free!

 http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=318848

On their own these two cover a great deal but put them together and you will really have all bases covered

K & A Associates  can offer a facilitated day which will help you to get maximum impact from the profile. Find out more here http://www.kandaassociates.co.uk/PDPSupportDay.html ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************OFSTED REPORT SELF ASSESSMENT CHECK LIST -
In the last issue we covered the recent Ofsted Report and its focus on outcomes and destinations. We have had a lot of feedback from  people who have asked us about what the implications are for practice. To try and help organisations think about what the implications may be for  them we have produced a short self assessment checklist which you can  download here http://www.kandaassociates.co.uk/OfstedReportChecklist.html

Ofsted Report calls for more focus on Outcomes and Destinations

I am not sure why improving the life chances of thousands of disabled young people doesn't register as much on the nations psyche as bankers bonuses,celebrity big brother or the holiday fashion of senior politicians but it doesn't!!
So what with the riots, the hacking scandal and the banking crisis you may have missed the latest Ofsted report. Snuck out in late summer, Progression post 16 for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is a rare Ofsted  bird indeed; candid,clear,accurate and  timely. Shame it was published in the late summer  and generated little if any press coverage even  from the media outlets that are usually interested - Guardian and TES take note!!
The main headlines are that whilst there is some good provision there are still issues with some basics :  What gets learnt and why, the systems and structures that fund it,and the performance measures that are applied - nothing very important then!


Most notably the conclusion is there is an insufficient focus on outcomes and destinations for learners  and this is  hindering the ability of learning programmes to improve life chances. Some notable headlines are

• Providers had received a completed learning difficulty assessment in only a third of the case studies where one should have been made available to them.
• duplication of effort in assessment

One of the most significant findings was about Foundation Learning  with a conclusion that" programmes reviewed by inspectors were too narrowly focused on accreditation and were not effective in enabling learners to progress to open or supported employment, independent living or community engagement"

In particular the conclusion was that Foundation learning programmes were successful for learners whose main goal was to progress to level 2 provision or higher. But for those learners for whom this was not a main goal, they were too narrowly focused on accreditation and did not offer meaningful opportunities for work experience and other practical learning situations in which to develop skills. Following on from the comments in the Wolf review this is further evidence that Foundation Learning is not working for those  learners with more complex needs. They also highlight the inappropriate nature of some accreditation with the possibility of gaining an entry level qualification in "using a public convenience" being the best ( or should I say worst) example! 

If this is the case it begs the question what are they going to do about it? It is welcome to see Ofsted call for more focus on outcomes and destinations but until there is a fundamental review of the funding allocation system most providers will continue to be required to deliver foundation learning linked to accreditation.

What we really need is a more flexible funding system that allows providers and practitioners to develop the learning programmes that meet  individual needs, in consultation with their learners and  to blend accredited and non accredited learning  where appropriate. The judgement of effectiveness should be the ultimate outcome for learners - where they go, what they can do the pathways into adult life that their learning programme has prepared them for - not simply a count up of how many units they have passed!Unfortunately that is difficult to do and  much harder to count.... but that is not a good reason for not trying!  


Many effective providers are doing this already in spite of the constraints.

 The Ofsted report is a recommended read for all programme managers and practitioners  because it gets you thinking about the important question of why - what is the point to our provision, what is the difference it makes to the future lives of learners and how can we be sure that it is making a difference

You can get the whole report here http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/progression-post-16-for-learners-learning-difficulties-andor-disabilities

We wait to see what happens!
We can support providers to address the challenges in the Ofsted report with curriculum development and guidance on adapting foundation learning and measuring outcomes and destinations. To find out more  go to http://www.kandaassociates.co.uk/services/s_foundation.html