Making ESOL contacts

There are big developments in ESOL with additional funding of £9million promised to increase provision. Colin has been talking to me about the possibility of bidding for some of the money to support practitioners.

On Thursday (21st Feb.)I met Margaret Allan (SQA DEvelopment Manager - NQs), Jennifer MacDougall (Development Officer? new PDA) and Alan Wilson (Qualifications Manager). They were all really enthusiastic about working with SFEU and about any support we can provide.

I was given a detailed folder on the NQs with a CD of support materials for all five levels. There has been a huge increase in entries for NQs. Because they are new units and because of the nature of ESOL delivery (often small departments with a large number of part-time staff and many isolated) there are difficulties. SQA are running national training events to exemplify standards. These are very over-subscribed. I was invited to attend the event on the 14th March in Inverness. Margaret was very keen for me to attend and it will be an excellent way to make contacts and promote the network as well as getting up to speed with the issues. The location is also good as the Highlands and Islands come into the isolation category.
SFEU ESOL event - Margaret was really enthusiastic about this. A date at the beginning of May would be really good if possible. I am thinking of an introduction of the network with a demo of Practitioners Plus and the Swap Shop followed by input from Margaret on NQs with workshops on standards, then a short session on the PDA and finally a session on ICT (maybe a Same Time demo or something else ). Margaret seems to think we will be inundated with applicants - SQA will help to promote it through their database. She was also suggesting another event later in the year to concentrate on tailoring assessments to specific areas of interest. If we are successful in getting some funding maybe it could support events.
I talked about Same Time and they thought it had definite possibilities as additional support in isolated areas and perhaps in the workplace. They were concerned about individual use as not everyone has access to a PC.
Margaret is unaware of ESOL developments for SOLAR. E assessement could also be very suitable for the new PDA.
ESOL for work units are being developed (workplace assessed). I told Margaret about the HN units for ESOL (she did not know they existed). As well as Construction, Care, Tourism and Hospitality she also mentioned food processing (fish industry esp. in north) and Beauty Therapy in Shetland!! I think if we are able to benefit from materials produced in Construction that would be excellent.
Shortage of provision is a big issue particularly in the Highlands and Islands. It is not clear exactly how the initial additional £5 million has been spent or how much impact it has had - too early I suppose. Upskilling of staff esp. volunteers is an issue - hence the new PDA which will be available in August.
In addition to the contact with SQA I have been invited to join the ESOL Curriculum Working Group which will be really valuable. The membership includes representatives from the Scottish Government, HMIE, the Funding Council and SQA. The next meeting is in April.
On the Modern Languages front I have two Qualifications Design Team meetings this week, one on HN units and one on new Free Standing Vocational Units. I am one of only two FE members on the latter so it is important to negotiate the best possible units to suit FE as well as school candidates.

Project

I currently have three partners for the project and following a visit to Dundee College I am hopeful that they will come on board. I have set up a Discussion Forum on the Forth Valley VLE with access for staff and learners in the different centres to enable topic based disussion to take place in French. I would like to incorporate Crazy Talk in the discussion forum to add further interest. It has been a slow process to get access details for the students from SCHOLAR and at the moment I am using the College one in FVC as a temporary measure.
Next week I have a meeting at SQA with the Qualifications Manager for ESOL. This should be a very useful and informative meeting - there is a lot of activity in ESOL and additional funding has just been announced to try to meet the high demand for classes.