There is evidence from Chief Examiner reports which identifies the key topic areas of number work and the four main operations as ones most likely to present the most difficulty for functional maths learners.

This interactive course explores a range of methods and approaches that support skills development and deep learning of the four main operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It introduces a range of alternative mathematical methods, tackles misconceptions and uses technology effectively.

We are privileged to be joined by Kay White, an expert career coach, motivational speaker and best-selling author, for a series of online workshops for governance professionals. Based on research, programme feedback, and conversations with the sector, these tailored and targeted workshops aim to meet the demand as set out by governance professionals, for greater self-development. 

As part of the wider agenda to develop governance in the Further Education and Training sector, the student governors inductions have been organised to help new student governors in their role.

Summary "Teachers and pupils should be aware of the difference between infrequent mistakes that can be learned from and consistent mistakes that lead novice mathematicians onto the anxiety pathway. These sorts of mistakes are due to weak foundational knowledge that is more likely to generate errors and misconceptions." Ofsted, 2021

This interactive course will present practical strategies to support your maths learners by considering the mistakes and misconceptions commonly seen in our learning settings and in the summative assessments.

The Essential Digital Skills (EDS) programme is a blended programme to support the delivery of the new qualifications based on the national standards for Essential Digital Skills.

The thirty-minute lunch time  sessions, will demonstrate the key features of a range of digital teaching tools, to support you to teach Essential Digital Skills.

This interactive course offers an introduction to the key ideas and terminology of post-16 phonics. You will explore important guiding principles to apply to your practice to optimise the influence phonics can have on learners.

The course lays the foundations to give you the knowledge, confidence and motivation to go on to attend other phonics courses. English teachers know that many learners re-sitting exams want to improve their reading and spelling, and it is not always the case that learners studying GCSE feel more confident in reading and spelling than those studying Functional Skills.

The Maths Teacher Development Groups (MTDGs) are a new form of collaborative professional development from the Centres for Excellence in Mathematics (CfEM) project. Click on the links below for more information about the different groups available this year.

Motivating Learners: communicating that success is possible (4 sessions) 

Developing responsive teaching to meet learner needs (4 sessions) 

Using technology to develop mathematical understanding (4 sessions) 

Using context to develop mathematical understanding (4 sessions)

There is evidence from Chief Examiner reports that identifies manipulating and using numbers as likely to present the difficulty for a learner trying to achieve a Grade 4 and beyond on the Foundation Tier.

This course explores a range of methods and modelling that support skills development and deep learning of fractions, decimals, percentages, negative numbers, indices, and standard form. It introduces a range of rich collaborative tasks, tackles misconceptions and uses technology effectively.

This interactive course aims to help teachers plan and deliver holistic learning activities that connect English to the learner's vocational area. All of the activities use the vocational area as the starting point.

The workshop focusses on two key areas: how to use the vocational area as the foundation for all English teaching and learning activities; and how to ensure that, as far as possible, activities are holistic and representative of what learners might find themselves undertaking in the workplace.

The planning of individual lessons, and how they interlink with others, are crucial in order to maximise the time spent with learners and get the most out of the resources available.

This interactive course will support all practitioners delivering substantial maths content in how approaches to planning can support deeper learning and develop learner engagement. It will include how the use of resources can be maximised and enable participants to gain a greater awareness of how they put together a lesson plan impacts on the learning that does or does not take place.

The aim of this programme is to challenge bias, remove obstacles to achieving leadership roles and provide coaching to motivate and build confidence in aspiring leaders across the sector. The programme includes organisational culture change workshops and coaching for 30 diverse aspiring leaders and Governors, in particular those from a BAME background and those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. New for 2021/22 is a diversity masterclass series of three modules covering topics to address and reverse structural discrimination and to promote diversity and inclusion.

The public sector bodies accessibility regulations came into force in September 2018. They create legal obligations for further education and higher education organisations to "meet the accessibility requirement".

But the "accessibility requirement" is a technical suite of web standards that many find difficult to translate to every day teaching and learning. Therefore many colleges, training centres and even universities have a large legal risk. This risk grows as students become more aware of their legal entitlement to barrier-free digital content.

This course considers strategies for identifying gaps, and areas that learners struggle with, to use as a starting point for their learning. English learners tend to be returning learners that don't wish to sit the qualifications in this subject again. By pinpointing these specific areas of difficulty, we can aim to make their learning experience different for them. Providing learners with a metacognitive understanding of their learning, so they are able to decipher what works for them, is invaluable to their experience.

This interactive course will explore ways to build learners' confidence and resilience around creative writing. It explores strategies for supporting learners to see themselves as writers, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to spark their creativity and imagination (especially when working with GCSE style picture and word prompts) and produce writing which consciously develops theme and narrative perspective.

The course activities give participants the opportunity to try out and evaluate suggestions for creative writing activities for themselves before using them with learners.

Stepping into Leadership is the Further Education and Skills sector's new development programme for first-time leaders.