We have found that our students engage more positively with this method of learning Functional Skills – indeed, they sometimes do not realise they are doing these subjects until it is pointed out to them.
What we do:
As an accredited (by City & Guilds) Functional Skills centre, Flower Skills’ approach to the development of students’ functional skills is to take as much as possible of the skills building out of the class room and into the workshops, developing these skills alongside their construction skills.
How we do it:
First:
This involves not only identifying and using their existing skills and knowledge but developing their problem solving abilities using these skills.
Then:
For example, we might ask students to prepare a quotation for carrying out a set task, such as painting a wall. The students meet with the tutor to discuss the “job” then go away to write a quote. This involves measuring the walls to be painted, calculating the amount and cost of the paint required, deciding how much to charge for their labour, using percentages to work out VAT and writing out a formal quote.
Finally:
They then do the “job” and once completed they write an invoice and an accompanying letter. The tutor is there to support and advise, but the process helps students see the relevance of the skills they are learning and using.
We see students develop as they tackle progressively more difficult scenarios and begin to challenge their own answers. The approach appeals to those less academic students who traditionally struggle with class based training as they do not see the application of these skills in day to day life.
