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• About embedding
• Whole organisation approach
• The guidelines
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• Phase 1: Beginning to plan
• Phase 2: Putting plans into action
• Curriculum consultancy
• Phase 3: Programme delivery
• Phase 4: Evaluation

Phase 2: Putting plans into action

The planning team will need to monitor and update the action plan with more detailed practical tasks as new information and results of actions are reported back. This section looks at specific actions involved in planning an embedded programme that are different from those involved in any other programme planning.

The curriculum

A vocational and a functional skills specialist should work together as a pair to embed functional skills into the vocational curriculum. They should work jointly to map the vocational programme to the Skills for Life or key skills standards and to prepare draft schemes of work, lesson plans and differentiated activities. They should also take the necessary steps to introduce Skills for Life or key skills qualifications for learners where appropriate.

Learning resources

Learning resources that develop vocational and functional skills holistically form the backbone of all embedded provision. Embedded materials need to contextualise functional skills in the vocational setting and develop functional and vocational skills as an integrated whole.

You may be able to purchase or download relevant embedded learning materials or you may need to develop your own. Assign a team of vocational and functional skills specialists to prepare new materials in stages to an agreed timescale.

The staff team

To be successful, embedding needs a staff team approach. The team should include a vocational and functional skills teacher and benefit from the support of a functional skills consultant.

All staff on the team need to have, or acquire, appropriate Skills for Life professional qualifications and training of the whole team in the process of embedding is essential. Part-time, agency or sessional staff need particular support for embedding.

Quality monitoring

All parts of the embedded programme need to be monitored by both a vocational and a functional skills specialist and you should arrange an observation schedule that allows for observation periods early in the programme and at frequent intervals subsequently. The vocational and functional skills specialist should jointly review and revise quality documents and procedures to reflect the embedded approach and should arrange collection of data to monitor success rates in both vocational and functional skills – Skills for Life or key skills – qualifications and the impact of embedding on retention, achievement and progression rates for the programme.

MIS

Data collected for an embedded programme may need to reflect dual qualifications where applicable and this is the responsibility of the programme manager.

Where the learners are expected to achieve both qualification aims, the programme manager must ensure that two separate learning aims are recorded on the ILR. Where only one qualification (vocational) is the primary learning goal and where learners are working towards Skills for Life Entry 1 and 2 only, the data required will be as for all programmes, embedded or not.

The proportion of guided learning hours (GLH) assigned to Skills for Life within a vocational programme may differ from one programme to another. Some double staffing may be required as well as allocations of GLH specifically dedicated to Skills for Life learning activities. Programme managers should work with their MIS manager in order to identify the correct way of recording the programme and of claiming funding.

Data relating to retention of learners and their achievement and progression should be captured by individual and course group in order to monitor the impact of embedding on vocational as well as Skills for Life or key skills performance.

Funding

LSC FE funding

To be sustainable, embedded programmes should be funded through the LSC FE funding received by a provider. Currently, dual qualification aims will attract achievement funding for both vocational and Skills for Life or key skills outcomes. By claiming funding for dual qualifications the team will be able to adopt a more flexible approach to staff allocation and planning time.

Where a programme includes Skills for Life it may attract the disadvantage uplift. At present, where more than one learning aim is being undertaken and 50% or more of the GLH delivered in any academic year are connected to delivery of Skills for Life, the learning aim will be eligible for the disadvantage uplift and attract the 1.4 programme weighting. Alternatively, where provision comprises more than one learning aim and the Skills for Life learning aim involves at least 80 GLH in any academic year, the learner can be counted as a Skills for Life learner and will attract the disadvantage uplift, no matter how many GLH are delivered on the remaining learning aims.

Different funding ‘pots’

In addition to delivery of programmes being funded through LSC FE funding other ‘pots’ of funding can also be of assistance. For example, essential staff training and whole-team development for embedding may be funded as continuing professional development (CPD).

Alternative funding

Specific project funding (e.g. European or regeneration) may be available, for example to support the planning process, coach and mentor staff, develop embedded materials or provide for functional skills champions and consultants.

All funding is of course subject to change and planning teams should consult the LSC funding guidance when setting up an embedded programme.

Facilities and timetabling

Staff hours may be allocated differently for embedded provision, to include team teaching and flexible functional skills input that changes from week to week and fluctuates according to the demands of the programme and the needs of the learners.

Facilities such as access to ICT or audio equipment may be necessary for a larger part of an embedded programme and accommodation may need to be arranged so that specific LLN skills can be delivered in a laboratory or workshop.

Initial assessment, diagnostic testing and induction content need to be planned into the whole programme schedule and not confined to functional skills sessions.

Contingency planning

A wide range of issues and challenges can arise during delivery of an embedded programme.

Low enrolment or high dropout numbers may threaten the budget for team teaching and/or hours allocated to the programme and functional skills levels of actual or potential enrolees may vary from those predicted and within the group, thus affecting programme plans, schemes of work and plans for differentiation.

Staff skilled in embedding may leave or require absence from the programme, team cohesion may be lost through disagreements about lesson focus and team meetings may be difficult to arrange when they include part-time or sessional staff.

Programme planning and/or quality monitoring or observations relating particularly to embedding may fall behind schedule and weaknesses in the embedded delivery may be identified by observers, learners or the team.

Providers should set up a resource base for embedded programmes and should establish a functional skills champion in the vocational department and a functional skills specialist adviser to maintain a continuous embedded approach. A pre-arranged schedule of planning team meetings throughout the programme prepares for a speedy response to all contingencies.

Part-time staff on the team can be supported by assigning all programme planning to established staff, and delivery duties only to part-time staff. Using email exchange in lieu of meetings and building essential meeting time into part-time contracts can also help to include part-time staff in the team approach.

The quality of the programme may be retained by ensuring that all programme plans and schemes of work are available to new staff.