Guidelines

Phase 3: Programme delivery

This section identifies points in the programme when the team may need to respond to new information or intervene.

The cohort of learners

Information about the individual functional skills needs of actual enrolees becomes available early in the programme through initial assessment and diagnostic testing. Periodic review and formative assessment as reflected in the individual learning plan (ILP) indicate learners’ ongoing functional skills needs at key points in the programme.

Adapt the programme to introduce differentiated activities into the schemes of work or lesson plans as necessary.

The team

Long-term absence or departure of staff can cause particular difficulty for the embedded programme, which is of necessity team dependent. Intervention by the team may be needed at any time in the programme.

Where possible, ensure continuity of the programme by providing a functional skills adviser and champion who can coach or mentor new or substitute staff. Make available schemes of work and lesson plans on the intranet for substitute staff and develop a resource bank of embedded materials.

Group viability

Numbers on the programme may fall, resulting in a reduction in teaching hours made available to the programme or the group size may become larger than anticipated so that new groups are formed, thus demanding more skilled or qualified staff than you have available.

At key decision points about group size, the team may be required to take action. Make use of your functional skills champion and adviser to maintain the embedded approach. Use coaching and mentoring schemes to support staff and introduce new staff to the programme plans and embedded materials, which have been prepared in advance.

Quality monitoring

Observation, data monitoring and general feedback should begin early in the newly embedded programme to enable whole-team action and reaction to developments. All quality issues on embedded programmes should be responded to quickly, for instance through review of the programme and its schemes of work and lesson plans. It may be necessary at any time during the programme to introduce further differentiated activity or to arrange key input from the functional skills adviser. Coaching and mentoring of teaching staff may also effectively address quality issues on the programme.

Sample programme plan for term 1