This year, Hilary Read and I decided to hold
an event which would be a combined conference and CPD day.
Our aim for the day was to help
practitioners in the sector to find out about
current and future changes. We also wanted everyone to feel comfortable to ask
questions, to network with like-minded people and to enjoy the day.
All
delegates were given a free copy of our book ‘The
Best Vocational Trainer’s Guide’ and had electronic access throughout the
day to the documents referred to during the event.
Delegates were able to hear from the following speakers:
Gavin O'Meara, FE News & FE Careers who
talked about developments in the FE, skills and training sector and how to keep up to
date with the constant changes.
Jonathan White, author of Digital
Literacy Skills and Librarian at the University of Derby. Jonathan talked about
digital literacy and how to use free/low cost technologies in teaching and
learning.
Hilary Read stood in for the Ofqual speaker who had
to withdraw due to the election. She explained The Post 16 Skills Plan and what
Technical Qualifications involve.
David Russell, CEO of The Education and Training
Foundation (ETF) spoke about supporting practitioners and the needs of FE.
After the speeches, there was time for questions which were wide ranging and topical. The big concern for most is what will
happen to the teaching, assessment and quality assurance qualifications after
the July 2018 extension.
During the breaks, delegates were able to talk to staff from
companies who exhibited at the event.
I spoke about the differences between the QCF and the RQF, one
of which is that awarding organisations (AOs) can now create their own
qualifications. This will have the implication that there might be different
versions of qualifications which were originally standardised across AOs under
the QCF system.
Hilary spoke about the changing role of the assessor/coach
within apprenticeships. You can see a short video of her talking about the 20%
off the job aspect here.
I followed this by explaining what CPD is about, i.e.:
- keeping up to date with: your subject; the sector; local and
national initiatives; legislation; teaching, learning and assessment approaches
- reflecting on your role
- networking with others
- sharing good practice
- doing something with what you’ve learnt.
Some examples of CPD can be found here, and a short video of me talking about CPD can be seen here.
There was the opportunity for delegates to discuss the
topics of the day in group workshops which proved to be very lively.
We both felt the day went really well, we received great
feedback and were both humbled with the amount of support we received. We have some
fantastic followers who it was good to meet for the first time or again.
