Fiona Williams Transitions Project Officer

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Fiona WilliamsTransitions Project Officer

• Scottish Credit Qualification Framework
• Personal Development Planning

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Original Project Outline

• Investigate the use of PDP and RPL arising from
  it, to support effective transition and
  progression for learners
• Support CLD and college staff in the application
  of SCQF to their work with learners
• Developing and evaluating the impact of project
  interventions
• Disseminating merging good practice

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PDP Project Proposals for Implementation 2007/2008

• Run an initial PDP demonstration workshop at
  Music Centre Forfar for Senior CLD workers
• SCLD workers to identify possible learners who
  could benefit from this process
• Identify key CLD workers to be trained in the use
  of on-line PDP
• Establish a PDP focus group to feedback

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• Offer PDP to selected groups of Modern
  Apprentices or candidates on SVQs through
  Training Services to support transition to FE/HE
• Run PDP as it is without any changes to format
  for pilot purposes, then look at feasibility of
  customising PDP
• Produce support material to assist CLD staff in
  delivering training to enable learners to benefit
  from PDP
• Run familiarisation workshop at Angus College on
  PDP

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• Use sessions on Learning Styles as group work
  with community learners to support their
  completion of the PDP and assist with transition
  and progression
• CLD part-time staff, sessional staff, Youth
  Workers, Voluntary Workers can have access to
  this on-line PDP to support personal development,
  achievement, progression and transition
• Work with Volunteer Centre Angus to identify
  potential volunteers who could benefit from
  accessing PDP on-line and to use it to support
  their training programme offered by VCA in
  partnership with Angus College

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Dependencies

• Identifying appropriate groups of learners with
  access to on-line facilities
• Technical issues relating to accessing the PDP on
  line
• System set up with the University enabling
  allocation of passwords for learners and tutors
• Ability to use PDP contents in any setting, ie,
  CLD, Voluntary sector, college outreach centre,
  and with capabilities for transfer into other
  FE/HE learning settings

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SCQF Project Proposals for Implementation
2007/2008

• Run a full day conference for council CLD and
  college staff on SCQF
• What is SCQF?
• How can it be used to support transition and
  progression?
• Workshops on writing to learning outcomes
• Identify potential programmes for credit rating

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• Work with college to assist in establishing a
  credit rating panel to commence with credit
  rating their own non standard provision and CLD
  non-accredited programmes
• Credit rate and level Pre-Access curriculum
  programmes ie, Sport Fitness to support
  progression onto college course

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• Identify a selection of non-accredited IT college
  provision for potential credit rating
• Run CLD staff development on an on-going basis to
  continue to raise awareness of the SCQF
• In addition to Pre-Access, identify any other
  programmes that Angus Council CLD are planning to
  develop which could be credit rated

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• Use the SCQF level descriptors as a methodology
  of supporting learners to identify where they
  think they are on the framework
• Softer approach to a formal framework, use as an
  indication rather than formal recognition (see
  RPL)
• Could be linked to PDP, ie own personal
  development leading to thinking of what level the
  learner is operating at

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SCQF and the Voluntary Sector

• Identify programmes currently offered through
  Volunteer Centre Angus, Angus College and Angus
  Council CLD appropriate for credit rating and
  levelling
• Almost 40 of volunteers want to go onto paid
  employment/further/higher education
• Credit rating non-accredited training programmes
  would assist in facilitating this progression

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Dependencies

• Identifying Angus Council CLD provision suitable
  for credit rating
• Writing new CLD provision to learning outcomes
• Establishing credit rating group at Angus College
  to pilot credit rating of community based
  non-accredited programmes
• Set up SCQF working group within community based
  learning in Angus

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RPL Project Proposals for Implementation 2007/2008

• Links to PDP and SCQF
• Use RPL tool as formative recognition for
  personal or career development
• RPL can be linked to the work done through PDP
• RPL can be used as a notional levelling of
  learning within the SCQF
• Support the use of existing RPL material designed
  for SVQ 3 in Youth Work for both summative and
  formative recognition
• Dependent on having access to appropriate groups
  of learners

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Conclusion

• Access to on-line PDP portable, virtual
  portfolio to encourage progression and support
  transition
• Understanding and awareness of the SCQF by
  tutors, CLD workers and learners
• Willingness to engage with the SQCF as a method
  of tangible progression and a measure of notional
  levelling
• Utilising RPL to facilitate an understanding of
  learners prior achievements, identify further
  training and learning needs, and supporting
  progression into FE HE