When is too much not enough?

With the amount of editorial coverage in the media and the Government’s heavyweight advertising campaign – wouldn’t you think that centres and Local Authorities were getting more than enough of the right information and support to begin delivery?

“Not so” says Mandy Smith Diploma Support Team Leader for AQA-City & Guilds.  “Whilst there is a wide range of information available, it all comes down to the uniqueness of consortia – how they’re developing along the journey to first teaching and how they’re setting themselves up to deliver multi-centre provision - which is a new thing for many.

Basing her comments on experiences of the Open Day events and the Line of Learning technical ‘Preparing to Teach’ meetings which have been running at City & Guilds locations around the country, Mandy Smith adds:

“We get a wide variety of visitors to our Open Day events showing great differences in experience and familiarity with Diploma introduction and delivery.  The rate of development varies significantly from a common ‘through the Gateway’ date to differing dates for first teaching.  Consortia are reaching the various development stages at different times, so they need different kinds of support at these points.”

Asked how AQA-City & Guilds Diploma Support Team proposes to address this, Mandy Smith is clear that it is about increasing the range and improving access to support that will make a significant difference to centres and consortia as a whole.

“We will continue to run our Open Days which are free of charge, to help centres and other consortia members work out where they are on the journey to first teaching and so what support might best suit them.  For instance, we might recommend an on-site meeting for the consortia if they’re at an early stage of development, whilst those who are more familiar with the delivery process could benefit more from coming to one of the intermediary meetings that we are introducing which will help them understand the specification, assessment and support for teachers and learners that we offer.  Consortia who are already comfortable with these elements would probably choose to attend a technical Preparing to Teach meeting which gets into the depth of the specifications and provides guidance on lesson planning and assessment etc.”

Teachers who can’t get out of school to attend scheduled meetings, can contact the support team which can help them develop an on-site meeting for one or more consortia or group of centres to be facilitated by a Diploma Support Team Member.  An interactive video is being developed for piloting on the Diplomainfo website to try and reach a much wider audience, with the benefit that the film can be watched by individual, or used as the centrepiece of a networked meeting on-site.

Mandy Smith comments:

“We are aware of the resources pressures on centres and Local Authorities and we will do everything within reason to work with them to help them towards first delivery and beyond.

Tel:  08700 24 66
AQA-City & Guilds Diploma Support Team