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Exams Bulletin Summer/Autumn 2010
Contacts list
Functional Skills in English, Mathematics and
ICT - WJEC’s new specifications
SUBJECTS
Functional skills are the core elements of English, Mathematics and ICT that provide individuals with the essential knowledge, skills
and understanding that will enable them to operate confidently, effectively and independently in life and at work.
Learners in England following Apprenticeship, Diploma or Foundation Learning pathways will need to take Functional Skills
assessments as a compulsory part of their qualification. In addition, in England the revised National Curriculum Orders for Key Stage
3 and the new specification GCSEs in English, Mathematics and ICT have embedded in them the Functional Skills standards.
Following a very successful pilot, WJEC’s new Functional Skills specifications have all been accredited for first teaching from
September 2010.
Flexibility
Separate units for the assessment of Reading, Writing, and Speaking, Listening and Communication in English allow for different
approaches to delivery and greater flexibility if re-sits are needed.
All the Entry Level Functional Skills qualifications are internally assessed controlled assessment, which allows centres to administer
the assessment in a way appropriate to the needs and abilities of their learners.
WJEC’s approach
WJEC’s qualifications have been developed by a well-established examining team, drawing on input from teachers, tutors and
learners. Expert advice is readily available by email and phone, and stimulating training sessions are offered throughout England.
Comprehensive support is also provided in WJEC’s interactive online Teachers’ Guides, and in endorsed materials published by
Heinemann.
Further information and useful contacts can be found on www.wjec.co.uk/functionalskills
Functional Skills in the Classroom
“Our department have been teaching to the WJEC English GCSE syllabus for over 15 years and we have been impressed with so
many aspects including the efficiency, organisation and quality of those involved.
It has been particularly reassuring to have easy phone or email access to a number of highly informed and knowledgeable
individuals whenever we have had a concern or query, or are just in need of reassurance. For these reasons we decided to
enrol on the pilot for English Functional Skills.
Last January we entered a cohort of 260 pupils for either Level 1 or Level 2 in English. The results achieved by Year 9 pupils
were indicative of what they are expected to achieve at GCSE but they were also particularly useful in enabling us to identify
borderline candidates who would benefit from additional support and mentoring to ensure success at GCSE.
We selected candidates who had failed to achieve Level 2 and taught revision and key skill carousels to improve their English
skills before re-entering them in May. About 75% of those who had failed to achieve a level 2 in January were successful
second time round. We mentored these individuals throughout Year 10 to ensure they were on track to achieve or exceed their
potential.
There are a limited number of standards which candidates need to succeed at Functional Skills but these skills are essential to
GCSE success. Teaching to these standards in year 9 and not only embedding the fundamental skills but just being more
aware of them has made a real difference in terms of examination preparation for mock GCSE papers.
The support from WJEC has been superb and both myself and the department have been impressed by the quality of the
assessments and INSET materials produced.”
Natalie Simpson, Head of English, Ribblesdale School, Clitheroe
Contacts and Resources
Full details and support available at www.wjec.co.uk/functionalskills
Functional Skills English
Subject Officer
Kirsten Wilcock, 029 2026 5074
[email protected]
5 www.wjec.co.uk
Functional Skills English
Subject Support Officer
Fleur Andrews, 029 2026 5070
[email protected]
Functional Skills Maths & ICT
Subject Officer
Betsan Jones, 029 2026 5318
[email protected]
Functional Skills Maths & ICT
Subject Support Officer
Rhian Williams, 029 2026 5199
rhian [email protected]
Art & Design and Applied Art & Design
Biology
Business Studies
Applied Business
Catering
Chemistry
Child Development
Computing
Criminology
Design & Technology
Drama
Economics
Electronics
English/Lang/Lit (GCSE)
English/Lang/Lit (AS/A)
Environmental Design
Essential Skills Wales
Film Studies
Functional Skills (English)
Functional Skills (Mathematics & ICT)
Geography (GCE)
Geography (GCSE)
Geology
Government and Politics
Health & Social Care
History
Home Economics
Hospitality & Catering
Humanities
ICT
Applied ICT
Latin
Law
Leisure & Tourism
Mathematics
Media Studies
Modern Foreign Languages
Music and Performing Arts
Physical Education
Physics
Project/Principal Learning
Psychology
Religious Studies
Science: see Biology, Chemistry, Physics
Applied Science
Sociology
Welsh First Language
Welsh Second Language
Welsh Baccalaureate
Welsh for Adults
World Development
Exams Bulletin Summer/Autumn 2010
Mari Bradbury
Dr Janet Jones
Ivor Hicks
Allan Perry
Allison Candy
Jonathan Owen
Allison Candy
Ian Carey
Joanna Lewis
Steve Howells
Elaine Carlile
Ivor Hicks
Gareth Kelly
Nancy Hutt
Cerys Preece
Allan Perry
Bryan Davies
Jeremy Points
Kirsten Wilcock
Betsan Jones
Raye Scott
Andy Owen
Jonathan Owen
Dr Alison George
Karen Thomas
Phil Star
Allison Candy
Allison Candy
Andy Owen
Ian Carey
Allan Perry
Alan Clague
c/o Matthew Oatley
Joanna Lewis
Mike Neale
John Williams
Jeremy Points
Jean Rawlings
Elaine Carlile
Mike Neale
Gareth Kelly
Tessa Gabriel-Davies
Dr Alison George
Tudor Thomas
Brian Harris
Joanna Lewis
Llinos Lloyd
Siân Eleri Walters
Ross Thomas
Caroline Morgan
Dr Emyr Davies
Raye Scott
029 2026 5138
029 2026 5126
029 2026 5038
029 2026 5311
029 2026 5093
029 2026 5057
029 2026 5093
029 2026 5137
029 2026 5167
029 2026 5017
029 2026 5316
029 2026 5038
029 2026 5081
029 2026 5023
029 2026 5303
029 2026 5311
029 2026 5100
029 2026 5195
029 2026 5074
029 2026 5318
029 2026 5158
029 2026 5114
029 2026 5057
029 2026 5302
029 2026 5092
029 2026 5125
029 2026 5093
029 2026 5093
029 2026 5114
029 2026 5137
029 2026 5311
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
029 2026 5054
029 2026 5167
029 2026 5315
029 2026 5310
029 2026 5091
029 2026 5045
029 2026 5316
029 2026 5315
029 2026 5081
029 2026 5191
029 2026 5302
029 2026 5122
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
029 2026 5147
029 2026 5167
029 2026 5004
029 2026 5162
029 2026 5320
029 2026 5319
029 2026 5009
029 2026 5158
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
14 -19
Exams Bulletin
Summer/Autumn 2010
Contents
2
Continuing Professional Development with WJEC
3
Introducing new GCSE Sciences
4
WJEC supports Teachers
5
Functional Skills - WJEC’s new specifications
6
Contact list
In addition, WJEC offers subjects at Entry level - visit www.wjec.co.uk/entrylevel for details.
ADMINISTRATION AND OPERATIONS
General Enquiries
GCE AS/A Level
Entry Level
GCSE
Key/Essential Skills
Key Stage 2/3
Entries
Kieran McDonnell
Chris Quinn
Nick Brooks
Michelle James
Margaret Franks
Caroline McGlynn
029 2026 5148 / 149 / 034
029 2026 5048 / 128 / 156
029 2026 5133 / 5154 / 5304
029 2026 5172
0800 056 2066
029 2026 5193
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Bookshop
NGfL Cymru
English in Wales
Welsh-language Educational Resources
Educational Resource development
Professional development (INSET)
Professional development (INSET - Welsh medium)
Caroline Redman
Dafydd Watcyn Williams
Chris Stephens
Alun Treharne
Mike Ebbsworth
Elaine Chard
Richard Roberts
029 2026 5112 / 063
029 2026 5177
029 2026 5007
029 2026 5012
029 2026 5339
029 2026 5018 / 024
01824 702304
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
NATIONAL YOUTH ARTS WALES
PRESS & MARKETING
GENERAL ENQUIRIES
Pauline Crossley
Ceri Thomas
WJEC Switchboard
029 2026 5060
029 2026 5309
029 2026 5000
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
RESOURCES AND SUPPORT
WJEC, 245 Western Avenue, Cardiff, CF5 2YX 029 2026 5000
6 www.wjec.co.uk
New senior exams team at WJEC
The recent appointment of Hugh Lester as Assistant Director (AD), Business Development brings the senior exams team up to a
complement of seven. From left to right, they are: Brigid O’Regan, AD Skills and Pathways; Mike Jermyn, Principal Manager,
Examination Services; Hugh Lester; Bob Childs, AD Quality Assurance; Sandra Anstey, AD GCE & GCSE; Derec Stockley, Director,
Assessment and Examinations and Raymond Tongue, AD Process.
www.wjec.co.uk
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Exams Bulletin Summer/Autumn 2010
Exams Bulletin Summer/Autumn 2010
Exams Bulletin Summer/Autumn 2010
Continuing Professional Development with
WJEC
Introducing new GCSE Sciences
WJEC supports teachers
New GCSE Sciences specifications for teaching from September 2011
Teachers’ Guides
We have submitted seven new draft GCSE specifications to the regulators: Science A and Additional Science, for students to develop
their understanding of science and scientific processes; GCSE Biology, GCSE Chemistry and GCSE Physics, and the more vocational
Science B and Additional Applied Science, which study science in the context of life and work.
Following the success of last year’s Teachers’ Guides for GCSE, seven new electronic guides have been developed to support the
subjects offered from September 2010. These are available for download from the WJEC website and include:
Book now for 2010 – 2011 CPD events
In the coming academic year WJEC will again be running continuing professional development courses for teachers of a wide
variety of subjects in locations across England and Wales.
Each course will provide a review of the assessment in a specific subject area in the previous year and offer guidance on effective
teaching strategies to get the best out of students in the future. There will be ample opportunity for discussion with teaching
colleagues, senior examiners, and WJEC officers.
We are also working on Science Pathways - our new vocational QCF qualifications - for Wales only.
WJEC's approach
After consultation with teachers, examiners and representatives of academic institutions, we decided to minimise unnecessary
changes to the content of the new GCSEs and continue the focus on scientific literacy and how science works.
In addition to the main programme in England and Wales, we also offer courses for examinations officers in Wales, and run the
Welsh National CPD programme, which includes five national conferences held annually. Details may be found on the website,
where there are also details of assistant trainers who are able to provide training through the medium of Welsh.
We’ve built on strengths identified by regulators in the GCSE Sciences review last year, and ensured that the new specifications are
aligned with KS3 skills development.
Electronic and other enhancements
Structure of assessment for Science A, Additional Science and the three separate sciences
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
English (including English, English Language and English Literature)
ICT
Mathematics (Unitised)
Welsh
Welsh Literature
Welsh Second Language
Welsh Second Language Applied
The Teachers’ Guides include attached files, sound clips
exemplifying good practice in oral work and examples of
examiners’ comments on specific examples of work.
The Mathematics Teachers’ Guide is innovative in its use of
interactive Specimen Assessment Materials, mapped against the
new specification. Specific areas of the specification can be
accessed before attempting a question on that topic whilst being
guided through purposeful steps to get the answer.
This year for the first time all bookings will be taken through the website, and all subsequent correspondence will be via email.
When booking teachers will also have the opportunity to opt in to receiving electronic updates about subjects of interest to them.
At the same time as planning the next CPD programme, we are discussing enhancements to the training we offer, for example
through the extended use of new technology or by making teams of subject specialists available more widely throughout England
and Wales.
Invitation to all teachers
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Science A
Biology 1
(25%)
Chemistry 1
(25%)
Physics 1
(25%)
1 - B+C+P
(25%)
100%
(1 GCSE)
Additional Science
Biology 2
(25%)
Chemistry 2
(25%)
Physics 2
(25%)
2 - B+C+P
(25%)
100%
(1 GCSE)
Biology 3
(25%)
Chemistry 3
(25%)
Physics 3
(25%)
Biology
(25%)
Chemistry
(25%)
Physics
(25%)
100%
(1 GCSE)
100%
(1 GCSE)
100%
(1 GCSE)
The response to WJEC's training programme is always very positive, with many teachers seeing attendance as a vital part of
ensuring success for their students. WJEC officers and examiners find it an important part of their work with centres, enabling them
to gain a first hand understanding of teachers’ and examinations officers’ concerns.
We hope you will be able to attend one of the events we are running over the next few months, and look forward to seeing you there.
Free courses for GCSE Science!
To introduce the new GCSE Science specifications for first teaching from September 2011, we are offering a series of free training
courses in locations in England and Wales, including Reading, Cardiff, Birmingham, York, Carmarthen, Mold, Caernarfon and
Newport.
For full details of all our training courses and to book a place, visit www.wjec.co.uk/teachers
According to Mike Ebbsworth, Resource Development Officer for
WJEC, “We use the latest technology to its maximum potential
during resource development, and our resources have had a very
positive response from teachers and advisors during presentations
we’ve held recently.”
The Teachers’ Guides can be accessed from the subject pages of
WJEC’s website, e.g. www.wjec.co.uk/biology
External assessment
Internal assessment
Qualification
Science in the context of life and work
Science B and Additional Applied Science develop science learning through a variety of themes, such as Exploring Space, Science
for Healthy Living and Our Changing World.
Practical skills are given priority, in order to engage a broader range of candidates than the more conventional approach found in
Science A.
Resources and support
We are developing new resources to go with the new specifications: free, online, interactive Teachers' Guides, with links to a wide
range of resources, including tagged examination questions which teachers can use as practice for candidates. There will also be a
new Hodder textbook, designed in an innovative way to provide inspirational ideas and stimuli.
CPD training courses will be provided free of charge, leading up to the introduction of the new specifications. Information about
these can be found on our website - www.wjec.co.uk/professionaldevelopment Draft specifications and specimen assessment
materials can be found at www.wjec.co.uk/science
WJEC’s Science contacts
QCFs, GCSE Science B, Applied Science, Additional Applied Science and Entry Level Science
A level awards – Year 3
WJEC will be recognising the achievements of A level students in Wales and England and Welsh Baccalaureate students in Wales in
this year's examination series. The students with the highest marks in each subject will be given cash prizes and certificates, and
WJEC's press department will work with schools and colleges to obtain press coverage.
Awards are made on the basis of marks, and WJEC will contact winners' schools and colleges in the autumn term to let them know of
their success. Information about last year’s winners is available on www.wjec.co.uk/awards More information is available from
[email protected]
2 www.wjec.co.uk
Subject Officer
Subject Support Officer
Subject Support Officer
Brian Harris
Sarah Price
Matthew Roberts
029 2026 5147 [email protected]
029 2026 5103 [email protected]
029 2026 5380 [email protected]
GCSE Science A, Additional Science and separate sciences at GCSE and GCE level
Biology Subject Officer
Chemistry Subject Officer
Physics Subject Officer
Subject Support Officer
3 www.wjec.co.uk
Dr Janet Jones
Jonathan Owen
Gareth Kelly
Rhian Naish
029 2026 5126
029 2026 5057
029 2026 5081
029 2026 5140
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Making WJEC’s website better for teachers
WJEC’s public website has had many changes recently to make it easier for teachers to use. There is a new 'Teachers' section, which
can be entered from the navigation bar on the home page; a visual style change, with clearer colour definitions, makes the site
easier to read, and browsing documents is much simpler.
The upshot of this is that it should now take less time for you to find what you want on the WJEC site – freeing up more time for other
tasks.
Teachers’ Guides - access made easy
A good example is the way access to documents on subject pages has been restructured. Instead of a solitary link to a page
containing all the documents for a subject, more links are now on the page – so that it is possible to jump straight to a particular type
of document, such as Teachers’ Guides.
If you want to see all our online support materials listed in one place, you can go into the “Show all documents” section on any
subject/level page and they are listed under separate categories such as Specifications, Examiners’ Reports or Specimen Assessment
Materials.
Contact with WJEC made even easier!
From September onwards all WJEC subject/level pages will include an opt-in box which you can tick to receive email updates from
our specialist subject officers with latest news about the subject you’re interested in.
I have an idea!
We’re constantly looking for opportunities to make using the site as easy as possible. This usually means studying the ways that
visitors use the site, and looking at what material they're actually trawling the site to find. We’ll then see if that information can be
presented in a better way – more suited to what visitors actually want.
Over the coming months we’ll be making particular efforts to explore our web visitors’ needs, so if you have any feedback or
suggestions to improve the site, please let Gwydion Gruffudd, WJEC’s Web Editor know: [email protected].
4 www.wjec.co.uk