Skills for life planner

The survey, which took a year to complete, found that 40 per cent of the workforce did not have a level 2 or higher qualification in English and that 55 per cent were lacking a level 2 or above qualification in mathematics.

The council opted for a two-tier approach to skills development. The first stage involved promoting skills for life to new recruits by incorporating a briefing session into the DfES induction programme. Participants were encouraged to take practice tests on laptops or to use test cards.

“The idea is to make the session as much fun as possible,” says schools workforce development manager Vicky Thomas, “and to overcome any stigma or sensitivity issues by making the tests applicable to everyone, regardless of whether or not they have level 2 qualifications.” Having completed the tests and identified what level individuals are at, trainers then signpost people to relevant courses and training providers.

The second stage focused on staff already employed in the schools, promoting development opportunities through leaflets, letters to headteachers and support staff and numerous briefing sessions. The council has also held briefing sessions for school governors and contributed articles about skills for life to a magazine for governors.

Information gathered from the survey also enabled the council to send out 300 letters and flyers to individual staff members without level 2 qualifications. Around 50 people subsequently enrolled with the Adult Learning and Leisure College and a further 75-80 have enrolled on skills for life courses with the aim of becoming higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs).

Vicky explains that the survey has also helped the council when bidding for funding from the local Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and persuading school leaders of the importance of developing support staff in schools. The council now plans to conduct a follow-up survey to assess the impact of the support staff development strategy. It is also looking to compare the training and development strategies of high- and under-performing schools to assess the impact of developing school staff on pupils’ achievement and well-being.

Somerset local authority keeps a record of learners and their progress on a central database. This enables them to monitor and track diversity, and to assess and evaluate training outcomes.