The time you suggest should be enough (if students have followed the National
Curriculum - EN and MA, but also ICT at Key Stage 4!).
However, in my experience, problems with key skills often arise because of:
- skilll gap in ICT because of non-delivery of NC ICT at KS4
- failure to see key skills as a whole staff development issue (ie successful
key skills implementation requires both the specialists and subject staff (to
provide contexts).
It seems that you cannot yet do anything about the first of these issues yet
(though bear in mind that key skills will be signposted in all new GCSE
specifications from Sept 2001 - raising the question of how to deliver key
skills at KS4!).
On the second issue the questions are:
Are all the subject teachers signed up to key skills?
Have subject teachers had the quality time to develop an understanding of key
skills and time to develop assessment activities in their subjects
incorporating key skills opportunities?
I have seen key skills as being really successful when all staff have been
involved in a planned way. Otherwise it is a case of 'sticking plaster
solutions'!
Steve
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