Functional_Skills

Functional Skills Functional skills is a new type of qualification being developed as part of the Government's reforms of 14-19 and adult education in England. The three functional skills - English, Mathematics and ICT - recognise and develop the essential literacy, numeracy and ICT skills necessary to 'function' in work, learning and life[1.internet]. Embedding elements of functional skills in the area of teaching means teaching a subject in such a way that your learners’ functional skills will be enhanced at the same time. [2.Department for Education and Skills] I am planning to hold a class to cook curry and rice. Before the class assemble I have already given out a questionnaire which will give a written list of things they think we will need to cover and also asked them to Email friends to see if they have a favourite dish (English and ICT). I will ask each of them to give one item on their list and make a list on a flipchart. I will hand out a list of ingredients with a price list. The ingredients will be in quantities of a Kilogram. This way they will need to work out costs for the quantities in the recipe and convert between kilos and pounds and vice versa (English and Maths). We will work in teams and use the computers in the room to search for recipes using Google search engine. Each team will be asked to write down or print or create a word document of one recipe they all agree on. Also they will be asked to find out where certain spices come from and what characteristics they give to the dish (ICT and English). We will then ask each group to speak on recipe they have picked and list on flipchart. After completing the list we will discuss and pick one of these. In addition we will go around the class and go through the various spices and their uses (Group Communication and Listening). So now each member has a recipe sheet and a list of ingredients with prices. They will be asked to read the recipe carefully, work out what they need, and how much it is going to cost (English and Maths). I will ask each member to look and read the recipe carefully and work out a timing plan to make sure all the food is ready at the same time . We will agree a plan and write on flip chart(English and Maths). We will then pick two members and they will demonstrate cooking the food using the recipe and the timing plan we have generated. During cooking we will make observations and compare how well our timings are working and modify if needed (Maths and Listening and Communication). Once the food is cooked it will be divided into correct portion sizes and dished up and enjoyed by all (Maths). It may be worthwhile to go back and revisit the search engine and see if we could have sourced the ingredients any cheaper and also if we could order via the internet in the future (ICT and Maths)[3.internet]. Bibliography: 1. [http://www.cityandguilds.com/19824.html'vroot=16]. 2. [Department for Education and Skills] 3. [http://www.cityandguilds.com/search-results.html'fQuery=functional+needs] H S Ghali