Pttls_Records

Every teacher working within the lifelong learning sector has a duty to maintain a diverse range of records, which can be of mutual benefit to the teacher, learner, and institution alike. Without these comprehensive records there would be no way to monitor learners’ progress, the business aims of the college, legislative adherence, and funding. In this report, I will further justify this need to keep records, by exploring and describing the different types of records that I currently keep whilst working within the Lifelong learning sector. The first set of records which are maintained by myself and the college, are created before the course starts during the enrolment period. Personal details about learners’ additional learning needs, contact details and disclosed medical conditions are gathered and recorded, whilst risk assessments are created for each and every learning environment within the college. During this process students are also required to complete diagnostic tests and initial assessments. Records of these diagnostic results and additional learning needs are initially the most important records for me as a teacher to maintain. Without these records, I would not be able to enter students for the right level exams, differentiate my lesson appropriately, or provide equality of access to resources, in line with the SENDA requirements of The Disability Discrimination act. This would then be detrimental to the learners’ ability to achieve on the course, which would in turn put the financial stability of the college at risk due to a decreased amount of funding being secured, along with possible legal repercussions. However by keeping these records I can create an inclusive scheme of work and plan my lessons appropriately to prevent these problems occurring. Despite these being the most important records for my own personal planning, from the administrative point of view of the college, the learners personal details are equally important. These records provide both the college and me with a means of contacting each individual learner, should any issues arise. Whilst records of disclosed medical conditions are required to ensure that health and safety requirements are met, and that risk assessments are correctly completed for the duration of each learners’ course, taking into account any additional needs they have. Once these initial records have been created it is down to me to record my scheme of work and lesson plans onto the college system. In doing so, I provide myself with a record of what I am doing each week that I can refer back to as required, in order to ensure that I deliver key learning outcomes in line with the awarding bodies assessment criteria. This ensures that I stay on track and cover all aspects of the course through my delivery of each consecutive session. The scheme of work and lesson plans can also be used by the senior management team, to check the quality of the course. In the event of any staff absence supply staff can use the records of what has already been taught to plan their delivery without deterring from the necessary learning outcomes, which would be detrimental to the learners’ progress. Accurate records of student attendance enable me to monitor students’ progress in line with their attendance on the course. Without these records I would not be able to highlight any causes for concern regarding an individual’s poor attendance, which would impact on their ability to achieve and succeed. Aside from this, they also provide the learner with a legal alibi and are used by the funding department as evidence that the required minimum number of guided learning hours have been met. Most importantly they are used by the college to meet their health and safety requirements, to document who is in the building in the event of a fire or security breach. For the duration of the course I maintain records of any behavioural concerns that arise with individual learners. These are required by both the college and I to highlight and target any areas of concern with each learner, this can be of benefit to the learner, as it enables me to put support in place to help them overcome any behavioural issues. However it can also be detrimental towards their progression onto successive courses within the college, as the college needs and uses this recorded information to prevent learners enrolling on courses where their behaviour will prevent them completing, in order to minimise lost funding. Lastly for myself, the college, awarding bodies and the learners, it is essential that I keep records of learners achievement. Records of formative assessment allow me to grasp the progress that each learner is making and adapt my differentiation as required, whilst providing the learner with a source of motivation, as they review their progress through the duration of the course. By maintaining accurate tracking sheets I can ensure that my marking is up to date and learners can clearly see any outstanding work that they are yet to complete. Without these formative records of assessment it would not be possible for me to compile the summative records of assessment and complete the RARPA forms required by both the college and awarding bodies to evidence the learner completion of the course, secure funding and provide the learner with their qualification. This shows why maintaining records is so important to the lifelong learning sector, as without them it would not be possible for me to deliver an inclusive course, secure achievement, motivate learners, abide by necessary legislation and secure the funding required to run post 16 courses.