The focus of this course will be to use a real life scenario in which pupils will have the opportunity to apply ICT solutions of their own making. The course culminates in an exam, and there will be a 'mock' exam at the beginning which will act as a baseline assessment, and opportunities to practice exam technique in the summer term. To incorporate SEAL into the programme pupils will work in groups, where each member is given a specific role to play (go to SEAL roles)

The Dance Project

Every year Dorothy Stringer School organises a Dance Project at the Brighton Dome. The first four nights of this are attended by all schools in the Brighton and Hove area, and the last night is purely for Dorothy Stringer dancers alone. The event takes place in March. The Functional Skills course will work directly with the event co-ordinator Jo Wait and from September onwards the pupils in their groups will act as designers, publishers, advertisers, accountants, box office managers and project co-ordinators.

The Brief

Pupils in their groups will be given the brief that in conjunction with their ICT teacher and the event co-ordinator they are to act as organisers for the Dance Show 2010. They must be encouraged to discuss every single organisational aspect and use a wide variety of ICT solutions.

Finding Solutions

Functional Skills learning emphasises that pupils find solutions to problems through discussion and dialogue. From Lesson 1 onwards they are guided by the teacher to discuss all elements of the brief and work out solutions using mind-maps and other idea-generating techniques. They should produce a Gantt chart to plan their project up to the date of the Dance Show itself in March, and they should be guided to come up with the ICT solutions below.

F.I.C.T.

F.I.C.T. is the acronym for Familiarity, Independence, Complexity and Technical Demand. Functional Skills projects are assessed on a sliding scale of each of these four categories i.e. how Familiar they are to the student, how Independently the students are working, how complex the task is, and at what level of Technical ability they are working.

ICT Solutions

There are twelve lessons in the scheme of work assigned to this project. Pupils in their groups thus have twelve hours (or more of course as they should be encouraged to work at home or in ICT rooms at lunch or after school) to work on such projects as are listed below:

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