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You can now leave immediate comments on the Skillsworkshop Blog If you would like to contribute to this page please email Maggie. Feedback, good links, comments, criticism are welcome. Thanks! |
Previous years' (03-04) comments. |
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Numeracy |
Literacy / ESOL |
preEntry |
General |
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21/10/06 My name is Julie Cunningham and I am a part time mature student at Queen's University Belfast (on the Certificate in the Teaching and Management of Literacy and Essential Skills). Your site was recommended to the course students today and I have just finished browsing through. I wanted to thank you for developing and maintaining such a valuable site. I hope to have my teaching placement confirmed next week and am sure I will be back to your site for help with my studies. My compliments to you on your dedication and your passion for teaching. Julie |
 31/10/06 Hello Maggie Been away from Basic Skills teaching for a couple of years and am gob smacked by the amount of wonderful stuff available on your site. I makes me feel excited about teaching again. I can't tell you how much I appreciate and admire the amount of work that must go into maintaining the site. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Regards Deepa Zaman |
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14/08/06 Hello again Maggie, As a contributor may I request a Word version of 'We need to use capital letters' - Margaret Lagoyianni's resource, please? I am also currently collecting items for Jo Williams' 'Shopping Bag Capital Letters' but would value ideas from other tutors about 3-d objects (not just printed booklets, documents) for abbreviations, railway stations etc. I am already collecting items and including some empty packaging such as Beechams' Powders and ready meal packs, both with names of companies on, e.g. Marks and Spencers (we occasionally have these as a special treat at home!). Colleagues going abroad have been instructed to get postcards with names of places on, together with any airport literature with the names of airports on - including foreign ones. We find capital letters activities are vital, not only to Entry Level students but higher level students who have not got this foundation area. Best wishes Park Lane College, Leeds. ------------------------------------- Hi Moira Of course you can have the Word version – I am attaching it along with Margaret’s latest punctuation resource too (and Jo’s shopping bag). Would you like me to post your letter on the comments page so that other tutors can respond to you if they have ideas re. 3D resources? I used Jo’s resource too this year and am just looking through my folder to see what I used: most of mine were just documents but I did use a name badge of mine (complete with hook and hanging loop) from a conference (it had my name and the name of my college on it), a London Tube map on a china ashtray that someone lent me, a model of the Eiffel tower and a snow shaker from Bournemouth! Maggie PS Please respond to Moira or me if you have further ideas for the Shopping Bag resource.
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28/09/06 Maggie I have just started using your work pack entitled Pickles. A fantastic resource – the students have loved it! Many thanks Chris Denham SENCO Pontypool Campus Coleg Gwent |
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17/09/06 Dear Maggie Many, many, thanks for this initiation. I am a new Literacy Entry 2 level teacher and couldn't believe my eyes. I would like to join your mailing lists please. God Bless you more as you enrich us with this site. Hope to hear from you soon. Maureem Egbirika Camberwell, London
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Hi there Maggie Along with all the other great feedback, I also want to congratulate you on a brilliant website and of course a massive thank you to all of those who have contributed their work to it. It has been really inspiring and great to see. I am just finishing my 7407 Stage 1 training and this site has been an absolute God-send, so thank to everyone for helping me through it! Many thanks Caroline McDonald Trainee 7407 Literacy London South Bank University |
Have just successfully completed my PGCE and I wanted to say thank you for your wonderful website. I began working as a part time Basic Skills Lecturer last January and the resources available on your website have helped me tremendously. I have been on a huge learning curve and I don't know where I would be without this marvellous resource. Amanda Morgan |
Just thought I'd find it really
helpful to have a simple keyword search facility on the opening
page.....apart from that a fantastic site. I work with young offenders on
a numeracy and literacy project and we often use resources from here to
help with our level 1 and entry level preparation. Note from Maggie - 22/07/06 Ian, Thanks! Your comments (and previous ones from other site users) have prompted me to add a search button on the home page. It's not perfect but hope it helps everyone find what they are looking for... |
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13/04/06 Hi Maggie and the Skillsworkshop team: I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the many contributors to your site for all their hard and valued work. I have found many of the resources and links extremely helpful in my work with adult basic skills learners - both the well-thought-out session material and the thought-provoking professional development information sources. My very best wishes and gratitude to you all. Eve Davey Associate Lecturer Basic Skills The Henley College |
04/04/06 Hi Maggie I discovered your site quite by accident some time ago and have spent the last year promoting and sharing its resources with all of my team in Community Learning. When I became team leader I discovered that the tutors in my team had all been developing their own resources and a huge amount of time and effort was being spent on "wheel inventing". I have since sent out to them a list of all the good web sites that I have been using for the past 4 years and continually add to that as I find new ones. We work with a very diverse range of learners from offenders on probation to highly motivated teaching assistants but there is always something on the site for everyone. Thank you so much. Sue Bland Community Learning - Milton Keynes College |
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25/03/06 Hi Maggie The resources on your site are refreshing, colourful and just what my learners Entry 2-Level 2 Literacy, have been waiting for. Of course I'm very grateful too. Virginia Worrell:-) birmingham.gov.uk |
23/03/06 Dear Maggie, I have noticed that there are currently no resources for Speaking and Listening at Entry 2, and would like to contribute some lesson plans and resources I have developed. How do I go about doing this? Also, many thanks for your website, I have recently had to put together a scheme of work for a new basic skills programme and have found your site inspirational! Many Thanks Emma Turner Skills for Life Tutor Juniper Training
Note from Maggie To contribute resource please email attachments to: maggie@askillworkshop I will send an immediate acknowledgement and then send proofs before uploading your resource. (MS Word files are always converted to PDF files to save space). Don't worry about formatting documents and adding curriculum links (although it's nice if you do!). It is also helpful to let me know how you wish your credit line (at the bottom of every page) to appear - for example, some contributors prefer not to have their email address listed and/or their place of work. I try to post resources as soon as possible but it can take from one day to three months so please be patient! Find out more here. |
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21/03/06
Hi,
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20/03/06
Hello Maggie I took my 7407 last year, and managed to get some teaching hours as a volunteer with an adult literacy class - your site was such a help to me, as I was able to access so many resources for use in the class. After completing the Cert Ed, I am hoping to take the Basic Skills Level 4 Literacy qualification next year. It had always been my intention to teach IT, but I "fell" into the basic skills area and found that I loved teaching this subject! Your site has proved invaluable, particularly as I am only just starting to teach in this area. Please could you add me to your mailing list, and thank you for such a useful and helpful site. Trish Mann |
15/03/06 Maggie, I feel as if I have just stumbled across a pot of gold. Now I can stop trying to invent the wheel. Your site is a godsend. I hope, not only to use it but, to contribute to it over the coming months. Thank you. Regards Roger M Daniel Key Skills Tutor Northumberland College Berwick upon Tweed |
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22/03/06 Hi Maggie What a wonderful site. I think you deserve a medal Please could you put me on your list Thank you very much Eddy Crowley Scout Enterprises |
Hi Maggie BASIC SKILLS LSC FUNDING FOR E1 AND E2 LEARNERS We have just been informed that in future the funding split for basic skills learners will be 90% for those at E3, L1 and L2 so they can be prepared for and take the national tests, and 10% for E1 and E2 learners. ESOL E1 and E2 learners will not be affected. I wanted to check how many other tutors are experiencing this same problem and to see if they would be interested in forming a pressure group, made up of tutors and possibly E1 and E2 learners, to draw together our ideas and main points to put to the government. I am posting this query as an individual tutor, not on behalf of the college where I work. Janet Whitfield |
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29/01/06 Hi Maggie I absolutely love this website. I am doing my level 4 and have found everything I need on this one site. Fantastic!! I am doing my Level 4 at Cafe Lamont in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. I am enjoying the course despite the hard work, but I have found it so much easier through your website for resources. I especially like the mind maps that Nikki Brown contributed. The one on how to mind map is fantastic. Trisha Note: You can find Nikki's mind maps (two sets of 2 mind maps) in several areas of our site including: |
03/02/06
Hello |
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Hi Maggie, I am a mature student presently studying numeracy and considering further education to become a Basic Skills Tutor. I found your site whilst looking for info on the subject and think it is excellent for people like myself who know they would need help and encouragement, in particular at the outset. Should I decide to follow the Basic Skills route to teaching I am sure I shall be a frequent visitor. Carol Eccleston |
Hi Maggie Thank you so much for sending the latest Newsletter. I can't believe how the site has grown in such a short space of time! It just goes to show how much we need new and innovative resources to help in our teaching of basic skills to adults. Increasingly I am being asked to work with younger teenagers (from 13 years) who either don't attend school or only attend part time, so any resources which would be appropriate for this age group would be very, very welcome. It can be quite difficult 'getting it right' as at this age young people often think they are more grown-up that they actually are, so are sensitive to being patronised! I make a great deal of my own resources so as soon as I get some up together I will e-mail them to you for your consideration. Meanwhile I'll take a look at some of the latest activities on your site. Keep up the good work, Maggie. I know how time consuming and exhausting it must be, but I for one really appreciate all the hard work you put in to make life easier for us basic skills tutors - thank you. Very kind regards to you and your team Yvonne Long - Basic Skills Tutor at the Youth Education Service in Bristol |
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12/11/05 Dear Maggie I wrote to you a few weeks ago about your change of website address and you very promptly gave me the information I needed. You also asked me to give you feedback about the resources I used the most. I delayed my answer until now because I couldn't give you a simple answer. However, on reflection, I feel I must say that I use, or dip into, lots of resources on the site. I teach learners from E1 to L2, some of them native born English people and others, from a variety of countries, who are confident enough after ESOL classes to attempt literacy and I also teach literacy with computing. So, as you can see, I find it difficult to pinpoint exact resources as I find that Skillsworkshop offers something to all ability levels and interests. Whether they be fact sheets, lesson plans, worksheets, IT ideas or interactive materials they are all attractive and stimulating. I also find that although they are linked to appropriate curriculum levels, they can be easily adapted to other levels. Thank you Skillsworkshop. Without you, there would be a huge gap in the Basic Skills resource bank which could not be filled by any other site. Best Wishes. Kate Sutton Camberley Adult Education Institute. kate@kmsutton.me.uk |
17/10/05 Hi Maggie Used your resource on descriptive writing today. The one featured on home page. Was very successful. We did not get to the end with the adjective wheels etc. What the group did produce were Lost and Found notices according to the animal card they had chosen. Some very amusing posters were written on PC. Thank you Margaret, margaretlago2@btopenworld.com County Training, Shropshire.
Animal descriptions can be found in the following Entry 2 and 3 curriculum areas Ws/E2.2, SLlr/E3.2, SLc/E3.1, SLc/E3.3 and includes extension ideas for higher levels. |
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Hi Maggie Just to let you know I have just heard that I have passed my Level 4 literacy specialist certificate. I found the links on your Level 4 page really helpful (there are even more sites listed now I see), especially when writing the two essay assignments required for the course. During the course I set up an online SmartGroup for people in my class, so we could keep in touch and share resources, and I added some of your links from your site on to the SmartGroup links page. If anyone doesn't know about SmartGroups I can recommend them as a free and easy method of sharing files and keeping in touch with colleagues. You can find out more at www.smartgroups.com Angela Bell Basic Skills Tutor, Suffolk Basic Skills |
 16/10/05
To: maggie@skillsworkshop.org
I am presently completing level 4 Subject Specialist in Adult Literacy and have recently been introduced to this marvellous site. It will help my teaching enormously. I am currently delivering literacy (on behalf of WEA) to groups in Royal Mail. Is it possible to have the above lesson on Word Doc? Regards Carol Hunter
Note: The purpose of text sorting activity document (which contains details of how to obtain a free Word version) can be found in the following curriculum areas: Rt/E2.2 Rt/E3.2 Rt/L1.2 Rt/L2.2 50+ Level 4 literacy links on our Useful Links page |
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Greetings from Belize. I live in a tropical paradise in the Caribbean basin know as Belize. I am an instructor at a Center for Employment training. Due to problems we found with some of our students enrolling into our training programs we recently took on the task of providing adult literacy and numeracy. Our country does not have the material necessary to prepare ourselves for this task. After numerous unproductive hours of searching through the internet (I almost gave up and was ready to begin crying) I found your site. I have spent over four hours looking at your material and found that the wheel I was looking for was already invented. Thank You very much (I feel like dancing). I would like to ask for your permission to use material from your site. I promise to keep you informed of our progress. Please let me know if I am able to reproduce this material for distribution to other districts in my country. I am thinking about developing a site with links to your material for users in Belize. Kindly advise me weather this would be possible. Ignorance is a sin. It is the seed that grows into poverty and crime. I am left speechless by the wealth that I have discovered at your site. Lots of love. Edward Henderson merlincorozal@yahoo.com |
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Dear Maggie, A quick note to say how helpful I find the newsletter. You and all the contributors are doing a fantastic job sharing your ideas and resources. Everyone is so generous with their time, ideas and positive comments. I hope to be able to contribute as I become more experienced and confident that I am delivering the curriculum appropriately. This brings me to the second reason I am writing. I would like to visit an establishment that has been delivering Adult Numeracy and Literacy, preferably with accreditation by OCR the exam specifications our unit will follow. Do you know of any or how I could find out without contacting all on the list of contributors? I only work part time so can visit during the week. Whether you can help or not keep up the good work. Helen Saunders, Kent Please email Helen at bsba22705@blueyonder.co.uk if you can help |
27/07/05 Hi Maggie, My year's teaching adult literacy was greatly enhanced when I found your wonderful skillsworkshop website, thank you. I've passed on the treasure trove of ideas and materials to colleagues and others stuck for a quick lesson plan. Could you possibly guide me to the mindmap resource which I found and cannot now re-find? It's a really clever handout of a mindmap on how to mindmap. Hope you can help. Thanks, Gerry Timlin The mind maps can be found here. |
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Hi, I just wanted to let you know, I think the resources on your site are great and I have found them really useful to me as a tutor. However, I do find it really hard to navigate your site. I persevere because the resources are so good – but it is cluttered and the font size and type makes it very difficult to read. I do feel you would be better represented if you simplified the presentation of the site a little. Jan Long, Basic Skills Tutor
I asked Jan if she could give me some more details: Hi Maggie The main problem I have is that there is a lot of typing on one page and the lines of type are close together. This, together with the comic sans type , I feel, makes it difficult to read. When I get directed to a particular resource, cos the type is close together and it is difficult to pick out titles from the description, I can't find the info I need. The problem for me is not seeing all of the page – it is of being able to distinguish titles from descriptions. I think it would be helpful to have the resources sorted by subject, as well as by level. It would make it easier to find particular resources. I usually have to just scan down the lists – it makes it quite difficult if I want a resource for a particular lesson. I hope this helps, Jan.
Further suggestions welcomed. I know that it is difficult to find some resources and that the site desperately needs a search facility... In the meantime, if you can't find a particular resource please email me for help. Maggie. |
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Dear Maggie, |
Hi Maggie |
Hi Maggie Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I teach adults, I have always taught IT and some soft skills, I am now changing direction, I want to specialise in teaching Numeracy. I have a Pre GCSE class at a local college, this is another departure for me, teaching adolescents not adults. I need ideas and lots of them. Your pages are the best resource I have yet seen in the field. I am putting together a lesson plan today for fractions 2 and plan to teach it this week. Your ideas and suggestions for resources are really helpful. Thanks again David Gay, Stafford Note : pre-GCSE Maths scheme of work here
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Thanks Maggie
Regards
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I think it was your site that I
recently used and found an article by Helen Rawlins on The Interactive
Whiteboard. I have been unable to find the article again. |
Hi Diane
Hey what do you know I just found it! |
Impressed - and also impressed at the
speed of your reply. Many thanks and I shall be a frequent visitor
to your site. I am currently studying for my Cert Ed and teach in FE
and can see there will be much to look at on the site. Thank you
because I know how much time and effort must go into it :-) |
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Thanks for the exam tips.
Best wishes |
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Hi Maggie
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from another email sent by Ruth Wood (below) |
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You can now leave immediate comments on the Skillsworkshop Blog If you would like to contribute to this page please email Maggie. Feedback, good links, comments, criticism are welcome. Thanks! |
2007-08 comments Previous years' (03-04) comments. |
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9/11/05