General CPD

Free UK guide explaining GCSE results, English and maths resits, private entry and when Functional Skills may be an alternative. It is written for 16-year-olds and parents, and no TheLearnDen account is required.

Editor's notes

Useful reading, especially for parents and students that are unfamiliar with UK post-16 educational options.

The astounding Adult Literacy and Numeracy Tutor Manual: From Research to Practice has recently been released as a joint venture between Libraries Tasmania and TasTAFE (Tasmanian Technical and Further Education) and was designed to help tutors build learner confidence, independence, and opportunity.

It's an immense tome and has been split into three downloadable PDFs. Although written for the Australian many resources and much of the information is suitable for all branches of English teaching. 

I am absolutely fascinated by this blog written by Lauren Piovesan, the founder of ESL Reads. Despite spending two decades simplifying texts - a task that I enjoy and sometimes find a challenge - I've never really analysed what I'm doing.

Although written for EAL (English as an Additional Language) teachers this is a useful guide for both experienced and new teachers of ESOL, adult literacy (Functional Skills English) and indeed vocational subjects. 

The Science of Reading blog is well worth a look - especially the Tuesday Teaching Tips.

For example, the entry for Tuesday April 25th included a useful morpheme chart & a lovely idea of pulling out & deeply analysing specific vocabulary over a period of several days (in this case the word 'siphon'!). 

A huge collection of links to resources that can be used to support and feedback on English learning in Further Education (Functional Skills and GCSE)
Categorised by Level (FS E2, E3, L1, L2, GCSE) along with other categories such as R&D.  You are invited to add what you can. Compiled and created by Nicola Milton with other contributors.

Editor's note

Consulting with industry experts, Open Colleges has complied this comprehensive guide on how to put together a resume. Learn how to use social media to find a job role, network, and gain and succeed at an interview.

Free resources for low-level ESOL learners from Tinder Foundation, the BBC and the British Council. You need to register, but once you have there are loads of resources and training modules.

Editor’s note
I’ve only taken a quick look but this does indeed look excellent. Lovely printable flashcards and great, very clear videos.

This is a friendly and interactive website designed to help participants confidentially assess and improve their confidence with everyday maths in bite-sized steps – building confidence along the way. It is the central part of the National Numeracy Challenge- a UK-wide drive to tackle the major issue of low adult numeracy in the UK.

The National Numeracy Challenge is the main initiative of National Numeracy- an independent charity that focuses on helping adults and children with low levels of numeracy.

This blog has been created by Alison Gorf, Senior Lecturer in the Post Compulsory Education and Training Department at the University of Huddersfield.

Alison created this blog to share teaching ideas and resources with her student groups and the world at large!

My name is Gemma. I teach Employability Skills, Adult Literacy and Numeracy and Functional Skills to learners aged 16+. The learners that I teach include people with academic and social barriers to education and employment,learning difficulties and limited or broken English.

I have created this blog as a way of sharing lesson ideas and resources with my direct colleagues and the teaching world at large