CROSS CURRICULAR - KEY SKILLS
Welcome to Cross-Curricular key skills. Useful information and resources are below.
For Students
Managing your key skills Portfolio
What is a key skills portfolio?
It's the heart of all the work you will be doing for key skills. It's the evidence that you can do all the things that you have to do to get a key skills qualification or certificate. It is usually a file or folder full of paper, but it may include tapes, printouts, photos or even models.
Why do I need a key skills portfolio?
To gain a key skill qualification in Communication, you have to pass two different kinds of assessment.
- One covers the key skills work you have done as part of your education or training programme. This is marked by an assessor in your centre and goes in your portfolio.
- The other is a test that you take under exam conditions.
- You don’t take a test if you have an AS grade in English Lang, Lit or Lang Lit.
What should I keep in my key skills portfolio?
You will have two kinds of key skills work to look after. One is the work you are doing at a particular time - this is your work-in-progress. It may include written work; statements from people who have watched you give a talk or take part in a discussion, perhaps some photographs or computer printouts, and maybe a note of where you have stored a floppy disc, a tape, or anything else that you want to use as evidence. You will keep this work somewhere handy, in the folder that you have been given to carry about with you. The other kind is your key skills work that has been assessed as a pass. You should keep this in a portfolio in your tutor room where it cannot be lost or damaged. Your tutor will help you with this. If the evidence won't fit in a folder (for example, it's a model you have made, or a videotape) you need to record in your portfolio where you've put it.
You can get evidence from your work or study programme, from your leisure activities, or from your home and domestic life, but you must be sure that it meets the requirements of the key skill unit you are aiming for. Again, your tutor will be able to advise you about this.
How should I set up and manage my portfolio?
You should think about this from the point of view of the other people who will see your portfolio.
Who are they?
- The assessor. This will be your tutor. They will check each piece of evidence you produce to make sure it meets the criteria. If they give your work a pass, they 'sign it off' and you can put it in your portfolio. It will usually be work that you have done for your main programme, such as a GNVQ, AVCE, AS or A-level, so you may have to make a copy for the portfolio and put the original back where it came from.
- The internal verifier. This task is done by the Key Skills Co-ordinator, Mr Telfer. His job is to help make sure that all the work in your centre is being assessed at the same standard.
- The standards moderator. This person works for an awarding body; this is the organisation, which actually awards your key skills certificates and qualifications. Standards Moderators work with several centres and their job is to make sure that work is being assessed at the same standard at all centres. If they don't think so, they can stop anyone in the centre receiving their certificates until things are put right. Either they will visit your centre or some portfolios will be posted to them.
All these people have to be able to find their way around your portfolio when you're not there to explain it to them. They need to know what they are looking for and they want to be able to find it quickly. That means that your portfolio must be well organised, with everything in its place. There must be an index, which shows where each piece of evidence can be found.
When should I start building my portfolio?
Right from the start of your course, you can set up your folders even before you have any evidence to put in them. If you leave this job until later, you will have real problems catching up.
The first thing is to look ahead and identify where you will get the evidence you are going to need. With the help of your tutor, you should look through the work you will be doing and identify when and where you will be able to produce your key skills evidence. This is sometimes called 'mapping'. You should keep this map with your work-in-progress. It will help you to keep track of your progress as you build your portfolio.
How do I set up the index for my portfolio?
Your tutor will explain how to do this. He/she will give you a 'cover sheet', with boxes to complete as you add each piece of work to your portfolio. The important thing for you to remember is that, as soon as you have any work assessed as a pass, you should transfer it from your 'work-in-progress' folder to your portfolio, and record where it is so that the assessor, internal verifier and standards moderator can find it when they need to.
Key things to remember
- Set up your portfolio at the beginning of your course
- Plan in advance where you will get the evidence you need
- Keep in your portfolio only the evidence that has been assessed as a pass
- Include copies of the assignments and tasks that you were set or that you carried out
- Review your portfolio regularly with your tutor - note any gaps in your evidence and decide how you are going to fill them
- Have an index and keep it up to date
- Ask your tutor or supervisor if you're not sure what to do - don't leave this to the last moment.
Published by the Learning and Skills Development Agency