Getting Ready for Functional Skills Maths Level 1

Course Title: Getting Ready for Functional Skills Maths Level 1

Brief course description:

Join our 10-week Level 1 Getting Ready for Functional Skills Maths course and turn everyday numbers into your new best friend!

With just two sessions a week, you’ll build practical skills that help you tackle real-life challenges no exams, just hands-on learning. You’ll explore whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percentages, and learn how to calculate with money, time, length, weight, and capacity.

You’ll sketch and describe shapes, compare and order numbers, crack ratios, and discover the magic of multiplying and dividing by powers of 10.

By the end, you’ll feel confident, capable, and ready to take on the next step, whether that’s a qualification, further study, or simply navigating life with sharper maths skills.

Objectives:

1. Read, write, order, and compare large numbers, fractions, decimals, percentages, and positive/negative values. Perform operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to solve real-life problems in class tasks.

2. Recognise, calculate, and convert between fractions, decimals, and percentages. Estimate answers, apply ratios and direct proportions, and work out percentage quantities with confidence.

3. Draw 2-D shapes, demonstrate symmetry, and identify Interpret plans, elevations, and nets of 3-D shapes, and use angles to describe direction, position, and measurement in degrees.

4. Apply formulas to calculate area, perimeter, and volume of shapes like rectangles, cubes, and cuboids. Estimate materials for decorating tasks, and use scales to solve map and drawing-based problems.

5. Calculate simple interest and discounts in multiples of 5%, and convert between units of length, weight, capacity, money, and time. Use these skills to make smarter shopping and budgeting decisions.

6. Represent data using tables, diagrams, and charts (e.g. pie, bar, line). Group, display, and analyse data sets, calculate mean and range, and express probabilities as fractions while comparing the likelihood of events

Entry requirements:

You need to be working towards Level 1 Maths for this course. This means you are already a confident speaker, reader and writer and to be able to demonstrate language at the required level. This means you will be able to develop and apply mathematical skills to solve increasingly complex real-world problems. Understand the importance of mathematics in both work and everyday life.

This course assumes you already have a good level of Maths.

You will need to do a pre-course assessment.

Equipment required:

Please bring to every lesson:

• A folder
• Pens & pencils
• Lined A4 paper
• Calculator
• Protractor
• A smartphone (if you have one)

We will give you the WIFI details in the first lesson.

If you do not have access to a smart phone or a computer, speak to your tutor.

You will also need a personal Gmail account to access the Google classroom, which will be used for submitting coursework and accessing course materials. If you do not have a Gmail account speak to your tutor.

What courses can I go on to:

There are other courses you can do after or at the same time as this course:

• Getting ready for Functional Skills Maths Level 1 / 2
• Functional Skills Maths Level 1/2
• Becoming confident with numbers - mental maths/ shapes and measurements
• Maths for work and life - part 1/2
• Digital Skills Entry 3/Level 1
• Digital Skills in the workplace: Using Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)

Please ask your teacher for more information or contact Functional Skills email: functionalskills@towerhamlets.gov.uk

What examination is there:

There is no examination for this course. You will agree individual learning goals with your tutor which you must achieve by the end of the course.

How will I know I am making progress:

At the start of the course, your tutor will talk with you about which parts of your Maths you need to practise most and help you create an individual learning plan. Throughout the course, you will have a tutorial meeting to discuss your strengths, areas for improvement, and any problems you may have. You will keep a folder with your work, which will help you review your learning outside of class. Your tutor will give you regular feedback on your class work and homework to help you improve. To make progress, you need to attend all your classes and do work outside of class.

You will lose your place if your attendance is less than 80%.

Other info:

One of our aims is to help you make progress in work or future studies. We also want to help you participate in your communities and become an active citizen. In our classes, you will develop important skills that employers value and that will help you in everyday life. Here’s what you will learn:

• Communication Skills: You will learn to speak and write more clearly and confidently. This includes practising conversations for work, writing emails, and filling out forms.
• Decision-Making: You will learn how to make good choices by evaluating different options and thinking critically about situations.
• Teamwork: You will learn how to work well with others.
• Problem-Solving: You will develop the ability to identify problems and find effective solutions, useful in both work and daily life.
• Time Management: You will practice managing your time effectively, including setting goals and meeting deadlines.

By improving these skills, you will increase your chances of finding a job, advancing in your career, and becoming an active member of your community.

Extra support

We can help you if you tell us you have a learning difficulty, disability or other support needs. Please tell us when you enrol or in your first class.