Have you gained a level 3 in Early Childhood or higher and wondering what to do next?
Have you ever considered training to be an assessor?
This opportunity could be for you. Cambridgeshire Early Childhood Qualifications Centre have teamed up with the Learning and Development Team to offer the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement.
The qualification will provide trainees with underpinning knowledge and skills to assess learners working towards qualifications. To achieve the full qualification, you are required to:
- attend the three training sessions provided by the Learning and Development Team.
- work with the Early Childhood Qualifications Centre to build your portfolio of evidence.
This will include:
- working with two learners to assess them across different evidence methods,
- attending standardisation meetings,
- working with a mentor and counter-signatory assessor,
- shadowing qualified assessors in settings and online,
- attending training delivery for the qualifications your learners are enrolled on (this can be in your own time as sessions are recorded).
Course outline
Before starting the course, you will need to:
- Read the pre-course booklet
- Complete assessment of skills
- Complete & return learning agreement
Training sessions
Learners are required to attend all training sessions to gain the knowledge and understanding to complete a portfolio of evidence.
Delivery forecast
Training session one: Tuesday, 3 October 2023 from 10 am to 12 pm delivered via Microsoft Teams
Session outline:
- Introduction to qualification
- Introduction to OneFile
- Objectives for the session
- Describe the role of the assessor
- Outline the roles of others involved in the assessment process
- Explain the assessment cycle
- Explain the key concepts of assessment
- Outline the different types of assessment.
Discuss and set homework:
- Collect specification and assessment strategy for the qualification you are assessing
- Ensure CV is up to date
- Learning styles – complete VARK assessment.
Training session two: Tuesday, 10 October 2023 from 10 am to 12 pm delivered via Microsoft Teams
Session outline:
- Reflect and recap on session one
- Objectives for the session
- Identify good practice techniques in assessment planning
- Explain how assessment planning promotes learning and development
- Define different evidence-gathering methods
- Assess the advantages and disadvantages of different methods.
Discuss and set homework:
- Complete the main methods of the assessment chart
- Review the assessment strategy for the qualification you are assessing, and what methods can and cannot be used in the different units.
Training session three: Tuesday, 17 October 2023 from 10 am to 12 pm delivered via Microsoft Teams
Session outline:
- Reflect and recap on session two
- Objectives for the session
- Reflect on the value of effective feedback
- Outline the assessor’s role in QA
- Discuss legislation and the ethical issues linked to assessing learners’
- Explore how to use OneFile with learners
- Review and plan to complete the task booklet.
Discuss and set homework:
- Meet with your ‘A’ assessor from Early Childhood Qualifications Centre and start working on your agreed first tasks
- Read and review the assessment specification for the assessor qualification
- Work with your assessor and counter-signatory to provide the evidence you require for your qualification. You are aiming to complete your qualification by May 2024.
Once you have completed session three the Cambridgeshire Early Childhood Qualifications Centre (CECQC) will work with you to achieve this qualification. The CECQC will provide you with:
- Two learners
- Mentoring and a counter-signatory
- Support and guidance on centre policies and procedures
- Support and shadowing on assessment methods and skills including, marking, reflective accounts, professional discussion, and observation.
To achieve this, you will need:
- Attend standardisation meetings to gain knowledge and skills in centre processes and procedures at our office in Papworth
- Attend meetings with mentors/counter signatories to consider feedback, set action plans and gather evidence required
- Meet regularly with your allocated learner to implement your action plan and gather the evidence required to gain the assessor qualification.
- Attend or watch underpinning knowledge sessions delivered to the learners to enable your understanding of the assessment required.
If you feel this is something you would like to do and would be able to invest your time in, please contact eycqualifications@cambridgeshire.gov.uk to arrange a pre-course discussion and gain more information on achieving the qualification and funding.
