Kildare and Wicklow ETB Newsletter Issue 8 | Page 15

Coordinators, Principals and other staff responsible for quality assurance in FE, have been given access to KWETB’s new Quality Assurance platform, in Office 365. This platform is designed to share information as follows:

Access to all approved Programme Descriptors, categorised by Field of Learning under the icons across the top of the page.

There is sidebar where Quality Assurance Forms and policy documents can be found. An announcement section, where all QA information and events, national and local can be shared, together with interesting information about good practice. There is a function in this section for comments too. The site includes a calendar showing all key dates for submission of estimates; Internal Verification and External Authentication Periods; Dates of Results Approval Panel meetings and Appeal deadlines and a links section for frequently accessed organisations.

This is an interim location for sharing information, and it is designed to be flexible and accessible. I anticipate that it will change as new policies and practices emerge. It is a "one stop shop" for QA and presents consistent messages about quality assurance to all of our internal stakeholders. Currently access to the site is by invitation only.

A second site has been set up for the work of our Standards and Assessment Community of Practice, which is engaged in the review of Programme Modules.

Topic-Specific Guidelines for Flexible and Distributed Learning

Core Policy and Criteria for the Validation of Education and Training Programmes by QQI

Core Statutory Quality Assurance Guidelines

New National Developments in Quality Assurance

QQI recently conducted consultation on the following White Papers:

Through the ETBI/QQI Collaborative Forum, KWETB representatives and representatives of the 16 ETBs have presented their opinions on the White Papers and met with QQI representatives. These opinions have informed feedback to QQI and will inform the final policies.

Communicating information about Quality Assurance

Communicating Quality