Updates to Learner Portfolio Content for Lifesaving, First Aid, Pool Plant and Health & Safety Qualifications

Posted on 11th June 2018

The learner portfolios and answer sheets for Safety Training Awards lifesaving, first aid, pool plant and health & safety qualifications are changing following a review of the existing procedures. As a way to streamline the process for tutors and internal quality assurers (IQA) moving forward, the learner portfolios now combine the majority of paperwork required for learners on courses into a single booklet.

Please note that our swimming teaching qualifications are unaffected by this change.

The new learner portfolios should make the process of retaining and checking paperwork simpler for tutors, IQAs and Safety Training Awards. They now contain:

Unit specifications
Pre-course application form
Learner assessment checklist
Portfolio questions
Supplementary question sheets (where applicable)
Post-course feedback form
Practical marking sheet (for pool plant qualifications only)

This means that the only additional paperwork that course organisers and tutors will need to supply is the answer sheet, and the practical marking sheet (unless for pool plant qualifications, where the practical marking sheet will be included within the learner portfolio).

The conditions under which learners must complete their portfolios are as follows:

Qualification	Conditions for Completion of Unit Worksheets
All Swimming Teaching and Aquatic Teaching qualifications, Pool Lifeguard	Completed independently Learner can use their resource manual Can be completed either during the course or as homework Marked by the course tutor
Safety Award for Teachers, Pool Emergency Responder, all First Aid qualifications	Completed independently Learner cannot use their resource manual (closed book format) Completed under exam conditions during the course Marked by the course tutor
All Pool Plant qualifications	Completed independently Learner can use their resource manual Can be completed either during the course or as homework Marked by the course tutor

The answer sheets have also been updated in line with the changes to the portfolios. Please note that the answers in the answer sheets are guidance for the tutors. They contain key words, phrases and information that the learner should have noted, but are not a definitive list. Where a question is asking for the learner to explain or describe in their answer, one-word answers are not adequate; they must provide sufficiently detailed answers for what the question is asking (please refer to the descriptor definitions in the portfolios).

These changes come into effect from Monday 18th June 2018, with the new portfolios being made available in the tutor resources on STA Online, and paper copies being sent to the course organiser upon registration of a course as normal. The old style portfolios can still be used if these are currently held for any courses commencing up to and including Friday 31st August 2018, after which all courses must use the new portfolios.

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