Jane Down's Profile

Married with one son age 30 who is a Fund Manager in London

Degree and other qualifications

• 1972 - a University of Wales Certificate of Education from the University of Wales College of Education (Llandaff), Cardiff in Advanced Main Home Economics and Advanced Main Science.
• 1991 – an Open University degree having gained a distinction in the Science Foundation course, followed by Biology, Genetics, Evolution and a Food Production Systems course.
• 1988 - a University of Wales Diploma in Further Professional Studies in Educational Management having attended the West Glamorgan LEA Middle Management course followed by the first Woman in Management course held by the LEA. I completed modules on Counseling and Selection Interviewing, Curriculum Planning, Effective Organisations and Managing Change in Education.
• 1986 - a certificate in Further Professional Studies in Information Technology.
• 1995 - I obtained my D32 / D33 RSA certificate for GNVQ Assessment.

Finally, in December 1998 I successfully completed the OHMCI training course for professional team members of secondary inspections in Wales.

Path to Ultralab:

1973 - 1988 Cymer Afan Comprehensive School – a small comprehensive school in West Glamorgan. Subject: Home Economics / Textiles

1988 - 1990 Teacher Adviser for IT in Home Economics

1990 – 1997 Teacher Adviser for Design and Technology ( Key Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, GNVQ and post 16, including IT applications).

1998 - 1999 Advisory Teacher for the Tesco SchoolNet 2000 project

2000 - 2003 Principal Facilitator, National College for School Leadership / Talking Heads for Ultralab

2003 - Present position: Principal Lecturer / Learning Facilitator for Ultraversity, – http://ultraversity.net .

Examination Experience

1993 – 1997 City and Guilds: Consultant and Chief Examiner for Design and Technology suite of syllabuses. In addition I was the Principal Examiner for both the Technology and the Design and Technology Food syllabuses, and for two years I was largely responsible for writing the Graphics examination papers.

Inspection Experience / Estyn [Wales]

Specialisms: D & T and related subjects; GNVQ related subjects and IT / ICT.

30 inspections in total to date including core team inspections and subject inspections

Publications

1991 / 1992 Homing in on Technology: Set A & Set B published by Blackie

1997 GCSE Technology: Textiles, Quaternary Education for TEP (CD-ROM)

1998 GNVQ Manufacturing, Quaternary Education (CD-ROM)

1999 Textiles Technology to GCSE, Oxford University Press

2001 GCSE Textiles Technology in Diagrams, Oxford University Press

Hobbies and Interests

Family history, golf and oil painting.

E-mail: jane@ultralab.net or janedown@btinternet.com

The GCSE text books I authored and still currently available from OUP.

Stephen Powell and me at BETT 2006, enjoying the new camera facility for Podcasting!