UNISON is delighted to be a champion of the first ever National Numeracy Day – which takes place on 16 May 2018.
Nearly half the working age UK population have the numeracy skills that would normally be expected of a primary school child. The average cost to individuals with poor number skills is £460 per year, and a lack of confidence around maths can hold people back in their careers and in their personal lives. National Numeracy is aiming to change that – and UNISON is in a great position to help out. UNISON learning reps and other activists can be a part of this initiative – here’s how:
Assess
Encourage members to use Unionlearn’s Skillcheck app or the Numeracy Challenge to get a sense of what their numeracy needs are. This can be a daunting experience, so try to make the assessment as reassuring as possible.
Learn
UNISON Learning and Organising Services have developed a new taster workshop especially for use on National Numeracy Day. It explores learners’ feelings and perceptions around topics of numeracy, using activities from the Numeracy Day website to build skills in a fun, low-pressure environment.
National Numeracy Day taster workshop
You could also run all or part of our Fun with numbers workshop and introduce some numeracy concepts in a light-hearted and enjoyable way.
And there are plenty of activities that relate numeracy to budgeting and managing money in our Making Every Penny Count toolkit.
Collaborate
National Numeracy Day falls in the middle of Learning At Work Week, so it’s a great opportunity to include numeracy alongside other learning activities. Here are some ideas…
Fund
Remember, if you’re based in England, you can claim Kickstart funding of up to £250 to support learning events.