Teresa Donegan, head of UNISON Learning and Organising Services, and Jane Shepherd, national education officer, gave evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee at Parliament on Wednesday morning. The focus of the session was on recruitment and reskilling of older workers. The panel answered questions on addressing conscious and unconscious bias in the recruitment process, […]
Learning News
2018 could be the year you learn new skills, get new qualifications, and open new doors. Since UNISON and the Open University started working together in 1997, thousands of members have studied accredited courses and have enhanced their career prospects and their confidence as a result. Could you be next? The Open University has produced […]
A group of UNISON’s facilities staff recently celebrated the successful completion of their ICT skills course held at UNISON Centre, Euston Road. All six members of the group attended lessons at the start of their evening shift, and learnt a variety of skills – from formatting text to creating tables and using mailmerge. Several of […]
The National Extension College (NEC) has launched a campaign to make GCSE and A levels more accessible to adult learners. The five-point plan identifies barriers faced by independent learners and proposes ways of removing these. These barriers exist because the system is geared towards mainstream students studying in a local school or college. They include: […]
UNISON assistant general secretary Roger McKenzie has today signed agreements reaffirming two of the union’s most significant learning partnerships, with the Open University and with the WEA. The three organisations share a common goal: to widen access to education and training and to extend learning opportunities to those who have previously been excluded or discouraged […]
With recent figures suggesting that the number of people starting apprenticeships has fallen by almost 60% since the Apprenticeship Levy came into effect in April this year, it’s more important than ever for UNISON branches to understand the issues and make the case to employers. National learning and workforce development organisers Jon Tennison and Oreleo Du […]
Last week, union learning reps (ULRs) from across UNISON gathered to share their experience and generate new ideas in promoting reading in the workplace at our Stepping Up workshop. They came from sectors including local government, healthcare, further education, and police and justice. Some had run the Reading Ahead challenge in their branches; some had […]
UNISON has been recognised by the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) as its National Strategic Partner of the year. The award marks ‘the degree to which a strategic partnership has enabled WEA to raise profile, influence the sector and raise educational aspirations.’ Roger McKenzie, assistant general secretary for organising and recruitment, said, ‘Our work with the […]
UNISON Learning and Organising Services have developed a course designed to help activists make sense of Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) in response to a request from the Health service group executive. STPs were developed across England last year by 44 local areas known as footprints; their stated aims included better integration between health and […]
Learning charity National Numeracy joined UNISON to embed numeracy in the Preceptorship programme for newly qualified nurses at Blackpool Victoria Hospital on Monday 9 October, as part of unionlearn’s #mathsworkout week. Tom Jenkins, UNISON’s regional learning and development organiser for the North West, delivered a ‘Fun with Numbers’ workshop to around 50 nurses. Activities included […]