Learning at Work Week is an annual celebration of learning, taking place every May, organised by the Campaign for Learning. This year’s theme is Many Ways To Learn – something that’s particularly true of union learning.
Union learning reps often take a central role in organising Learning at Work Week activities as they provide a great opportunity to introduce staff to the benefits of union learning activities and to launch new learning programmes. UNISON College is offering a national programme of events – but we encourage learning reps to work with branches and employers to put on your own learning events in your workplace.
The Campaign for Learning have a great range of resources to help you and get started with planning your Learning at Work week activities.
Learning at Work Week resources
Learning at Work Week with UNISON College
UNISON College is supporting Learning at Work Week across the union with a series of online lunch and learn sessions over the course of the week. Each will run from 12 noon to 1pm. Follow the links to find out more and book.
- A History of Trade Unions and Education – Monday 18 May
- Using AI as a tool to aid learning – Tuesday 19 May
- The Right to Write: finding your way past the blocks – Wednesday 20 May
- Problem Solving and Decision Making – Thursday 21 May
- An Introduction to Mindfulness – Friday 22 May
Who to work with
The week provides a strong national focal point to raise the profile of the importance of adult learning in the workplace.
It’s possible that your workplace HR or Learning and Development Team may also be planning activities during the week so there may be opportunities to collaborate and share resources.
Learning at Work Week is a great opportunity to recruit new members and get existing members involved in learning, so make sure you’re getting other branch committee members involved to support you, particularly if there are learning activities that link to their roles or the members they represent.
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to run LAWW on national dates?
The national dates make a useful focal point, but there’s nothing to stop you running a Learning at Work Week whenever you like!
Do you need a big budget to run LAWW activities?
You don’t have to have a big budget! Many activities you could run are cheap or even free, and your branch and region may be able to help with funds too.
We don’t have a Learning & Development Team, so what do we do?
You don’t need a Learning & Development Team! Work with other learning reps in your branch or in your local area.
Is LAWW about promoting your current L&D programe?
Is LAWW just a bit of fun…?
Learning at Work Week can be fun, but it should have a serious message – promoting the power of lifelong learning.
Do we have to run LAWW all week?
You don’t have to run Learning at Work Week all week. You could run just one event!
Learning at Work Week ideas for learning reps – PowerPoint presentation
Other ways to learn
We at UNISON College know that our members all learn differently whether that is down to time constraints, preferred methods or styles of learning or the access needs they may have. As a result of this, we are committed to offering you a variety of ways and opportunities to learn with us. Alongside the great webinars that we have arranged for this, Learning at Work Week we wanted to draw your attention to some other options we have in place for you.
Many of our members have already made use of UNISON’s ongoing partnership with the Staff Skills academy+. If you enjoy self-guided study that you can do when and where you want and the chance to study at your own pace, then you may find this is a great option for you too. Members can apply for a free licence from us to access the platform with over 700 CPD certified courses. Courses range from Excel to English skills and finance to feng shui. In addition to these courses, you will also have access to the health and wellbeing hub on this platform. This will provide you with Neuroscience-based meditation, mindfulness and breathwork classes and a library of Les Mills exercise classes including body combat, body pump and body balance – all in video format. For further information and to apply for one of these licences please use this link:
Staff Skills academy+ | UNISON College.
Another offer we have open to you is access to professional qualifications at a reduced rate through e-Careers. Our partnership with e-Careers gives you access to the latest, industry-recognised professional qualifications delivered through flexible eLearning and live virtual classrooms and provides members with 20% discount when studying with them. E-Careers can offer our members qualifications in bookkeeping, business analysis, cloud computing, cyber security, digital marketing and financial services to name a few with awarding bodies such as IOSH, NEBOSH, APMG-International and Prince. If you ae interested in studying with e-Careers find out what is on offer here:
e-Careers | UNISON College but don’t forget to get your UNISON discount code before signing up for any courses, apply for this code: E-Careers.
These are just a few of the ways in which UNISON College offer learning so don’t forget to check in with your regional education teams and our regional webpage and events listings for a more comprehensive view.