Online Training for Schools Workers
Lifelong learning is a great way to keep your mind active and improve your mental wellbeing. Whether you want to learn for your current job role; you’re thinking about a career change; or for your own interest, there are plenty of options. We have compiled a list of online and distance learning courses with a focus on continuous personal development. Most of these options are free, so won’t hurt your bank balance and the others offer discounts for you as a UNISON member.
This list of courses is not exhaustive, there are many more interesting learning opportunities available with each of these providers, but these courses will give you a good starting point.
Online and in-person courses are also available to UNISON members and activists via the national UNISON College team and your regional education teams. For more information about national and regional UNISON College courses, please click on the following links to visit the UNISON college’s event listings and your regional education team’s website.
UNISON’s Skills for Schools
Skills For Schools is an online guide to careers, training and development for all our members working in schools. It offers guidance on training that may help you progress in your current role or enable you to move on to a different role within your school.
Please click on the following link for more information:
UNISON e-learning – free to UNISON members
UNISON e-learning has a number of online learning resources for our members and activists.
There is a schools focused e-note called “Coping with care: dealing with healthcare needs in schools” to more generic e-notes such as “U in UNISON: how your union works”, “Staying Strong, stress management and “Your skills, Your future”.
For more information, please follow the link:
Staff Skills Academy – free to UNISON members
The Staff Skills Academy offers hundreds of free online courses to UNISON members. Whether you want to do something for your professional or personal development. They have something to suit everyone.
If you would like to access UNISON College’s Staff Skills Academy learning platform, please click on the following link to see a list of courses available:
E-Careers – offer a 20% discount to members
E-Careers offer a range of professional courses from book-keeping, business analysis, health and safety, project management and IT & Networking.
Take a look at the dedicated UNISON College e-careers site to see the range of courses on offer. If you are interested in one of their courses, please request UNISON College e-careers discount code.
Digital Unite – free to all
Digital Unite offer free IT materials and user guides. Access the technology guides via the Digital Unite site
The Open University’s OpenLearn – free to all
OpenLearn is the Open University’s free learning platform. There are hundreds of courses ranging from introductory to advanced, including study skills modules to ease you into online learning. Below are some examples of the courses to get you started. Click on the links to view more information about each one.
Professional development and
school focused / CPD Development
- Effective communication in the workplace
- Diversity and inclusion in the workplace
- Working in groups and teams
- Child mental health: is it in crisis?
- Children’s experiences with digital technologies
- Supporting children’s development
Leadership and Management
Digital Skills
English, numeracy and study skills and personal development
- Planning a better future
- Talking about the menopause: symptoms, support and the role of exercise
- Exploring data: Graphs and numerical summaries | OpenLearn – Open University
The courses above are not intended to replace your employer’s statutory training responsibilities and yous should always refer to your employer’s policies. If you are unsure of the training you should be receiving at work, speak to your local UNISON rep or union learning rep.