Schools may have broken up for the summer, but for us learning is something that happens all year round. And it can be useful to concentrate on the basics – ‘functional skills’, as they’re called – English, maths, and digital skills. Here are some great free resources to help you and your colleagues do that. […]
literacy
Matthew Hodgson is a UNISON learning rep and branch young members’ officer for United Utilities in the North West. In this blog he talks about his own experiences as a learner and explains how branches can reach out to young workers with learning opportunities. As a young person I was sadly treated with a stereotypical […]
This first week of October is Dyslexia Awareness Week. Dyslexia affects around 10% of the population, and mainly influences the way that people process, store and retrieve information. The theme this year is ’21st Century Dyslexia’, focusing on technology that can assist people in the workplace, at school and at home. Find out more at the […]
UNISON was delighted to host the launch event for the Reading Agency‘s 2018-19 Reading Ahead challenge at UNISON Centre on 13 September. Reading Ahead is an initiative that encourages less confident readers to choose six pieces (which could be books, articles, poems, blog posts…) and write a brief review of them. It aims to get people […]
ISS employees based at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital have started a course in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), with the support of UNISON. On Tuesday 4th of September, ISS staff members took the assessment test for the ESOL/functional skills course. This was possible with the support of UNISON, who negotiated with the employer […]
We have a calendar of great learning events lined up for you this autumn. Take a look – there’s something for everyone! For branch education co-ordinators… For the first time ever, we’re holding a seminar to bring branch education co-ordinators together from across UNISON. This is a chance to network, to find out what’s new […]
Delegates gathered to discuss the future of learning at a fringe meeting of UNISON’s national delegate conference in Brighton last week. And the winning entry of our first ever writing competition was revealed. Judges Genevieve Clarke (The Reading Agency), Andrew Jennison (UNISON learning representative, De Montfort University), Kathleen Jowitt (UNISON staff member and award-winning author) and […]
In his years working with UNISON member learning at Birmingham City branch, Donald McCombie has organised a huge range of creative activities. In this blog he talks about that. I have always believed that within the membership of UNISON there lies a vast wealth of creativity. Mostly people are just lacking the opportunity to use […]
Delegates at UNISON’s annual conference for union learning reps (ULRs) celebrated the union’s 25th anniversary year with a programme that explored the past, present and future of learning. General secretary Dave Prentis spoke about UNISON’s proud history of learning, inherited from the three founder unions and developed and strengthened over the last twenty-five years. The […]
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 […]