Unison Open College


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What's New

Organisation Champions for Basic Skills
As part of their brief Sector Skills Councils are expected to say how they are supporting a learning agenda for people who, for one reason or another do not possess a good level of basic skills:
• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Use of host country language for speakers of other languages

For most organisations, having staff who possess good literacy and numeracy skills is a crucial success factor. At least half of those with poor basic skills are in employment and yet evidence shows that basic literacy and numeracy skills are critically important to performance at work.

14% of individuals working in health and social care occupations are likely to have literacy skills at or below the level expected of an eleven-year-old child and as many as 46% of the staff are likely to have numeracy skills at or below that same level. Research also shows that such skills limitations are not focussed solely on staff without professional qualifications or their equivalent.

One way in which Skills for Health can support people in this area is to sponsor a “whole organisation approach”. To this end we have accepted an offer for all SSCs from DfES to work with KPMG to get this into the heart of our thinking. We would also like to be able to say that our board members are signed up to being champions for basic skills in their everyday roles.

Board Members who would be willing to accept this role would for example:
• Think about the basic skills implications for their own policies and plans and take action within their own organisations, to develop the essential numeracy and literacy skills of their employees.
• Talk about good practice with other champions and their own networks and constituencies
• Raise awareness about the issue and inspire others e.g. by providing a quote or article for a publication, appearing on public platforms or hosting an event for practitioners

If you are willing/keen to become a “Skills for life Champion” please e-mail chris.pearson@skillsforhealth.org.uk and he will provide further details.

Careconnect Learning
Careconnect Learning is a UNISON learning initiative. As the health and social care sector hub for learndirect, it offers courses to people who work in hospitals, care homes and other social care workplaces. It uses innovative, new and exciting courses from learndirect, which can be delivered either online, or by CD Rom and workbook.

Careconnect Learning Ltd works closely with employers to offer courses to staff with no or few qualifications and who have often been put off by traditional methods of learning. Courses are delivered flexibly to fit in with busy working and home lives.

Tutors needed for a new Open University course - Understanding Health
The Open University are presenting a new course, Understanding Health (Y158) in June 2005. They are looking for applications from suitably qualified individuals who might be interested in tutoring on this course. The Understanding Health course is one of a group of courses within the Openings programme. Openings courses have been designed for new and inexperienced learners who may have few if any educational qualifications. These courses are short, relatively inexpensive and ideal for a student who wants to have a taste of particular subject and to try out distance learning.

All tutorial support is via the telephone with individual students. Tutors also assess two pieces of written work sent to them by their students. All the student's work and the tutor's work can be done from home. Openings tutors are given a full induction when they start tutoring and continuous on course support from Open University staff.

Please visit our website for more information, a person specification and application pack.

Return to Learn courses - Develop your career and build your confidence
As one of UNISON'S learning representatives at Lambeth Council, Sheila Simpson reported on the benefits of the UNISON Return to Learn course in an article published in the Evening Standard on 9th June.

About three years ago Sheila attended the Unison Return to Learn course. 'It had been years since I did any studying, so I had to focus on the basics of numeracy and literacy', she says. 'Passing the course gave me such confidence that I did another course, then another and now I'm studying for a post-graduate qualification in health and social care management. I want my colleagues at the lower end of the job market to get the same benefits from further education as I have.' (All in a days work, Evening Standard, 9 June 2003, p10)

Find out more information about the Unison Return to Learn courses.

Please email Donald Cameron for full details at d.cameron@unison.co.uk.

Progression Through Learning - a new research project
Would you like to take part in a national research project that will record the experiences of learners in their own words? Researchers working on this exciting new project, based at the University of Sussex, are working with UNISON to find out if taking a course in the workplace leads to significant life changes. We are interested in hearing from learners at different phases in their learning (new, current, recently completed or completed courses years ago, and from those who have dropped out of courses). If you would like to contribute, please register your interest through our website at:
www.sussex.ac.uk/cce/research/progression
or you can contact the project researcher,
Suzanne Hyde at ptl@sussex.ac.uk or on 01273 873243

When you have registered, you can download (or we will send you a copy in the post, if you prefer) a free folder with instructions on how to contribute and guidelines on what to write about (stories, poems, diary style - anything welcome).

We look forward to hearing from you.