Supporting learners news issue 10

SUPPORTING LEARNERS NEWS

ISSUE 10, OCTOBER 2013

SUPPORTING LEARNERS NEWS Introduction This is the tenth in a series of newsletters that has been produced to keep unionlearn staff, unions, project workers, union learning reps (ULRs) and other reps up to speed about:

 developments in the area of a publicly funded careers service that will affect existing structures and networks

 how unionlearn is responding to the changes to ensure that union learners at all levels receive the best possible information and advice to help them progress in learning and work

 other news, developments and resources that will help support members as learners.

The term ‘Supporting Learners’ is used by unionlearn to describe the activities of ULRs and other union reps when they are working with members to help them make choices about learning, to take up learning opportunities that are right for them and help them to progress in their jobs and careers.

Whilst these activities involve all levels of learning and some elements of information and advice, they also include mentoring, coaching, signposting and facilitating learning. There is a Supporting Learners area on the unionlearn website, for information visit: www.unionlearn.org.uk/advice

Get involved in the Midlife Career Review The Midlife Career Review Project is looking at different ways of working with people to review their plans for life and career. The project will develop a range of materials and models for reps and advice workers to use in the future.

The project provides a great opportunity for ULRs to carry out a midlife career review with colleagues to help them reflect on their job, skills and experience to support them in making informed decisions about life choices.

The experience unions have in developing the ULR role in supporting midlife workers to participate, engage and be involved with this agenda will ensure that unions have a valuable and significant contribution to make to the work of this project.

A variety of useful new FREE materials and resources can be found in the Midlife Career Review Learning Theme on the Climbing Frame, these include: a quiz, group activities, card games, presentations, questionnaires case studies and lots more. ULRs will

find these free resources useful to use with colleagues as part of Celebration of Learning activities planned for October.

ULRs that would like to get involved in the project just need to carry out three simple steps:  Carry out a midlife review and follow-up by the end of November 2013  Contact the unionlearn team who will register you on the Climbing Frame or experienced users can register reviewees independently on the Climbing Frame  Log the review details of the discussion on the Climbing Frame For more information about how to get involved in the project please email Jane Warwick at jwarwick@tuc.org.uk

Inside this issue: Get involved in the Midlife Career Review

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Climbing Frame App

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Supporting Learners and Climbing Frame eNotes

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Part-Time Matters Campaign

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Going in the Right Direc-

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A Cloudy Horizon

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Contact Us

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SUPPORTING LEARNERS NEWS

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Climbing Frame App A new addition to the world of trade union Apps has been released. Unionlearn’s popular Climbing Frame website, an online service primarily aimed at ULRs is now available to download. The App is another way of accessing the same information as on the website, allowing ULRs and other learner managers to access learning content and manage the progress of learners.

The Climbing Frame is a long established tool, created by unionlearn. It’s most recent form – that of a website-based service – has proved popular with thousands of users. It contains a number of learning themes, such as Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and English and Maths, as well as a few employer and union specific topics.

One of the most useful aspects of the Climbing Frame is the ability of ULRs to keep track of the progress their learners are making. However, accessing this service proved difficult for users who work without direct access to desktop or laptop computers. There was a demand to be able to access the learner management facility with smartphones and tablets, via wi-fi and mobile internet access.

The user consultation exercise highlighted that the ability to manage learners on the go was considered key. This was especially the case for ULRs working in areas like retail, where a tablet or smartphone are often the only way to access the internet when working with learners.

ULRs can register via the App as well as the website, meaning people can now use the Climbing Frame service entirely through the App without any need to ever access a desktop. The App is available for Android smartphones and tablets as well as for the iPhone and iPad. To download the Climbing Frame App please click on the relevant link below: Apple version: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/climbing-frame/ id669443030 Android version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details? id=uk.org.tuc.wbcfmobile

Supporting Learners and Climbing Frame e-Notes There has been a great take up to both the Supporting Learners and Climbing Frame eNotes with well over 300 modules being accessed by users.

The eNotes are informative and interactive online learning modules produced by TUC Education. They contain a mix of text, video and quizzes to help you support learners in the workplace.

The Supporting Learners eNote has proved a really practical tool which demonstrates how to successfully interview learners to find out their learning needs. A really valuable resource which guides reps through supporting learners processes and suggests sources of further information on learning opportunities. The modules also demonstrate some effective methods of recording an action plan.

The Climbing Frame eNote, was launched earlier this year and is proving to be very popular with Climbing Frame users. This eNote comprises of five mini eNotes which highlight the key functions of the Climbing Frame and explain how users can navigate their way around the website to record and plan their learning activities. There is something for everyone in these modules. Not only is there a module designed to help new users get started but there are also modules to help you make the most of both the “Learning Themes” and “Learner Management” tools, including how ULRs can monitor and record the learning of members. For more information on these and other eNotes visit: https://www.tuclearning.net/ To register or log in to the Climbing Frame click here: https://www.climbingframe.unionlearn.org.uk

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SUPPORTING LEARNERS NEWS

Part-Time Matters Campaign Unionlearn is supporting a new campaign to promote the value of part-time HE studies called ‘Part-Time Matters’. The launch of ‘Part-Time Matters’ is in response to the dramatic 40% overall downturn in students enrolling for part-time undergraduate courses. The campaign aims to highlight some of the often unknown benefits of part-time study to the economy, society and the individual. The campaign is supported by an alliance of universities, business and unions, these include: Universities UK, Birkbeck University, The Open University, NIACE, the NUS, unionlearn and many others.

It is essential to reverse the worrying decline in part-time HE. Part-time study is important for a number of reasons – not least, it supports the competitiveness of the UK economy by enabling people to retrain later on in life and it provides an important route into HE for those from poorer backgrounds.

The Part-Time Matters campaign is asking people to consider taking various suggested actions in support, as well as promoting the campaign through union networks. More information about the campaign can be found at www.PartTimeMatters.org.uk

Have you seen the Higher Learning at Work website?

Take a look today, visit:

www.higherlearningatwork.org

Going in the Right Direction The Ofsted report ‘Going in the Right Direction? Careers Guidance in Schools from September 2012’ was published on 10th September. The report found that the arrangements for careers guidance in schools was not working well enough. Three quarters of the schools visited for the survey were not implementing their duty to provide impartial careers advice effectively. The survey also found that guidance for schools on careers advice is not explicit, the National Careers Service is not promoted well enough and there is a lack of employer engagement in schools.

A copy of the report can be found at: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/going-right-direction-careers

A Cloudy Horizon During September the Pearson Think Tank published a report ‘A Cloudy Horizon: Careers Services in England Careers 2020 Phase Two.’ The report paints a worrying picture, with over a quarter of state secondary schools reporting that there was less careers provision at their school in 2012/13 than in the previous year. Particularly sharp falls were reported in some key elements of careers advice, including work experience (down 14% on previous years), careers libraries (down 12%) and individual careers counselling (down 9%).

A copy of the report can be found at: http://thepearsonthinktank.com/2013/research-report-careers2020-phase-two-a-cloudy-horizon-2/

SUPPORTING LEARNERS NEWS

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Contact us For further information on any of the topics in this newsletter then please approach your Regional Supporting Learners Regional Supporting Learners contact:

Midlands region

Northern region

Paul Humphreys

Dave Storrie

phumphreys@tuc.org.uk

dstorrie@tuc.org.uk

0121 236 4454

0191 227 5561

North West region

Southern and Eastern region

John Halligan

Jon Tennison

jhalligan@tuc.org.uk

jtennison@tuc.org.uk

0151 236 2321

020 7467 1342

South West region

Yorkshire and the Humber region

Rob Garrett

Sharon Burke

rgarrett@tuc.org.uk

sburke@tuc.org.uk

07899 966 358

0113 200 1073

Ian Borkett

Jane Warwick

Quality and Standards Manager

Climbing Frame Development Officer

iborkett@tuc.org.uk

jwarwick@tuc.org.uk

020 7079 6940

020 7079 6934

For more information about unionlearn please visit: www.unionlearn.org.uk