STUC Learning Conference 2006

The 6th Annual STUC Learning Conference will be held on Thursday, 16th November 2006 in Dundee. The theme of this year’s conference is “Unions Work for Learning” and is a one day conference aimed at ULRs and union members across Scotland who are interested in becoming a ULR.

The conference boasts a new programme which will provide participants with practical information and skills through workshops and presentations. It will also allow ULRs from across the country to come together and discuss how we shape union learning throughout Scotland, both nationally and regionally. The STUC Learning Conference is sponsored by ILA Scotland. We look forward to seeing you there!

To request a registration form, contact Ann Garscadden, Administrative Assistant, by phone on 0141 337 8134 or by email at agarscadden@stuc.org.uk. Alternatively, you can book a place online on our webpage.

SULF Funding Catalyst for Learning

The Scottish Executive has published an evaluation of the Scottish Union Learning Fund (SULF) funding which was conducted by the Scottish Centre for Employment Research University of Strathclyde. SULF was established in 2000 to enable Scottish-based trade unions to develop workplace/lifelong learning. The evaluation assessed the difference made by the Scottish Union Learning Fund to trade unions’ capacity to enhance the uptake of learning.

Key findings reveal that: • funded projects are delivering additionality: lifelong learning that is not substituting but supplementing employer training. • SULF is meeting a, so far unappreciated, large demand for workplace learning. • SULF funding is a catalyst for learning culture change amongst employees who previously would not have considered, or been involved in, learning.

Sylvia O’Grady, the Skills & Lifelong Learning Team Manager, said “This report shows how unions can use their unique position to significantly increase the number of learners and the amount of learning activity in the workplace.”

The full SULF evaluation document can be viewed online at the Scottish Executive Webpage. For more information on SULF, contact Thomas Walker, Development Officer, on 0141 337 8148 or at twalker@stuc.org.uk.

Scottish Union Learning News

The Skills & Lifelong Learning Team has launched its quarterly newsletter, “Scottish Union Learning News”. The newsletter gives an in-depth view on what’s going on in union learning across the country.

To request a printed copy, email the Team at learning@stuc.org.uk. Alternatively, you can download a copy online.

Local Forums

In conjunction with our affiliate unions, the STUC Skills & Lifelong Learning Team are looking to build a network of local forums designed to support the lifelong learning work of the union movement. The purpose is to give Union Learning Representatives (ULRs) and others who are interested in the union learning agenda a forum where they can meet and discuss the issues they face in the workplace.

Local forums are being developed over a two year period with pilots in Motherwell, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Fife. In the Highlands & Islands successful local forums already exist in Fort William and Orkney. The Team hopes to pilot a forum in Moray and to expand into other areas of the Highlands & Islands in the coming months.

It is the hope of the Skills & Lifelong Learning Team that local forums will raise the profile of unions work in the field of learning and aim to establish local networks which will place union values at the heart of the learning process.

If you wish to discover more about these developments please contact John Slaven, Development Officer, on 0141 337 8117 or at jslaven@stuc.org.uk.

Highlands & Islands

The theme of the 1st Annual Highlands & Islands Learning Conference was “Shaping Union Learning throughout the Highlands & Islands”. Sponsored by ILA Scotland, the conference was held on the 16th of June at the Swallow Craigmonie Hotel in Inverness. Active ULRs who attended received the newly developed Skills & Lifelong Learning Team Highlands & Islands Resource Pack. The day was a huge success.

For more information on events in the Highlands & Islands, contact Vicky King, Administrative Assistant, on 017463 248 905 or at vking@stuc.org.uk.

‘Sign Here’

Given the success of the Sign Here initiative during 2005, the STUC Highlands & Islands Skills & Lifelong Learning Team submitted a further application for ESF funding in February 2006 to develop the initiative during 2006/2007. The bid was successful and has the continued support of the three unions, Unison, FBU and the Rail Union Learning project.

With the support of the Scottish Executive, we are pleased to welcome eight new partners into the project. The eight employers are located across the Highlands & Islands region, and include the Highlands & Islands Fire & Rescue Service, Highland Council, Caledonian MacBrayne, Grampian Fire & Rescue Service, First Scotrail, NHS Highland, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Scottish Ambulance. The Sign Here project is a cross union, cross sector learning initiative in the Highlands & Islands, which makes it one of a kind.

During 2006 and 2007 union members in the Highlands & Islands will be offered the opportunity to take part in one of a number of 21 hour British Sign Language Foundation courses that will be held throughout the Highlands & Islands. Many of these members will also be offered a further 10 hour sector specific BSL course. All the BSL courses will be delivered by Deaf tutors living in the Highlands & Islands, and we hope the courses will be accredited in the near future.

For more information on ‘Sign Here’, contact Pam Urquhart, Development Officer – Highlands & Islands, on 017463 248 905 or at purquhart@stuc.org.uk.

Everyday Skills

The Scottish Executive’s Adult Literacies Strategy, which developed from the Adult Literacy and Numeracy in Scotland (ALNIS) Report of 2001, is currently being ‘refreshed’. The STUC is represented on the Steering Group, and also on a sub-group which has been established to focus specifically on workplace literacies / everyday skills issues. Issues raised through the sub-group have mostly been related to the funding structure and provision of everyday skills in the workplace, as well as provision for learners with dyslexia and other learning difficulties, disabilities, and English language provision for migrant workers.

Four stakeholder events took place during the summer in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth, and there was union representation at each event. A draft strategic framework is now being developed and the consultation phase will take place from winter to spring, with an updated strategy due to be launched in summer 2007.

If you would like further information on this, or have any issues you would like to be raised through the ‘refresh’, please contact Wendy Burton, Development Officer – Everyday Skills, by phone on 0141 337 8121 or by email at wburton@stuc.org.uk.