Issue 1
Project Facts
General Secretary
National Coordinator
Community Organising Project
Reach Out
Skills for the Future
Developing Learning Capacity Among School Support Staff
Judith Swift
Contacts
ULR
Word cloud created at www.wordle.net
GMB ULF Projects Facts and Figures Projects: There are 4 projects in the GMB running until 31st March 2014
32 GMB members employed by the Projects
1422 182 New GMB Union Learning Reps trained since April 2012
new GMB members recruited directly by the Projects
2197 GMB members undertaking learning directly organised by the Projects
Paul Kenny - General Secretary Congress 2013, I welcome the first newsletter outlining the important work of the three Regional GMB Learning Projects and National Schools Project. The GMB is committed to supporting members, their families and wider community through good quality education and training. Over the last few years the GMB Learning Projects have supported thousands of employees and negotiated hundreds of education and training partnerships with employers across the country. Good quality education and training is essential in our modern economy if people are to compete effectively in the global marketplace. Through the support of the GMB learning projects, members have been able to develop their skills through access to a range of training and education opportunities and initiatives like Adult Learners Week and Digital Champions.
The development of new community partnerships supporting those without work and addressing low skills are important developments at this time. The newsletter outlines the good news story of union learning and its impact on members’ lives, many of whom have traditionally had difficulty accessing functional skills courses such as numeracy and literacy. I thank the network of GMB Union Learning Representatives, Project Managers and Unionlearn for helping us to make a positive contribution to people’s lives, their workplaces and communities. I recommend the publication to you.
Paul Kenny
Colin Kirkham - GMB National Co-ordinator Colleagues, Welcome to the first edition of the GMB learning projects magazine. In my role as Yorkshire and North Derbyshire Regional Education Officer, I have been involved in the regional projects for approximately ten years. In 2012 I was asked by the General Secretary to coordinate the projects and develop a strategic national approach. The 3 Regional projects have been joined by the GMB National Project: Developing Learning Capacity Among School Support Staff. The experience of the regional projects, COP, Skills 4 the Future, and Reach Out has been invaluable in assisting the development of the new project. As part of the coordination, and importantly from the Union’s viewpoint, a key performance monitoring
system has been developed that more closely aligns the GMB@Work strategy with the wider organising agenda. I meet with the Project Managers on a quarterly basis to share good practice. We organised the first GMB National Learning Project Event at Wortley Hall, Sheffield in March and others are planned. If you believe, like me, that the opportunity to learn has always been a Trade Union issue, then the number of GMB members benefiting from access to learning through the projects will come as no surprise to you. Moving forward, in September 2013, we await the launch of the next funding round and expression of interest document. This will allow us to consider our plans and what happens next in the GMB approach to
learning, as part of providing a d d i t io n a l benefits to G M B Members and their families. The exit strategy for all the work undertaken so far centres around workplaces having GMB Union Learning Representatives, trained, educated and active, so as to continue to deliver GMB Lifelong Learning into the future; building on the work that Health and Safety reps do with regard to safety issues, and Shop Stewards do with regard to negotiations and representational issues. The deal will create a comprehensive package of support for GMB members.
are not members of the GMB to become
Colleagues, I’m Geoff Burrow, Project Manager of the Community Organising Project (COP) in Yorkshire and North Derbyshire Region. The current project commenced on the 16th April 2012 and employs five Project Workers. The project has recently received confirmation of funding from UnionLearn to operate until 31st March 2014. Its aims and objectives are to deliver, coordinate and organise lifelong learning opportunities to members of the GMB. These opportunities can be work related and also reflect individual or personal learning. It also encourages workers who
members so they can access learning opportunities generated through the Project. The Project outcomes so far have been measured on a internal traffic light system; at the end of year 1, 31st March 2013, 90% of the project outcomes were at green status, which in turn means the delivery of courses to members and the creation of learning opportunities are being achieved. If you require any further information please don’t hesitate to contact either myself or any of the team.
GMB Huddersfield Gets Mobile with Work 4 U Emma Bew
GMB’s Community Organising Project is delighted to work together with Work 4 U, a non -profit organisation created by Brenda Elson. When her job was made redundant and she found it difficult to gain employment, Brenda invested her redundancy money into a business to support other people who find themselves unemployed and require extra support to help them gain successful employment. Every week Brenda, supported by the COP Project, travels to several different venues in and around the Huddersfield area, such as community centres, clubs and church halls. Everyone is welcome at one of Brenda’s sessions and every week there is something different.
You can write a new CV, look for employment opportunities, fill in applications online, get some interview practice and receive some great feedback on interview techniques. There is also the opportunity to get advice on benefits as well as guidance on money management. The sessions are relaxed and informal, offering lots of advice and support to people. Work 4 U, along with partners, also offers people in the community the opportunity to gain accredited training and new qualifications as well as information on volunteering opportunities in
the local area. Emma Bew, GMB COP Project Worker for Kirklees, Calderdale and Bradford works closely with Brenda and is grateful to her for her continued hard work and commitment.
Success with Work 4 U
Tim Roache Regional Secretary Yorkshire & North Derbyshire Region
I first got involved in Community Projects when I was a senior organiser in Midland & East Coast Region. Part of my role was to give information, advice and guidance (IAG) to migrant workers. What became immediately apparent was that this was a completely different angle to organising people and one that got us into the community in a more constructive and positive way than anything I had previously been involved with. When I was appointed Regional Secretary of Yorkshire & North Derbyshire Region, I was delighted that a project on a larger scale was already up and running. At that time it was based almost exclusively on organising sportspeople, particularly rugby and boxing. In the subsequent six years since 2007, I am so proud that they have developed year on year and in that time we have educated and upskilled tens of thousands of people and recruited many new members to the GMB into the bargain!
self-sustaining structure, as it is inevitable that one day union learning funding for this purpose will dry up. What gives me the greatest pleasure of all is that in the last three years or so we have recruited 200 new Union Learner Reps (ULRs), who will ensure the training and education of our members continues into the future. The learning agenda is absolutely at the heart of the GMB’s purpose to improve the quality of life and provide new opportunities for all our members and their families. It is therefore my great privilege to commend all GMB Project Workers from Southern, North West & Irish and Yorkshire regions on the outstanding work that they continue to do on behalf of our members.
“200 new ULRs recruited in the last three years”
We have also had one eye on building a
Meet the Team Contact C.O.P. on 01924 887277 Emma Bew Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees
Karen Whittingham Administrator
Kate Plonka Finance & Publicity
Thomas Henthorn
David Pike
Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster, Chesterfield
Adam Smith Leeds, York
Michelle Bateson Wakefield, 5 Towns
ACTing For the Future Reach Out within the North West and Irish Region continues to be a great Project building on the unique partnership between the Region and St. Antony’s Centre in order to extend the offer of high quality training and support to thousands of members in the Region.
Guidance (IAG) to the nationally recognised Matrix standard. Through the support of our qualified project workers many people are accessing training opportunities in order to gain new skills and qualifications and move into employment. The project’s flexible and person-centred approach has won praise from employers and trainees in the way it creates ease of access and support to people when needed. Working in partnership with St. Antony’s Centre, an accredited training provider, we offer fully funded courses in Information and Communications Technology (ITQ) and Functional Skills from entry level to level 2.
Successful ACT Learners
Working with the Regional Secretary we have developed Learning Hubs in the Region so that education and training is more accessible for employees, members, as well as providing outreach to the wider community. The joint investment programme with the GMB in the Region has established Hubs in Oldham, Liverpool, Preston and a new Centre in Runcorn alongside two community venues in Manchester and in Accrington. They are now being promoted as Adult Community and Training Hubs (ACT) These hubs complement a number of learning centres developed in partnership with employers at John Lennon Airport, Crown Paints and Tameside Council. Reach Out recently launched the first GMB Work Clubs at Oldham and the same model will soon be available at the other Hubs to p r o v i d e support to those facing redundancy or recently unemployed. They provide high quality Information Advice and
The GMB Learning Routes double-decker bus travels the Region visiting key sites and recently completed a tour supporting Manchester City Counci l and its partners in addressing the Digital Divide. The bus has a mobile classroom and is a prominent advert for the GMB learning agenda wherever it goes; last year it featured in the Preston Guild parade as it wound through the town. In all my years in the Union this has been one of the most rewarding periods. I have seen the GMB ULR network in the region encourage and support their colleagues to benefit from high quality education and training, adding real value to the GMB membership card for members and their families. Union learning works and is a powerful tool for taking people out of isolation and for raising skills. It’s a win -win for all. The ULRs and project team are changing lives and improving peoples’ life chances – that has to be good news! Kevin Flanagan Project Manager
Paul McCarthy Regional Secretary North West & Irish Region
The GMB NW and Irish Region is deeply committed to strengthening and developing the skills of our members both in and out of work. The Reach Out Project is important in establishing partnerships with employers, community groups and the Union in improving access to good quality education and training for GMB members and their families. The Region has invested in partnership with Reach Out in our network of ‘Learning Hubs’ across the Region to make access to our education and training courses easier for members and people in the community. This is especially important at a time of recession when many people are trying to retain their
employment or to secure new work because they have been made redundant and are seeking new opportunities. I welcome the development of the GMB Work Clubs and the growing number of courses we are able to offer. The Response to Redundancy Programme is bringing new hope and increasing opportunity for engaging with communities. I commend this work to you and record my thanks to the GMB ULRs in the Region, Project Workers and Officers who have made this possible.
Reach Out Responds to Redundancy Fighting redundancies where they occur is a key role for the GMB. However when it becomes inevitable that they will occur it is essential that we look to engage with members and ensure they are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed for employment beyond their current workplace. 25/01/2013 Reach Out made aware of redundancies
5/02/2013 Tutors arranged and laptops on site
12/02/2013
GMB Members Assisted 25 accessed learning opportunities
IAG sessions and training underway
A rapid response by the Reach Out team ensured that GMB members facing redundancy at Thermphos in Widnes were able to access training and advice to help secure new employment.
6 gained FLT licenses 12 gained full time employment 2 remained in employment with Thermphos
Meet the Team Contact GMB Reach Out on 0161 877 9439
@GMBReachout
Dave Flanagan Preston Hub, West Lancashire & Provider Network
Peter Callaghan Accrington Hub, East Lancashire & Publicity
Matt Bowe Manchester & Oldham Hubs Greater Manchester & Cheshire
Lisa Mullan Project Administrator
Joanne Connor Runcorn & Oldham Hubs Hub Co-ordination
Paul Callaghan Contracts Manager
The Skills for the Future project builds on over a decade of work in the region offering learning opportunities to our members. Despite the challenges of the economic downturn the project continues to thrive, with around 2500 opportunities for learning having been taken up by members in the last year.
Nicholas & Harris Bakery Learners
We are working hard to increase the number of learning agreements with employers, with 5 new agreements so far this year, including Daido and South West Water. Where learning agreements are already in place we are committed to ensuring that these are not just words on paper but that members continue to get the training support they deserve. Where possible we have negotiated learning in work time or some level of overtime
pay to cover the learners’ additional commitment. At Nicholas and Harris bakery in Salisbury the majority of the workforce have English as a second language. We have organised English classes, as well as forklift training, apprenticeships and NVQs. Out of a workforce of over 200 there is barely anyone who has not yet benefited from the learning agreement. At the other end of the scale, our learning centre at Babcock Marine in Appledore provides a wide range of courses for workforce, friends, family and the wider community, whilst young apprentices from Appledore and its sister shipyard in Plymouth have represented GMB at national
A ppre ntice events and featured in TUC publicity Apprentice rights.
promoting
In the NHS we are working to enforce the access to training outlined as part of the Agenda for Change agreement and in particular are working with contracted out staff in companies such as SERCO to ensure they get their fair share. Work with ASDA distribution is growing, with particular success in Kent. Our community learning centre in Southampton is working p r im a r i l y with members of the local Polish community to help improve their English. This provides just a flavour of the work of the project across the region. Please do contact us if you would like us to help bring these opportunities to your workplace.
Success with ESOL Learners
Paul Maloney Regional Secretary Southern Region
GMB Southern Region workplaces and representatives have really benefited from our union learning fund project as have family, friends and communities. It has never been so important as now to have learning projects in the workplace as funding for education and training has become more difficult in recent years
Phil Caiels, Project Manager
10 Years in at Hollingdean GMB’s award winning Hollingdean Learning Centre has just celebrated its 10 th anniversary. Run in partnership with Brighton and Hove City Council, the centre is situated in a busy refuse depot and has supported hundreds of members in improving their skills. The centre offers training and qualifications in a range of subjects, with a particular emphasis on English and Maths. Members have described the experience offered by the centre as “life changing”, with many able to read to their children for the first time or gaining the confidence to meet new challenges. Rick Smith has his own experience of the difference union learning can make. After joining GMB in 2008 a GMB Union Learner Rep recognised Rick’s dyslexia. Having discussed his options Rick was enrolled on a literacy course and was successful in gaining a level 2 qualification (equivalent to GCSE English).
Recognition for Brighton & Hove Learning Centre
Rick himself became a ULR in 2011. Recently the centre hosted a visit from new TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady. Frances met learners, GMB reps and management and said,
“It’s not just about new skills and qualifications, it’s about confidence and that has to be good for any decent employer. I’m very proud of union learning.” The centre continues to go from strength to strength, supported by the Skills for the Future Team.
Meet the Team Contact Skills for the Future on 020 8397 8881 Liliya Brabbs Kent & South East England
Jude Lazar Cornwall & Devon
Peter Synowiec Wiltshire, Dorset & Hampshire
Lynn Ferguson Project Strategy Manager
Paul Simmonds Wiltshire, Hampshire, Surrey & Berkshire
David Whittaker Project Administrator
Declan Macintyre East Sussex & West Kent
Agnieszka Zamonski Wiltshire & Somerset
Magda Sek Southampton Learning Centre
Pete Raven West Sussex & Berkshire
Mick Molloy Surrey
Pressure on school support staff from head teachers to give medical care to pupils with additional and often complex health needs is a new industrial issue. Many children occasionally need medical help at school, while an increasing number have long-term ailments like asthma, diabetes or more complex conditions such as cystic fibrosis, and may have associated special educational needs. Medical care is often delegated to school support staff such as teaching assistants, higher level teaching assistants and lunch time supervisors, among others. More and more school support staff are being asked to take on responsibilities in this area, even though they often lack the necessary training and do not receive any additional remuneration. According to a report by the GMB Union, more than 1 million school children are being put at risk every day because school support staff are being asked to perform medical procedures with little or no training. Brian Strutton, the GMB National Secretary for Public Services said: “Demand for medical provision in ma inst rea m sch ools is increasing substantially. A GMB report found that 43% of those questioned said they feel pressured to take on this responsibility. Of those that do, the survey found that 57% said that they had not
received the necessary training to allow them to carry out any duties, which included overseeing asthma pumps and inhalers, administering behavioural drugs, diabetes or adrenaline injections for anaphylactic shock and responsibility for catheters and tracheotomy care. The GMB policy and advice to members is, of course, to avoid getting involved unless the appropriate training and remuneration are forthcoming.
The GMB has been proactive and set up The School Support Staff National Project Team who will use the above issue to help kick start a broader dialogue in schools about support staff development and training and to encourage these staff to take up an active role in workplace learning. Leading this innovative Project is Piotr Plonka (Project Manager) along with
Project workers in the Yorkshire and Southern regions. The Project is offering a free Level 2 accredited course in ‘Understanding the Safe Handling of Medicines’. This course offers a distance learning NCFE level 2 certificate which can be completed at times and locations suited to the learner. This certificate will be relevant for Teaching Assistants and School Support Staff as part of a personal and professional development work plan for those who wish to add a new qualification or to extend their knowledge. Working through this programme, learners will develop an understanding of their responsibilities in the workplace and procedures they should follow if and when handling medicines. This is an introduction to the safe handling of medicines and it does not teach how to administer medicines. This offer does not remove the employer’s duty of care to provide all school support staff with adequate training for medical needs that children may have. Piotr Plonka Project Manager
The View From The Front
Colin Walters Former Teaching Assistant
Many Teaching Assistants are in the unenviable position of having to administer medicines as part of their day to day duties. I should know, I was a Teaching Assistant in a school in South London. I have at times felt pressured to administer medication to students. Some have brought in single tablets that parents have given them to hand in to the school secretary, because they are returning to school after a bout of flu or they may be asthmatic and need an inhalation during P.E. I was not trained, neither were my colleagues and there was not a nurse on site, so the responsibility falls usually on us Teaching Assistants to ‘lend a hand‘ and give out the medicine. This was done on occasion without following even basic procedures such as knowing what medication we were giving to the student, recording the time it was given or understanding any side effects of the medication or outcome of what we had done.
I sometimes wondered where on my CV it said ‘medical knowledge, over and above basic first Aid’, a “Paramedic” or “prepared to do anything”. This all sounds harsh but in many schools up and down the country this is happening day in, day out and the worst thing about it is that a lot of schools are not taking responsibility if things go wrong. The Safe Handling of Medicines Course provided by the GMB would be a first step in giving support to members in this
This practice not only puts the children’s safety at risk, it is also putting Teaching Assistants/Support Staff at risk as well.
Meet the Team Contact the Developing Learning Capacity Among School Support Staff Team on 0845 337 7777
Piotr Plonka Project Manager
Colin Walters Project Worker London & Southern
Julie Whitaker Project Worker Yorkshire & North Derbyshire
Moving Forward Together GMB ULF projects bring life changing learning opportunities to many thousands of people, both in the workplace and in communities. The focus of unionlearn/GMB work together in the last year has been to provide better coordination to GMB projects to spread innovation and good practice. In this spirit, we held a working conference at Wortley Hall in South Yorkshire before Easter, attended by all GMB ULF project staff. This provided an excellent environment for teams to get to know one another, share their mutual passion for unions and learning and our expertise. Current ULF projects are in GMB Yorkshire and North Derbyshire, North West and
Contacts
Irish and Southern Regions. S i n c e O c t o b e r there has also been a nationally co -ordinated project working with school support staff. We had presentations from all four project managers, input from Tim Roache the GMB Yorkshire and North Derbyshire Regional Secretary and Martin Smith the GMB National Organising Officer. This was followed by practical activities where projects swapped experiences and shared obstacles but also their proudest achievements. Every single person fully participated, found out lots and forged bonds to take forward the GMB’s ULF work and build on strong foundations.
Judith Swift National Development Manager Unionlearn
YOUR REGION If your region does not have a ULF Project we may be able to help Would you like to recruit Union Learning Representatives to help members in your area? Speak to your Regional Secretary or contact Colin Kirkham, National ULF Project Coordinator at colin.kirkham@gmb.org.uk or telephone 0845 337 7777 Alternatively contact one of the Project Managers for advice
Community Organising Project Project Manager Geoff Burrow geoff.burrows@gmb.org.uk 01924 887277 www.gmbcop.co.uk
Reach Out Project
Project Manager Kevin Flanagan kevin@gmbreachout.org.uk 0161 877 9439 www.gmbreachout.org.uk Twitter @GMBReachout
Skills for the Future Project Manager Phil Caiels phil.caiels@gmb.org.uk 07710 618903 www.gmb-southern.org.uk
Developing Learning Capacity Among School Support Staff Project Manager Piotr Plonka piotr.plonka@gmb.org.uk 0845 337 7777