The RCN & Unionlearn

Projects in England

"We will increase workers’ life chances and strengthen

their voice at the workplace through high quality union learning"

Unionlearn aims to help unions to become learning organisations, with programmes for union reps and regional officers and strategic support for national officers.

It will also help unions to broker learning opportunities for their members, running phone and online advice services, securing the best courses to meet learners' needs and kitemarking union academy provision to a quality standard.

Finally, unionlearn will research union priorities on learning and skills, identify and share good practice, promote learning agreements, support union members on learning and skills bodies, and help shape sector skills agreements.

The Union Learning Fund

Set up in 1998 Statutory recognition of ULRs in 2002 Disbursed £81.5m More than 450 Union Learning Fund projects have been run,

covering over 3,000 workplaces. More than 67,000 learners access courses each year through

the projects There is an English, Scottish and Welsh Union Learning Fund Projects in England are both national and regional

National ULF Projects in England

The RCN, through its relationship with unionlearn, has delivered local and nationally implemented projects including:

Production of learning resources (1999-2001) National conference to support networking of ULRs

(2001-2002) Local programme to enhance practice development

skills of ULRs (2002-2004) Local training programme to support skills

development of overseas nurses (2004)

ULF Round 10 – 2007/9

A large scale bid was put together to amalgamate the learning from previous projects and develop, implement and evaluate a developmental pathway for RCN learning representatives.

Project team:• Project lead – Linda McBride

linda.mcbride@rcn.org.uk

• Project coordinator – Emily Spencer-Rigby emily.spencer-rigby@rcn.org.uk

• Project administrator – Peter Fairbank peter.fairbank@rcn.org.uk

StaffMember

Learning & Development InstituteRepresenting & Influencing Team

Future Activist Programme

Learning and Development Institute Management Team

UK Committee for Activists Learning and Development

(UKCALD)

Membership, Representation and Diversity Committee

(MRDC)

RCN Council RCN Executive Team (ET)

RCN Senior Management Team

England Management Team

ULF Project Team

UK Representatives Committees (ULR, Saftey &

Stewards)

Reports to

Works with

Governance Structure for the RCN unionlearn project 15/2009

ULF Project Steering Committee

Project 18/2007

Delayed start and commenced in earnest in Jan 2008

Main focus was to develop a learning and development pathway for learning reps.

Also had to – Promote Skills for Life– Create a strong ULR network– Promote the role of the ULR– Gather evidence to support the role of ULRs and

union learning

Developing, Implementing and Evaluating a Developmental Pathway for RCN Learning Representatives Commenced April 2007

Successes

L&D pathway for LRs System for recording the

l&d of ULRs A development

programme for ULRs in facilitation skills

Resources

Events– Congress– LR Conference– Resources for LRs– Joint Rep Conference

On line LR community framed around case studies to enable sharing of experience and networking

Valuing reps campaign Gathering evidence to

demonstrate the value of the LR

Time off for LR duties Gathering evidence of

LR activity Taking time to

communicate

Vocational Qualifications Skills for Life

Challenges

New Project - 15/2009

To contribute to the two overarching targets of the unionlearn strategic plan (2008-2011) regarding training and accrediting ULRs and supporting learners.

To support the mission, purpose, values and targets of unionlearn and the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills (DIUS)

Sustaining learning and Skills in the workplace; supporting ULRs in developing learners

New Project - 15/2009

New Project - 15/2009

To support and develop our 630 existing RCN ULRs to support learners through:

– Identifying their learning needs– Developing learning skills– Promoting learner progression– Engaging employers to support the learning and

skills agenda To support and enhance existing recognition/

partnership / facilities agreements with employers both in the NHS and independent sector

New Project - 15/2009

To maximise the impact of the LR in relation to sustaining the union learning agenda within the workplace.

To integrate unionlearn intelligence, expertise and resources within the project.

To create resources such as case studies and digital stories to promote the union learning agenda to LRs, members and employers

Outcomes

LR initial training – Learning reps undertaking Module 1 (foundation)

LR follow on training– Learning reps undertaking Module 2, Module 3, LR

Workshops and Masterclasses Skills for Life

– Number of learners taking Numeracy / Literacy courses ICT courses

– Number of learners taking IT courses (not ITQ) Vocational Qualifications Level 2

– Number of learners on first full level 2 courses– Number of learners achieving a first full level 2

qualification Vocational Qualifications Level 3

– Number of learners on first full level 3 courses– Number of learners achieving a first full level 3

qualification

Outcomes

Continuing Professional Development– Number of learners on CPD (provided by or accessed

through union intervention)– Level 3 and above– Other

Number of learners on FE Programmes– Short term (9 hours to 1 term)– Long term (1 term or more)

Number of learners on HE programmes Information, Advice and Guidance

– Given by learning reps to learners (1-2-1, workshops, events)

Networking Events– Dissemination / networking events to promote the role of

the RCN learning rep, union learning and unionlearn

Outcomes

LR initial training 120

LR follow on training 630

Skills for Life 100

ICT 100

Level 2 50

Level 3 50

CPD 800

FE 40

HE 400

IAG 9000

Networking Events 15

Quarterly Submission

Apr – Jun 09 (due 31/07/09)

Jul – Sep 09 (due 31/10/09)

Oct – Dec 09 (due 31/01/10)

Jan – Mar 10 (due 30/04/10)

Apr – Jun 10 (due 31/07/10)

Jul – Sep 10 (due 31/10/10)

Oct – Dec 10 (due 31/01/11)

Jan – Mar 10 (due 30/04/11)

Project Plan - Workstreams

We have divided the project into 6 workstreams: A) Governance B) Workshops and Masterclasses C) Numeracy Initiative D) Gathering Evidence E) Networking Events F) Communications Plan

Project Plan - Workstreams

A) Governance– Adhere to project management best practice guidelines

and maintain a good audit trail of project activity. This includes:

– Risk register– Equality and diversity register– Financial reporting & invoicing– Quarterly reporting through governance structures

– Culminates in an external audit

B) Workshops and Masterclasses– 4 regionally delivered workshops and masterclasses – Learning Needs, Learning Skills, Learner progression and

employer engagement– Deliver from Sep 09 to Jan 11

Project Plan - Workstreams

C) Numeracy Initiative– Work with an employer to deliver a numeracy initiative

based around maths for drugs calculations– April to Sep, work with employer to develop workshop– Oct, deliver workshop– Nov to Jan, evaluate– Jan to Dec, role out to other organisations?

D) Gathering Evidence– Supporting quarterly outcome reports by encouraging LRs

to share details of their activity. Currently use LR community, LR Contact Forms and email questionnaires

– Using the evidence to create resources and promotional materials to promote the role of the LR, unionlearning and the learning agenda

Project Plan - Workstreams

E) Networking Events– Develop a series of networking events to promote the

work of the RCN LR, unionlearning and the learning agenda

– Workplan to be formulated

F) Communications plan– Support all workstreams through a robust and active

comms plan including– LR online community– RCN publications– Local networks– Steering Committee and LR Committee– Regional Boards

How to get involved

Sign up for one of the regionally delivered workshops- Learning Needs- Learning Skills- Learner Progression- Employer Engagement

To be delivered from September 2009 Visit the learning rep on-line community and share your

experience with your colleagues Tell us about your activity as a learning rep either through the

on-line community or by sending us contact forms Recruit other learning reps and promote your role

For further information about any of the above, email peter.fairbank@rcn.org.uk