Skills for Life
We have long been supporters of lifelong learning. Working in partnership with the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) we have developed training centres across our bus operating company network. We now have over 40 learning centres supported by around 100 trade union learner representatives.
These provide access to learning for around 60% of our UK Bus employees. As the learning centres are located at the workplace they provide a flexible solution for shift workers who might otherwise find it hard to attend regular classes.
The learning centres have brought both vocational and non-vocational training to hundreds of staff across the UK Bus division. This year we have developed this framework to support Skills for Life, a campaign aimed at improving literacy and numeracy in the workplace.
The recent Leitch Review commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer highlighted the need to develop basic skills amongst the working population. In the UK five million people have no qualifications at all, one in six adults has the literacy skills expected of an 11-year-old and half of all adults have a similar level of numeracy skills. The findings of this review have clearly demonstrated the need for our continued commitment in this area.
As part of promoting the Skills for Life agenda to our employees we have run a national short story competition in partnership with the TGWU, Learning and Skills Council and Business in the Community. Over 200 UK Bus employees entered the competition the results of which will be announced in August 2007. Eight regional winners will be selected within First and their stories will be published.
We are also supporting the Department of Education and Skills Quick Reads campaign and have recently created a Gremlins' bus in Essex using images from the televised 'Gremlin' campaign. We hope that this will raise awareness and encourage people to get the extra qualifications they have always wanted.
Orpington Learning Centre Wins Top Award
In partnership with Orpington College and the Transport and General Workers Union we won the regional National Training Award in recognition of the excellent workplace learning facilities at our Orpington depot. The judges specifically praised a short stories project aimed at encouraging employees to write. None of the contributors had ever written a story before and the resulting entries have now been published in a book called First Attempts.
Following the success of this initiative, Orpington learning centre is now running a World Book Day competition for which employees are invited to write a review on the recent Quick Read publications.
We will continue to push forward on our Skills for Life programme over the coming year. This is supported by a groundbreaking National Learning Agreement with the TGWU, setting out how we will work in partnership to promote lifelong learning and tackle the Skills for Life agenda. We have also recruited a full time Skills for Life Manager who will be developing and implementing our strategy over the coming year.
First UK Bus Learner of the Year
Bus driver Carl Newman won the 2006 First UK Bus learner of the year award. Through conversations with the maths tutor in the Learning Centre, it was discovered that he suffers from dyscalculia - a kind of numerical dyslexia. A strategy was worked out to teach him maths and Carl also joined the North Kent Dyslexia Group. Having got the taste for learning, he has gone from strength to strength. "It is addictive," he says. "You want the next exam! I'm really keen to fill in the gaps in my education."