COVID-19 has caused many people to lose jobs or have time at home and Wokingham Borough Council is offering them the opportunity to learn something new or build their skillsets in order to get ready for opportunities which come up in the future.
Free online training courses to help people into employment are being rolled by the council. Our adult education team has transferred all its teaching online, and it’s interactive too, with tutors to guide students and answer questions.
The council has worked alongside its sub-contractors, Activate Learning, Connecting Communities in Berkshire and CAP Money Courses, to allow learners to come together online, face to face with tutors and other learners from the borough.
The council’s adult education team and its partners are gradually increasing the offer to cover the following courses in the weeks ahead:
· English and maths
· English as a second language
· Mental health and wellbeing
· Creative writing
· IT skills
· Debt management
· Online job searching and how to succeed in a virtual interview
· Coding for beginners
To see details of the latest courses visit the Adult Education course listing website. New courses will be added regularly as our online offer develops, so it’s worth checking regularly for courses that may be of interest.
“Some of our residents may currently be in a situation where they may find themselves with more time on their hands and a chance to learn new skills and complete training to make them more employable,” said Cllr UllaKarin Clark, executive member for children’s services, including adult education.
“There’s a broad range of topics covered by our adult education team and I would urge residents to take a look and make the most of learning from our fantastic tutors. Even if you’re new to online learning, they will make it accessible and interactive for those who sign up.”
On top of this, both Bracknell & Wokingham College and Reading College and Connecting Communities in Berkshire even more online taster courses in the coming weeks. They will be adding courses all the time, so it’s a good idea to keep checking.
We would also like to hear from residents and employees about other courses they would like us to offer and the type of support they would like to enable them to take part in remote learning.
Eligibility criteria do apply, including:
· Must be 19 years old (as of 31 August 2019) or older.
· Been a citizen of a country within the EEA and have ordinarily been resident in the European Economic Area for at least three years.
· Other criteria do apply, contact the team for more information.
Anyone interested can call Linda Stacey on 0788 524 2692 or Jon White on 0776 738 0722 from our adult education team during working hours (9am-5pm, Monday to Friday) for a chat or email us on adulteducation@wokingham.gov.uk
