Hi Everyone,

Welcome to this October edition of the

Climbing Frame Newsletter.

In this issue we keep you up to date with

developments with the Climbing Frame

website, provide information on the

revised matrix Standard and the

Climbing Frame discussion forums.

We give an update on the Health Sector

Learning Themes project, take a closer

look at the ‘Higher Learning’ Learning

Theme and we outline some of the

Climbing Frame Support Resources.

If you haven’t already, make sure you

complete the unionlearn 2011 ULR

Survey, information about this is on this

on page 3.

We hope you enjoy the rest of 2011 and

will see you in 2012!

Best wishes

The Climbing Frame Team

Issue 8

Helping ULRs and learners climb higher

What’s New? Over the past few

months we have made a

number of

improvements to the

Climbing Frame website,

helping to make it even

easier to use. These

include some changes

with regards to

navigation, quick links

and information

included on the Learner

Forms.

We have added some

new links to the ‘Other

Links’ area and have

also added a range of

resources to the

unionlearn Learning

Themes, including some

interesting case studies

and videos.

We have been out and

about providing training

on the Climbing Frame

at a number of locations

for a variety of unions

and workplaces.

If you are interested in

attending a training

session, or having one in

your workplace, please

let us know. We are also

always keen to get your

feedback and

suggestions for new

features for the website,

if you have any ideas

please email:

climbingframe@tuc.org.uk

Coming Soon: A

Climbing Frame Glossary

October 2011

Climbing Frame Newsletter

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Content Page

The revised matrix

Standard

2

Climbing Frame

Discussion Forums

2

Health Sector Learning

Theme Pilots

2

The unionlearn 2011

ULR Survey

3

Spotlight on a Learning

Theme: Higher Learning

3

Climbing Frame Support

Resources

3

Frequently Asked

Questions

4

In the next edition… 4

Contact Us 4

Climbing Frame training sessions,

above a CWU session in Exeter

and below a health sector

session in Nottingham.

The matrix Standard is a

quality standard for

organisations to assess

and measure their

advice and support

services, which

ultimately supports

individuals in their

choice of careers.

Following extensive

consultation and trialling

a new version of the

matrix Standard is now

available. The Standard

now has 4 elements

instead of the previous

8, and requires

organisations to

consider more explicitly

the client outcomes that

their service intends to

achieve, and ensure the

resources and services

delivered enables the

achievement of those

outcomes.

More information about

the matrix Standard can

be found in the Climbing

Frame Learning Themes

or visit:

www.matrixstandard.com

Also the Climbing Frame

Team and emqc (the

organisation responsible

for the matrix Standard)

are currently working on

a document mapping

how the Climbing Frame

and the matrix Standard

link together, look out

for this in 2012.

PAGE 2

The revised matrix Standard

Log in today!: www.climbingframe.unionlearn.org.uk

Health Sector Learning Theme Pilots As mentioned in

previous editions of this

newsletter, we have

been working on some

Learning Themes written

specifically for ULRs in

the health sector. This

is a joint project with the

health unions, Skills for

Health and unionlearn.

The first version of these

Learning Themes was

completed in August.

Five Learning Themes

were initially created

which for example

include information on

learning and

development in the

health sector, getting

the most out of your

NHS appraisal, health

sector apprenticeships

and developing your

career in the health

sector.

In September we piloted

these new Learning

Themes at a range of

locations in order to get

initial feedback and

suggestions from ULRs.

The Learning Themes

went down very well and

received lots of positive

feedback from ULRs,

unions and others in the

sector.

ULRs liked having

specific sector

information in one place

along with being able to

access the generic

unionlearn Learning

Themes. Many

commented on the wide

range of information and

resources included, and

felt the information and

inspirational case

studies could really help

them in their ULR role.

A number of new ideas

were suggested and

some changes and

improvements are

currently being made.

Thank you to everyone

that took part in the

initial pilots.

In the next edition of this

newsletter (which will be

available in January) we

will update you on this

exciting project.

The Climbing Frame

discussion forum is

available for all users of

the Climbing Frame as a

place to have your say.

There is an area for

discussions about ‘Using

the Climbing Frame’,

‘Supporting Learners’,

‘Learners’ and ‘General

Discussions’. There is

also a section for each

unionlearn region and

devolved nation, so you

can post questions for

ULRs based in your area.

You can create a new

post, reply to existing

posts or simply just view

the discussions already

listed.

The Forums are located

in the top left hand

corner of the website.

So go on, have your say

today.

Climbing Frame Discussion Forums

ISSUE 8 PAGE 3

The unionlearn 2011 ULR Survey ministers understand the

benefits you bring to the

workplace, and the

challenges you face in

carrying out your role.

The survey also helps us

to identify and provide

the support that you

need and argue the case

for more funding to help

you.

If you haven’t received

your copy of the survey

by the 11th of November

2011 please contact Ann

Joss at: ajoss@tuc.org.uk

or phone:

020 7079 6945.

We thought it would be

helpful to highlight some

of the key support

resources available from

the Climbing Frame:

The Getting Started

Guide is a fantastic

resource to use if you are

new to the Climbing

Frame or if you simply

need to refresh your

memory about an aspect

of the site. It provides a

useful introduction to the

Climbing Frame along

with step by step

instructions for carrying

out activities using the

website.

The Using the Climbing

Frame Learning Theme is

a key resource for any

Climbing Frame user. It

includes information

about all aspects of the

Climbing Frame site and

because it is a Learning

Theme is fully

searchable. Therefore if

you forget how to do

something with the

Climbing Frame, how to

create a new learner

record for example, you

can search for this using

the ‘Search’ function.

The Help pages which

are located in the top left

hand corner of the

website, provide a helpful

place to go to find an

answer to a Frequently

Asked Question about

the Climbing Frame.

The Climbing Frame

Publications area,

located in the ‘Other

Links’ section includes a

range of useful leaflets,

flyers and posters about

the Climbing Frame

which can help support

you whilst using the

website.

The Climbing Frame

Videos located on the

main home page include

The biennial survey of

ULRs is being mailed out

during the first week of

November to all ULRs

that unionlearn have an

address for.

The information from

these surveys is used to

ensure that Government

Climbing Frame Support Resources some demonstration

videos which outline the

main areas of the

website.

If you have a quick

question, need some

advice, or just want to

find out what other ULRs

think about something

related to the Climbing

Frame, make use of the

discussion Forum, which

is located in the top left

hand corner of the

website.

The Contextual Help

questions marks (‘?’)

which can be found on

the registration and

learner forms gives you

information as to how to

complete a particular

question or field. You

can also find some

useful links in the

contextual help areas to

help make completing

the information easier,

for example a link to a

postcode finder for the

‘Employer Postcode’

field.

Don’t forget if you get

stuck with any aspect of

the Climbing Frame you

can always Contact Us,

there is a link for this on

the main home page and

also within the ‘Other

Links’ area. You can get

in touch with us by email,

phone, fax or by post.

Please let us know if

there is anything we can

help you with and the

Climbing Frame team will

get back to you as soon

as possible.

Coming soon: A Climbing

Frame e-learning

resource. Find out more

about this in future

editions of this

newsletter.

Spotlight on a Learning Theme: Higher Learning The ‘Higher Learning’

Learning Theme has

been written to help

members understand

what higher learning

means, and how it could

work for them.

It includes helpful

information about the

types of courses on offer,

qualification levels, entry

requirements and help

with choosing a course.

Useful booklets found in

this Learning Theme

include the ‘Progression

pathways for all trade

union reps’ and ‘Helping

learners into higher

learning’.

Information is also

included about financing

higher level studies,

support for employers,

higher learning advice

and some study support

websites.

If you would like more information about the Climbing Frame please visit:

www.climbingframe.unionlearn.org.uk

or email

climbingframe@tuc.org.uk

We welcome your emails and feedback

Unionlearn

Congress House

Great Russell Street

London WC1B 3LS

Contact Us We take a look at what we achieved in 2011

Receive an update on the health sector Learning Themes

project

We launch the 2012 Climbing Frame Survey

Take a closer look at the TU Education Learning Theme

Plus lots more…

The next Climbing Frame Newsletter will be available in

January 2012

In the next edition...

Phone: 020 7079 6920

Fax: 020 7079 6921

E-mail: unionlearn@tuc.org.uk

Website: www.unionlearn.org.uk

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have received this newsletter via email and no longer wish to receive it, please email: climbingframe@tuc.org.uk

What types of learner

information can I store

on the Climbing Frame?

You are able to store a

range of learner

information on the

Climbing Frame. Within

the Learner Management

section and in the

‘Learner Details’ area

you are able to store

‘Personal’ details (date

of birth, gender, etc.),

‘Workplace’ details

(company name,

workplace address etc.)

and ‘Learning’ details

(previous learning, how

you like to learn etc.).

Most of the fields on the

Climbing Frame are not

compulsory as we

recognise time can be

something that many

ULRs don’t have enough

of, but the more

information you are able

to store about the

learners that you are

working with the more

you will get out from the

reporting function on the

Climbing Frame.

What exactly do you

mean by a ‘Goal’?

A goal in terms of the

Climbing Frame is

basically any desired

result or objective which

you are looking to work

towards. A goal can be

pretty much whatever

you want it to be, for

example ‘To become a

teacher’, ‘To learn

Spanish’ or ‘To improve

my maths skills’.

The Climbing Frame

recognises that people

have work, career and

personal goals which can

all be recorded on the

website.

You can help learners to

create goals and help

them set manageable

‘actions/activities’ in

order to help them

achieve the goal/s.

If you haven’t already signed up to the Climbing Frame register today! Step 1: Go to www.climbingframe.unionlearn.org.uk

Step 2: Click ‘Sign up now’

Step 3: Complete the registration form