GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

thing that there is only so much we can change, but there is a fabulous

children’s centre at the college that meant she could leave the children at the

children’s centre and just concentrate on her studies. She achieved the stage 1

course with us, the reps stage 1. One of the activities we do is think about

when you go back to your branch, what could you get involved in, what could

you do? At the time she was working for local government in the finance

department, so she volunteered to be the treasurer. That was gratefully

accepted by the branch.

Speaking and Presenting Yourself with Confidence, which is not a trade union

course, it is one of our general courses, but again it is fabulous for people

doing stuff like this, going through to managers, presenting yourself with your

members, that confidence and how to receive that. She has moved on to the

negotiation skills and is now doing the level 3 teaching course with us at

Northern, because she wants to get back into the classroom, she wants to help

her members and sometimes that is informal work that you might be doing in

lunch breaks, but it is also that saying, “Look, I have done this, why don’t you

as well?” and she has encouraged a lot of married women with childcare

responsibilities to come to Northern and really get involved.

A brilliant children’s centre. It is Ofsted regulated. It is not a creche. I am

always told off by the manager. A creche is where, “Here’s a sandpit, we’ll pop

you in it”, a children’s centre does all the learning, does all the lessons, it is all

planned and prepared. I do not know if you can see one of my favourite

pictures just on the right hand side. There is a small doll in a wheelchair and I

think that is absolutely fabulous, the idea that as a child you come in and see

that is just a normal thing. That is again part of the education that the children

receive as well as the parents.

I will not go through all this , but what the GFTU students get is a stage 1 and

stage 2 negotiations skills and, again, an awful lot of that is based on research

skills, those role plays, grievance and disciplinaries, how you work together.

You are not on your own. There is a steward. There are lots of people out

there that can help you. So when they go back to their workplace they are

independent learners then, they can do things on their own, they do not have to

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