Wokingham Borough Connect
The New Year brings lots of opportunities to learn something new! From brushing up on maths skills, to improving your confidence to seek work, there is lots on offer. There are a mix of online courses and in person classes - at a range of venues across the borough.
Courses starting in January are listed below - details about all courses can be found on our enrolment website.
Excel for Work
- 8 January to 5 February, Mondays 10am to 12pm, Wokingham Library
- £30 - free to those on jobseeking benefits or low incomes
- Apply here
Learn to use formulas and functions to analyse data. Learn techniques for sorting and filtering data as well as creating charts to present data. This course builds on the essential skills that you will need for using Excel in the workplace. Ideal for those who have some prior knowledge or experience using Excel – or as a follow on from our Excel for beginners course.
Introduction to Social Media
- 8 January to 15 January, Mondays 1pm to 3pm, Wokingham Library
- £15 - free to those on jobseeking benefits or low incomes
- Apply here
Develop your digital skills by exploring Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X (Twitter), and Pinterest social media platforms to see how they could be used for connecting or for work purposes. Learn how to check your security settings, protect your identity and stay safe online.
Introduction to being a Teaching Assistant and Working in Schools
- 11 January to 8 February, Thursdays 12.30pm to 2.30pm, Maiden Place, Earley
- £40 - free to those on jobseeking benefits or low incomes
- Apply here
Find out more about different roles available in schools and gain an understanding of how to apply for roles. Explore your own strengths and weaknesses in your transferable skills and build your confidence to apply for roles in schools.
Helping your Child with Maths
- 16 January, Tuesday 7.30pm to 8.30pm, online via Zoom
- Free course
- Apply Here
Refresh your own maths skills while gaining confidence in how to support your children with their own maths learning. Starting with an initial tutor led session, you’ll then have access to an online learning platform which covers school years 3 to 7 - you can choose which content is appropriate for yourself. There is also a follow up session on 30 January, Tuesday 7:30pm to 8:30pm, online via Zoom.
Introduction to iPads - Digital Skills for Beginners
- 17 January to 7 February, Wednesdays 10am to 12 noon, Trinity Church, Earley
- £30 - free to those on jobseeking benefits or low incomes
- Apply here
Get started with your iPad and gain confidence using it and the internet. The course covers settings, connecting securely to a WIFI network, swipe actions and the virtual keypad, using the App Store and internet browser. Learners do not need to bring their own device.
Love Food, Hate Waste
- 17 January to 7 February, Wednesdays 10am to 12 noon, Residents Resource Centre, Winnersh
- Free course
- Apply Here
Do you want to learn how to make the most out of the food you buy and cook? This course will explore practical tips to get more from your food. It will cover ways to reduce waste and save money, healthy eating, and meal preparation and a chance to refresh and gain confidence in maths skills to help with these areas.
Building your Confidence to Get into Work or Volunteering
- 17 January to 7 February, Wednesdays 10.30am to 12pm, online via Zoom
- Free course
- Apply here
Getting into work or volunteering after a break for any reason, or for the first time in a new country, can be daunting. Looking at job searching techniques, importance of CVs, application forms and interview preparation. This course will help you to identify all the strengths and qualities you have that employers want and look at ways to expand your experience through volunteering or further learning.
Excel at Budgeting
- 18 January, Thursday 10.00am to 12.00pm, Wokingham Library
- Free course
- Apply Here
Have you thought about using Excel for your own personal budgeting purposes? Learn how to manage what you spend against your income or budget using basic formatting and maths functions in Excel. This is aimed at learners who have a basic experience of Excel.
Helping you with your Maths
- 18 January, Thursday 7pm to 8pm, online via Zoom
- Free course
- Apply Here
Refresh the basic maths skills which are used in everyday life and work including fractions, percentages, ratios, probability, and lots more. The course will help you assess your current skill level and identify areas in which you can improve your maths skills further. After an initial tutor led interactive session, you’ll have access to an online course which you can work through at your own pace and focus on areas you’d like to improve. The follow up session will be on 1 February, 7pm to 8pm, online via Zoom.
Money Management
- 19 January, Friday, 9:30am to 11:30am, Rainbow Park Community Centre
- Free course
- Apply here
Would you like to improve your household budgeting? This course will support learners with understanding household spending and introduce the basics of how to make and manage a household budget. It will look at the value of planning in advance, consider typical spending habits as well as maths tools to help assess promotions and deals to calculate whether they are a true saving for you.
IT Skills for Work
- 22 January to 4 March, Mondays 1pm to 3pm, Wokingham Library
- £30 - free to those on jobseeking benefits or low incomes
- Apply here
Refresh or learn new IT skills, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint to help you at work or on your job seeking journey. Learners will practice file management and by the end of the course will be able to use simple documents, email attachments and feel more confident with IT skills that you might need for work.
Maths in the workplace
- 22 January, Monday 7pm to 8pm, online via Zoom
- Free course
- Apply Here
New year, new job? Refresh your basic work maths skills with our new online courses. Various available covering maths skills for specific industries including construction, health and social care, hair and beauty, business and administration, sport, and hospitality and catering.
After an initial tutor led interactive session, you’ll have access to an online course which you can work through at your own pace and focus on areas you’d like to improve. The follow up session will be on Monday 5 February 7pm to 8pm, online via Zoom.
Digital Skills for beginners
- 25 January to 22 February, Thursdays 2pm to 4pm, Wokingham Library
- Free Course
- Apply here
Learn how to use a laptop, including accessing the internet and using email. Build confidence in your digital skills in a supportive environment. Suitable for complete beginners. There are also optional drop in sessions available as a follow on from this course for ongoing digital skills learning.
Learn with Lego
- 25 January, Thursday 12.30pm to 2.30pm, Ambleside Childrens Centre, Woodley
- Free course
- Apply here
Learn how to use Lego with your children for more than building! Explore basic maths and gain confidence in using bricks to help your child count and measure and explore mathematical problems of symmetry and patterns. This course is aimed at parents / carers of pre-schoolers and infant school aged children.
Introduction to working in the NHS or Care
- 31 January to 13 March, Wednesdays 10am to 12pm, Wokingham Library
- £40 - free to those on job seeking benefits or a low income
- Apply here
Interested in working in the NHS or in the care sector? This course will look at different roles available and explore ways of gaining transferable skills or experience to start working in these sectors.
Eligibility and costs
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To be eligible for Adult Education courses, you need to:
Live or work within the Wokingham Borough, or have a child attending a Wokingham school,
- AND be over 19 years old (as of 31st August 2023)
- AND be a UK or Irish citizen or a non-UK national with permission to live in the UK and have ordinarily been resident in the UK for at least 3 years
All Ukrainian adults and their family members supported through the Ukraine Family Scheme and Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme are immediately eligible for courses and are exempt from the 3-year residency requirement.
Learners with a BN(O) visa are eligible to apply for Community Learning courses immediately.
There are a number of other exemptions including those for some asylum seekers or refugees. Please email us or call 0118 974 3797 if you wish to discuss any exemptions further.
Some courses are free and those courses that have a cost are free for anyone who is in receipt of Universal Credit (work related), Employment Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance, or are on low income (under £20,000). Please contact us with any queries around costs.
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