Usdaw members at DHL/Argos in Castleford took advantage of the unionlearn Maths Workout campaign last week to try out the new Use-IT assessment tool and get to grips with maths at work.

Usdaw ULR Co-ordinator Sean Dixon organised a series of information sessions in the staff canteen which aimed to bring together all the different maths options the union has on offer.

Sean said;

We were taking part in the Maths Workout campaign organised by unionlearn and we also signposted staff to the National Numeracy Challenge. We had other fun activities including maths crosswords/wordsearches and quizzes, mastermind style pattern following with free sweets and also linked in Usdaw campaign materials that have a connection to functional skills such as money worries. 

The union ran the canteen information sessions over staff breaks to increase opportunities for staff to take part, this was around 8-9 hours over 3 days. During that time, 45 people in total came to talk to us with some completing the assessment there and then, whilst others taking the information away to try at home."

Sean felt it was a really good turn out as staff don't normally like giving up any time on their breaks.

The new Use-IT tool went down well with staff, who were positive about the look, and also happy with the way the maths was levelled - starting off with some easier questions and moving on to more testing questions later in the assessment.

Regarding the various modules on offer Sean said:

Most popular for those doing it in the canteen was the maths as this was the selling point of trying Use-IT. From previous experience, the Diet and Alcohol ones are also popular, although the results and guidance isn't so popular!"

Sean will be using the assessment tool again because of ease of use and access. A standalone Use-IT session has not been planned as the tool has so many modules, it is easier for the union to link it to anything they are doing generally.

Sean added the best thing about Use-IT was its accessibility:

It is easy to navigate around, so wouldn't alienate Learners with low IT skills, and being web based means you can access it anywhere on any equipment, including from home. 

I would definitely recommend it to other ULRs to use. Until it is recognised as an assessment tool for providers it is more for information, or a hook to other courses. 

It is an easy and fun way to be able to start conversations on a range of topics, with the scores given at the end giving the tool a competitive edge to assessments as well."