Solihull Council and local college offer free numeracy training

Numeracy skills are essential for many roles and sectors. They are equally important in personal lives for tasks including household budgeting and selecting mortgages. Free numeracy training is offered through Solihull Council under the Multiply programme.

The Multiply programme delivers the government’s pledge to help adults brush up on their numeracy skills. Delivered by the Solihull College & University Centre, the training will be tailored to your business needs with the flexibility of delivering at your premises, community venues or online. Recently, a course has been delivered to the staff of a local employer, 4PS.

Simon Homer, Lecturer & Multiply co-ordinator of the college, had a meeting with the employer to understand their business needs and conduct an analysis for developing the course content. As a business specialising in software design for construction, civil engineering and installation industry, 4PS staff need to use numeracy skills on a daily basis. Simon proposed a refresher on quick ways of calculating and checking calculations, plus learning techniques for any staff that want to help children with their homework.

Thirteen staff members attended the 2-hour training session in their office with overwhelming positive feedback. Learners found the training useful and enjoyable. This has ignited their interest in numeracy and all of them would be interested in attending similar sessions in the future with focus on more specific topics including accounts and bookkeeping. 

Some of the learners expressed their feelings about their experiences:

“Great session presented by a brilliant tutor. The session was pitched at the right level for those attending and was a nice refresher/learning experience for everyone. This sort of thing could really benefit employers and employees alike.”

“I really enjoyed the maths session. The focus on basic numeracy skills was really helpful as it's been so long since I learned these. It was an excellent refresher. Simon was really engaging and made it fun and enjoyable.”

“Great initiative from Solihull Council, great to re-discover how to solve calculation in a faster way.”

If you would like to find out more about this free training opportunity to upskill your team, please get in touch with the Council’s Employment and Skill Team with 0121 704 6869 or [email protected].

Pictured: Simon delivering training to 4PS’s team