UNISON Ulearn Northern Ireland

I came originally to work in the Tyrone County as a night porter, having worked on building sites but then became unemployed. After two years, that post came to an end, but another opening in theatres came up as a theatre porter. That too finished after three years and then they were advertising for nursing auxiliaries so I applied for that and have been working as a nursing auxiliary for the past ten years.

I really enjoy my job, it can be challenging, dealing with different types of people all the time, elderly and young, people that have their own ways. The job itself is varied, as a Grade B, I can be serving someone tea and then coming over to take their blood. They can get a bit of a shock and I’ve been asked a few times if I’m qualified to take their blood.

I completed the Return to Learn course a number of years ago. I heard about it through UNISON and didn’t know much about it but it sounded interesting. It had been 40 years since I had put pen to paper and full stops came when I ran out of breath. I really enjoyed all of it. There were two residentials which gave us a chance to get to know everyone well. We did things such as story writing and research. I found out things about myself that I didn’t think I could do. It really gave me extra confidence.

As part of the course we had to carry out an interview which was factual. I interviewed a man I met who was an alcoholic, I had to draw up questions and then write it up, along with getting information from leaflets and books. We also covered punctuation and sentence structure which I found helpful when I did my NVQ Level 3. I loved doing the NVQ, I used to go down to the library and read and read.

Currently I’m doing my Essential Skills through IT course, I’m finding the computer bits difficult enough to remember. But my family got me a computer for Christmas, so I can practice. The English in the Essential Skills course is more in-depth than Return to Learn, we’re looking at apostrophes and when to use them, punctuation in general, how to write correctly and spelling, breaking larger words into smaller sections so you can remember them more easily. We’ve also discussed how people learn differently and what sort of learner are you.

I’ve really enjoyed all the learning I’ve taken on as an adult, having left school with no qualifications but I think at 58 I’ve probably done all the courses I’m going to for now.