Forthcoming training sessions from the Commons Learning and Development Team

Standard

Please find below information on training courses from the Commons Learning and Development Team which will take place in the next two weeks. Please click the links if you are available to join.

W/C 31 January (this week)

W/C 7 February

W/C 14 February

Vote Office: Training for Members’ Staff

Standard

Members’ staff are invited to learn more about the Vote Office and the services it offers to support their work.

The Vote Office is hosting the following sessions for Members’ staff in the coming months:

  • Introduction to the Vote Office (Monday 21 February, 13:00-13:40)
  • Navigating Parliamentary Papers (Friday 20 May, 10:00-10:40)

To sign up for either or both sessions, please email [email protected]. Full details are below.

Introduction to the Vote Office

Monday 21 February 2022, 13:00 – 13:40

Virtual, MS Teams
Contact: x3631, [email protected]

This virtual session will provide an overview of the Vote Office and the services we offer to support Members’ staff and offices in their work.

Both Westminster and constituency-based staff are welcome. The session is suitable for anyone who has recently joined a Member’s office or would like a refresher on our services.

The session covers:

  • The role of the Vote Office
  • How we assist Members’ Staff with research, casework and understanding parliamentary business
  • The Vote Office’s digital services and delivery service for staff working remotely.

The session will last 30 minutes, with an additional 10-minute Q&A.

Navigating Parliamentary Papers

Friday 20 May 2022, 10:00 – 10:40

Virtual, MS Teams
Contact: x3631, [email protected]

This workshop will go into greater detail on a range of parliamentary papers available in the Vote Office, walk through their format, and explain their relevance to Chamber business.

Both Westminster and constituency-based staff are welcome.  The session is suitable for new staff who need an understanding of business papers in their role, or those who would like to enhance their knowledge.

The session includes:

  • A full walkthrough of the Order Paper and the Vote bundle
  • An explanation of Bills, amendment papers and other associated documents that the Vote Office provides
  • Details of other laid papers and publications that are available in the Vote Office.

The session will last 30 minutes, with an additional 10-minute Q&A.

For more information and to sign up to these sessions, please email [email protected].

Forthcoming HOC Library Talks

Standard

The Commons Library is running a series of weekly talks starting 13th January covering topical issues, constituency casework, and statistics.

Their expert staff will cover:

and more.

There are also talks from the National Audit Office (NAO) on

You can browse and book all upcoming talks and watch previous talks on Act. Any questions please email [email protected]

New mental health training courses from Learning & Development

Standard
Please note that, when trying to access these courses, if you receive automated messages such as “you don’t have Moodle” or “it is not for learners”, please check, in the first instance that you have valid security clearance by contacting the Security Vetting Team.  If you do have valid security clearance and still receive error messages, please contact the Digital team on x2001.

Distressed Callers (1 day)

https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=3965

Course overview

  • Core skills when supporting emotional service-users.
  • Understanding the use of empathy when communicating on the telephone.
  • Recognising the impact of our approaches when supporting challenging (distressed) callers.
  • Responding to challenging callers and those with differing needs.
  • Looking after ourselves after the call

Approach

The training will experiential to enable attendees to practice skills and build confidence through role play scenarios and the opportunity for supportive feedback and encouragement.

 

Vicarious Trauma (short Webinar sessions)

https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=3968

This is a short introductory webinar on vicarious trauma.

Vicarious trauma is a term for the emotional changes a person can experience when helping people who have traumatic stories to tell.

The session is an initial opportunity to define vicarious trauma and look at why we are at risk, how to identify the signs and how we can minimise the risk in our response.

Vicarious Trauma (1 day)

https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=3969

Regularly hearing about or responding to traumatic events can take its toll on those people who work in helping professions and supportive jobs.

Vicarious trauma is a term for the emotional changes a person can experience when helping people who have traumatic stories to tell.

It may be that you have taken a call, read something or seen images and they stick in your head and you keep thinking about it. Or you often find yourself reflecting, outside of your work, on the upsetting and emotional things that you’ve heard from people contacting your service.

This insightful and practical course provides a more in-depth opportunity to focus on your self care and well being in relation to vicarious trauma.  It will explore how to address and effectively manage vicarious trauma to keep a healthy workplace.

Creating a safe workplace for Members’ staff – guidance on bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct

Standard

All MP Staff Q&A Session – Creating a safe workplace for Members’ staff – guidance on bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct

10:00 – 10:45 – Thursday 10 June 2021

Open to all of the staff of MPs.  For further information and booking, please see https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=4492

 

Office Restructure familiarisation sessions

Standard

This session, aimed at MPs and their HR proxies, is run by the Members’ HR Advice Service to supplement the Best Practice Guide to Office Restructures.

The session will provide information about how to manage restructuring the office when you are considering reorganising your staffing resources to respond to changing priorities. It will cover employer responsibilities and provide practical advice about the best practice approach to managing the restructure process effectively. This will help you to ensure staff are treated fairly, properly consulted, and supported.

More information about the support available from the Members’ HR Advice Service will also be provided

See here for further information and booking:

17 June 2021 – 10:00 – 10:45 – https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=4438

1 July 2021 – 10:00 – 10:45 – https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=4439

 

Introduction to the Vote Office: Training for Members’ Staff

Standard

Please note that links to the old Parliamentary intranet have been removed as of October 2023. Please use search on ParliNet to find relevant current details, if available.

https://parlinet.parliament.uk/house-of-commons-members-staff/

Members’ staff are invited to learn more about the Vote Office and the services we offer to support their work.

Friday 11 Jun 2021, 11:00 – 11:40 on MS Teams

Booking essential.  For full details please see here

 

Law Training Sessions from the Learning and Development Team

Standard

The Learning and Development has arranged some new law training sessions in March.  Please book yourself onto them using the intranet links below.

Introduction to housing law: Homelessness
https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=3874

Introduction to housing law: Security of tenure 
https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=3876

Introduction to housing law: Social housing
https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=3877

Introduction to housing law: Disrepair
https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=3875

The Law and Special Educational Needs
https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=3878

Introduction to Anti-Social Behaviour and the Law
https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=3879

 

Places still available for February.

Universal Credit Overview
https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=3036

Office Manager- Getting started
https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=3492

 

Please note that the waiting list function is not available at the moment, therefore, please go to the Act pages regularly to check the availabilities.  Please also note that these courses may be arranged in the future but we do not have the dates yet.

Find It Online

Standard

Who should attend this course?
Think you know about searching online? Do you type a word or two into Google and find what you think you’re looking for?

This course focuses on effective research techniques and strategies to retrieve meaningful results when searching the internet as well as an introduction to other search tools.

This training course is open to any Intranet user who wants to improve their web searching and learn techniques for constructing successful searches.

Course overview and content
The Find It Online course focuses on effective research techniques and strategies to retrieve meaningful results when searching the internet as well as an introduction to other search tools i.e. Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo

This course is part of the Library’s Find It training programme.

Learning objectives

This course will equip you with skills to control and minimise your search results and help you understand:

connectors to combine search terms
alternative search query types to narrow results to specific type of materials(s) or website(s)
advanced skills to construct effective search strategies
how to evaluate search results
Approach

The course will be a mix of:

presentation and online demonstrations
examples to work through to help you grasp different search techniques
You will also have the opportunity to ask questions and explore aspects of searching online that are particularly interesting for you.

To view course dates and book, please visit

https://parliament.learningpool.com/enrol/index.php?id=87

 

How to Support an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) – Online Workshop Seminar

Standard

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Registrar of Members’ Financial Interests will be holding seminars virtually (via MS Teams) until further notice, with each lasting about an hour.

How to Support an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)

This seminar will cover:

  • Register entries
  • APPG Secretariats (volunteers, Members’ staff, outside organisations)
  • Members and Officers
  • Meetings (including AGMs, inaugurals and other formal meetings)
  • Transparency and records, including APPG websites
  • Income and expenditure statements

Forthcoming dates:

  • Thursday 10 December at 11am
  • Tuesday 15 December at 3pm

Please email [email protected] to tell them your preferred date.  They will then email you the joining instructions. These will include a link to the MS Teams App, which you should download and install before the meeting if you do not already have it on the device that you will be using to attend the meeting.

If the dates above are unsuitable please tell them and they will contact you when further dates are arranged.