Courses to build life skills

Learn life skills with the largest charitable provider of adult education in England and Scotland. Adult learning isn’t like school. Everyone belongs at the WEA. You’ll get meaningful, and tailored support, so you can reach your full potential. Our classes are friendly and fun, designed for adults like you. We won’t talk down to you and you’ll learn skills that you’ll use in everyday life.

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What are life skills?

Simply put, they are skills that make everyday life easier. Life skills include cooking, budgeting, communicating with others, health, well-being and managing emotions. Sometimes this means learning new things, and sometimes it means building on things you already know.

Sometimes adulting can be hard. These courses can help make it feel just that bit easier, make you feel more independent and empower you to face the future ahead.

Small steps to larger goals

You don’t have to have big goals in mind. Just take small steps towards boosting your skills and improving your wellbeing. Whether it is learning to budget better or cook healthier food. Building your confidence or gaining independence. There is a course for you.

When you study with us, you will:

  • Build your confidence
  • Learn new life skills
  • Improve your everyday life and wellbeing

Take a look at our great range of courses and start making a positive change today.

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Step into Care

Begin your journey into the care sector with our Step into Care course. Learn essential skills and knowledge required to provide high-quality care to clients. Ideal for individuals considering a career in care or looking to enhance their caregiving skills.

Course Information

Dates:
Mon 18/11/2024 -
Fri 22/11/2024
Location:
The Priory 1101 (Great Yarmouth)
The Priory Centre
Priory Plain
Great Yarmouth
NR30 1NW
Course code:
Q00018612
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £50.00

Step into Care

Begin your journey into the care sector with our Step into Care course. Learn essential skills and knowledge required to provide high-quality care to clients. Ideal for individuals considering a career in care or looking to enhance their caregiving skills.

Course Information

Dates:
Mon 18/11/2024 -
Fri 22/11/2024
Location:
Norwich Central Baptist Church (Norwich)
Duke Street
Norwich
NR3 3AP
Course code:
Q00018613
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £50.00

Care 2: Try relaxation techniques for stress management

All our Care2 courses are completely free for unpaid carers (or those who have previously been carers). You do not need to receive a carer's allowance to qualify. If you are unsure, please contact our call centre advisors who will be able to assist you. Modern society is often fast - paced causing many of us to feel overwhelmed and stressed, learning to relax is an effective tool to support stress management. This course is suitable for anyone - if you want to learn how to really relax, this course is ideal for you, and you are encouraged to join. You will learn to recognise how simple relaxation techniques can help you to relieve your own symptoms of stress. You will be guided through the practice of calming breathing techniques and gentle movements that ease tension in the body. Each session will end with a guided Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation practice) that will encourage deep rest of both mind and body.

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 21/11/2024 -
Thu 28/11/2024
Times:
1:00pm - 2:30pm
Duration:
2 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Nicola Bailey
Course code:
Q00018563
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee:
Free

Healthy Living: Introduction to Map Reading

During this online course you will undertake practical exercises at home and participate in online virtual walks where you will need to make some map reading choices. You need no prior knowledge to take part in this course, just a love of the outdoors and a willingness to have a go. This will sharpen your awareness of details on the map and may also improve your observation skills while out in the countryside.

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 21/11/2024 -
Thu 12/12/2024
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Alastair Clark
Course code:
Q00019833
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £29.60

WEA Membership

For just £15 a year, you can:

  • Join our popular, award-winning weekly lecture series,
  • Access an archive of over 100 past lectures,
  • Get priority online and phone booking for autumn courses (England only),
  • Receive our Highway magazine and access back issues,
  • Attend our members’ annual conference.

Just add us to your basket to sign up today!

Membership Information

Duration:
12 months
Fee:
£15

Healthy Living: Aromatherapy at Christmas – the gift of time

Give the gift of time to your loved ones this Christmas. This course is designed to show you how to blend a collection of beautiful essential oils using the classic scents of the season. Not only do essential oils smell divine, they also have a huge range of therapeutic effects on the human body. If you are looking for muscle pain relief, anti-stress or something to help sleep and relaxation you will learn a wide range of techniques on this short course. We will cover safe blending, learn the properties of the most popular essential oils and also a range of classic Swedish massage techniques that you can apply as part of your Christmas gift.

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 21/11/2024 -
Thu 19/12/2024
Times:
12:00pm - 2:00pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Georgia Daniel
Course code:
Q00019834
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £29.60

Healthy Living: Seated yoga and self-massage at Christmas

Getting stressed at the thought of Christmas? Start your day with a lovely, relaxed stretch session with Georgia. Chair yoga is a wonderful practice that adapts traditional yoga poses to be done while seated in a chair. It’s perfect for people who may have limited mobility or chronic disease such as long Covid, knee and back problems. Also excellent for people who find it challenging to transition between standing and seated positions, or simply want a quick break from office work. In general, yoga can help manage stress, symptoms of depression, and relieves anxiety. It can also boost your mood, and quality of sleep. Seated yoga helps strengthen and lengthen muscles, ease pain and increase mobility. We will cool down and ensure this results in both uplifting and deeply restful practice by including meditation for the latter part of the session. A wonderful to start the day.

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 21/11/2024 -
Thu 19/12/2024
Times:
2:30pm - 4:30pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Georgia Daniel
Course code:
Q00019835
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £29.60

Communicating Confidently

Would you like to feel more confident in conversations, meetings, or speaking in public? If you struggle to find your voice or get your point across, this communication skills course can help you feel more comfortable in conversation. Improving your communication skills can go a long way towards boosting your confidence in these situations. Learn effective tools and techniques to improve your communication skills. Whether you want to feel more comfortable meeting new people, holding union meetings or participating in community discussions, these confidence-building exercises can help you.

Course Information

Dates:
Mon 25/11/2024 -
Mon 13/01/2025
Times:
10:30am - 12:30pm
Duration:
8 sessions
Location:
Tricuro -Parkstone Connect Day Centre (P
Croft Road
Poole
BH12 3LD
Tutor:
Karen Johnson
Course code:
Q00013192
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £63.00

Maths for Work (Multiply)

Here at the WEA we believe in bringing education within reach of everyone. Our maths for work course is designed to give everyone the opportunity to learn and develop the essential numeracy skills they need to succeed at any age. This course is aimed at employed people looking to improve their Maths skills to help them at work. We want to help people to improve their ability to understand and use maths in daily life. This Maths for work course is an opportunity to learn new skills to support you no matter what role you play in work. You will be able to understand how to use new maths skills to support you in your career progression but these skills can also be used to support your children's homework, along with managing finances and using Maths in daily life at home too.

Course Information

Dates:
Mon 25/11/2024 -
Tue 17/12/2024
Times:
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Duration:
8 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Derek Robinson
Course code:
Q00019269
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee:
Free

Confidence to Learn

Would you like to learn new skills or change jobs? It can be hard to get back into learning after a long break. This confidence training will prepare you to feel comfortable stepping back into the classroom. This short course can help you bridge the gaps in your confidence and overcome the obstacles standing in your way to get back into learning. The objective of this course is to get you into a positive mindset to achieve your goals. You will practise a variety of confidence-building exercises to help that mindset shift come from within. Learn skills to help you succeed in online and face-to-face teaching settings. Regain forgotten study habits. Pick up techniques to help you organise and enjoy your learning process. Understand where you feel most and least sure of yourself and do confidence-building exercises to get the most out of your studies. Confidence-building courses help you improve your self-esteem and overcome obstacles that hold you back. By the end of this course, you will feel confident to go after your learning objectives.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 27/11/2024 -
Fri 30/05/2025
Times:
3:00pm - 3:30pm
Duration:
20 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Bimbola Olawanle
Course code:
Q00017623
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £29.60

Cooking Practical: Christmas Desserts

Lots of lovely Christmas baking and pudding ideas for you to make along with me. On this course we will be making traditional Christmas pudding, a gingerbread house, Yule log and an alternative to Christmas pudding for those of you that see no attraction in a dried fruit concoction!

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 27/11/2024 -
Wed 18/12/2024
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Catherine Wilcock
Course code:
Q00019831
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £29.60