WEA courses

For London learners. Discover the wonderful world of managing email newsletters: This free three-hour taster introduces beginners to managing email newsletters including setting up accounts, adding tracking codes, and interpreting data. This short taster course will introduce you to the basics of using MailChimp to create and manage email newsletters. We will be setting up a free account, adding contacts, creating an email and viewing reports to help track engagement. We will consider the use of visual design and wording to engage our audience and discuss how data protection regulations apply. Please note that as part of the course you will be creating a free MailChimp account, you will need a valid email address that you can access during the course (to confirm the account and for testing the newsletter). Whether you have studied the content before or are completely new to it, You will find value on this programme. Start managing your email newsletter journey today by registering for this course.

Are you looking for work in the UK or thinking of starting work in the UK? If you have never worked in the UK or worked abroad but limited experience of working in the UK, this course is for you. The course is designed to support to improve your spoken and written English when thinking about your work skills and the type of work you are interest in. You will take part in mock interviews and help each other to practice your English through informal activities and discussion to prepare you for the world of work and improve your confidence.

The day course is for anyone interested in advancing their landscape painting skills through a more abstract perspective. While open to participants of all levels, having some prior experience in painting would be beneficial. In a friendly and supportive group, the tutor will take us through gathering visual references, sketching, colour work and creating a landscape piece of work in your chosen media. Participants will have the opportunity to express their creativity and experiment with abstract approaches under the guidance of the tutor. Over the day we will spend time out in the landscape, where possible, taking photos and sketch book work. The aim is to explore abstract approaches and create an abstract landscape work.

*Please note - this course is specifically for residents of West Sussex as part of the local Multiply project. Please do not apply for this course if you do not live in West Sussex - thanks for your understanding* Explore the art of bookbinding with a twist of mathematics in our Basic Book Binding course. Discover the fundamental techniques of creating beautiful, handcrafted books while integrating essential mathematical principles. From calculating spine width to precision measuring for cover alignment, you'll learn how mathematical concepts enhance the functional structure and aesthetics of your bindings. Enjoy these hands-on sessions where you'll master stitching, folding, and gluing, transforming sheets of paper into beautiful personalised books. Whether you're a novice or seasoned crafter, this course promises to elevate your bookbinding skills while developing your understanding of the mathematical concepts inherent in book-binding.

Part of the London Summer Free Taster courses; This 3 hour, taster course explores the difference between an artwork which is copied, forged, or faked. The men and women behind them, the reasons they did it, which famous artists and artworks they choose, the money they made from their sale, how they were caught, and the punishment they received. Whether they were disillusioned artists fooling art experts or simply hardened criminals committing art crimes, the art market is still saturated with copies, fakes, and forgeries. Do you think you could spot the difference between the original among the fake? Test yourself with this taster.

Part of the WEA Art and About Festival 2024! Art in the Olympic (South) Park Walking Tour explores the public artworks in the south side of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It is the first Olympic Park to integrate artworks into the landscape right from the start by established and emerging artists, international and local, which reflects the Park’s identity and is the home to West Ham’s Football Stadium. Discover artworks that are both large and striking, whilst others are smaller and harder to find, inspired by the undulating landscape, riverside, buried histories, community memories, and Olympic glory. The meeting point is the ArcelorMittal Orbit by Sir Anish Kapoor.

Part of the Free to All Taster Courses: A focus on Laura Knight: As Tate Britain puts on an exhibition about British women artists this summer, it seemed important to come back on a key British painter from the 20th century, Laura Knight. In this session we wil look at her life, career, art style and influences. Knight showed exceptional talent from an early age, and all her life, executed brilliant paintings and drawings. She was committed to a realist style, which often put her at odds with the avant-garde. She was however, popular, and in 1936 she became a Royal Academician, the first women to gain this honour since the foundation of the RA in 1768.

This course is an exciting new opportunity to develop your confidence and skills in speaking and listening in English. You will learn basic conversational skills such as giving and asking for personal information from friends and neighbours, as well as employment and learning based vocabulary. This course is designed to provide a basic foundation of skills to allow learners to access their next steps in a more formal learning setting.

Set yourself up for success at learning English with this Getting Ready for Functional Skills Entry 3 English preparation course. Get an English qualification to help you access a variety of work and study options. Functional skills courses in English teach you to read, write, and communicate confidently in English. Functional skills English isn’t like learning English at school. This is an English course for adults created by adults. Develop practical English skills by learning language in context. This course is funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority https://www.wmca.org.uk/

This is a free taster course focusing on your personal experiences and how these experiences may form the basis not only for autobiography and memoir, but for autobiographical fiction and poetry. The course will be composed sections, with a break; each designed to explore one or more areas of personal writing, through discussion, hands-on writing experiments and guidance on how to improve technical aspects of your prose or poetry. By the conclusion of the course you will have completed an introduction to one or two pieces of writing. The course will be mutually supportive, stimulating and a good introduction to further creative writing courses with the popular tutor Stephen Smith.