Every Monday night, a chorus of women’s voices ring out at the Cantabile Vocal Ensemble in Bishopstown Community School in Cork. For 10 weeks each term, the night class brings together a group of women who enjoy singing together in a fun, but hard working environment.
 
“The group learns how music works, the different styles and we’ve moved from unison to part singing,” says tutor Dr Mary O’Brien, who’s also a music teacher in Ashton Comprehensive School in the city.
 
“This year, we’ve introduced songs in Italian and French and that has allowed us to move from popular classics to more classical songs in other languages. It’s about exposing the class to new repertoires.”
 
Events
The group, aged 16 to 70, are in popular demand and have previously participated in the North Wales Choral Festival and in the Choral Competition in Féile an tSamhraidh, Midleton, Co. Cork.
 
“We’ve also been invited to sing at the Youghal Choral Society’s Christmas Carol Service, the National Rowing Club’s Community Hall Christmas Bazaar, and in Griffin’s Garden Centre, Dripsey, where we did carol singing to raise funds for a local charity.”
 
Uplifting
Mary herself brings a wealth of experience to the choir, having specialised in Choral Conducting under Dr Peter Erdei at the Kodaly Institute, Kecskemet, Hungary. “I love bringing my skills to the local community,” she says, adding that the ensemble has proved an uplifting experience for everyone involved.
 
“It’s a little community of its own – but new members are always welcome!”

Fiona Kennedy just loves her cake decoration night class in Ashton Comprehensive School, Cork – and her talent shows in her work. She’s so good her handiwork won gold at a recent Cork Sugarcraft Show. All thanks to a nurturing night class which she started in 2018!

“I was always interested in baking and I’ve a great interest in making flowers. The class also covers making figurines, writing on cakes, covering cakes. The tutor, Kathleen Cronin, is fantastic. She got us to enter the Sugarcraft show which is in Cork every two years and we did very well. Kathleen is so encouraging, she’s great at giving you confidence.”

Alice Dooley was one of the lucky Spanish class students to visit Cabra, Andalucía, in Spain in September 2019. Nine students from Bishopstown Community School, Ballincollig Community School, Ashton Comprehensive School, and Carrigaline Community School went on the immersion trip, organised by their tutor, Mariana Jiménez Moreno.
 
“It was fabulous – Mariana and her partner did great work. It was a full immersion trip, everyone spoke in Spanish all the time. It was non-stop for four days, you’d nearly need a holiday after it! But I was fully able to comprehend everything.”

Michael is so keen on stained glass work that he bought all the equipment required and supplements his class time with many hours in his workshop at home working on projects. “This year’s project is purple irises on a white background. And I’m trying to design my own seascape including a lighthouse, cliffs, sea – I have to draw it out first, so the new skill for me is to get the drawings and proportions right.”

Michael’s skills are so good that his tutor has taken him on for some piecework in his studio. And, when he retires himself, Michael is looking forward to doing as much or as little stained glass work as he wants. He’ll have earned it – he has been working as a chef in the hospital for 47 years.
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In the meantime, he’s hoping to add to his creations - angels, fish, blue irises, even a map of Ireland (though Limerick did crack and had to be replaced!). “My wife is delighted with the stained glass – we give them away as presents and my stained glass is in homes as far away as Canada and California.” ​

Business classes can help many entrepreneurs get their enterprise off the ground – and up and running successfully

Jo and Jason Whyte attended the Start and Grow Your Own Business night class at Scoil Mhuire, Clane Community School, Co Kildare in early 2018.

“My Kiwi husband and I live in New Zealand and had returned to spend some time in Clane, where I grew up,” said Jo. “Prior to leaving New Zealand, we had decided that we wanted to set up our own business. With Jason being a Security Engineer, it was a no brainer to pursue an electronic security business.

“The course sounded like a perfect opportunity for us as, although we knew what we wanted to do, we didn’t know where to start.”

Guest speakers
The couple found the course extremely well run and it covered everything that is involved in setting up and growing a business. “Each week, a guest speaker came in and talked to us about their field of work, from an accountant to a web designer. We were also provided with various tools and templates that we could use. The facilitator, Johnny, a business owner himself, was a wealth of knowledge which he readily and enthusiastically shared with us.”

Jo and Jason are now back in New Zealand and into the second year of business.  “We’re really pleased with where we’re at and feel that the tips and tricks passed on to us by Johnny and everyone involved in the course was a huge part in getting us up and running.”

Every year, Tara McCarthy tries to do a night class. This year, she’s undertaking the new Bookkeeping Certificate in Malahide Community School.

“I went back to work full-time a few years ago – and did an Excel course when I was going back into the workforce and so that I could do basic accounts. In my new role, I’ll be moving into Finance – I have no formal training in bookkeeping so this new ICB (Institute of Certified Bookkeepers) certificate will teach me bookkeeping and give me a qualification as well. For me, the timing couldn’t be better.”

Time out
Previously, Tara and her husband did night classes together as a way of spending time with each other and getting time out from parenting their four children. “We did a ballroom dancing class together – I started night classes here in 2010 and try to do at least one a term.

“This ICB certificate will help me with my career and it’s nice for the kids to see that education doesn’t finish with college.”

Learning network
Along with helping her career, the night classes help socially as well. “I’ve made good friends on the courses and still meet up with people I’ve met over the years. On this course, it’s all women of different age groups and professions and it’s really about women supporting women. We go over things at the end of class and Elaine, our tutor, is brilliant and we get support as well from Tena, the ICB representative – that is great because we are learning from a different perspective. That and the ICB resources are a wider support, like a scaffolding, around the class.”

Every night class comes with an adult education department behind it and Tara is very complimentary about the team in Malahide. “The staff are brilliant, and they provide a huge number of courses for the whole community.”

Tara is so pleased with her progress that she’s thinking of progressing onto Year 1 of the Accounting Technicians’ course!

Mariana Jiménez Moreno moved to Ireland in 2010 and, shortly afterwards, she started teaching Corkonians how to speak Spanish!
 
Today, she delivers beginners and more advanced Spanish classes in Bishopstown Community School, Ballincollig Community School, Ashton Comprehensive School, and Carrigaline Community School.
 
And, in September 2019, she and nine of her night class students headed to Cabra, a small town in Andalucia for four days. “This was an immersion experience to enhance their Spanish language and knowledge of the Spanish culture and way of living,” says Mariana, who hails from Madrid originally.
 
“Cabra is a small town and most of the people there do not speak English, so it was an opportunity for the night class students to practice their Spanish. The town is one hour’s drive from Cordoba and Granada, and two hours from Seville, so it was a great base.
 
“The main aim was to learn about the town and to get to know everything about it, the people, the food, the culture.”

When we think of Tai Chi, we think of slow graceful movements – and, yes, you too can learn those slow moves in night classes across the country.

Master Charles Thackaberry is an experienced Tai Chi tutor and has been teaching Tai Chi since 1981. Today, he runs very successful night classes in Gorey Community School, Co. Wexford, right back where he started in the 1980s. “Classes became very popular during the Celtic Tiger years because people realised they needed to take care of themselves,” said Charles, who also runs classes in Dublin.

Holistic approach
So, what is Tai Chi? An ancient Chinese tradition, it combines a series of slow continuous movements that flow into each other, meditation, and breathing exercises. “You tune into your body and mind,” said Charles, adding that, in today’s fast-paced world, people who are recovering from illnesses find it useful and busy people find it a great way to destress.

Charles himself came to Tai Chi as a fan of Bruce Lee when he was a teenager in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. “I did Tae-Kwon-Do for a few years but was not into the fighting side of it. Then a friend of mine died and I felt like I had no tools to deal with it. I discovered Tai Chi and my teacher told me it was an art for living.

Benefits
“It’s quite meditative and a lot of our students might come to us suffering from burnout – Tai Chi lets you recover and learn techniques so you can save yourself. It’s very relaxing and calms the mind and can really help with anxiety or physical and mental stress.” Charles also works with people with Down’s Syndrome who may not be able to verbalise stress.

“The exercises are geared towards the health side of things, and are ones that help with blood pressure, stroke and the mind.” By working at a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level, Tai Chi helps bring balance to a person’s body, mind and soul. “A lot of people who don’t sleep well say they always sleep well the night of the Tai Chi class!” said Charles.
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Full circle
In Gorey, the classes proved so popular than an additional night was added, bringing the number of classes available to people to four a week – two on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. “When I started classes in the 1980s, one of the first places that gave me a class was Gorey Community School under the adult education director then, Paddy Conway. It didn’t take off at the time, so it is great to see how Tai Chi is so popular now in Gorey.”

NACED schools are the first in the country to introduce a new Certificate in Bookkeeping accredited by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB).
 
“The Certificate is aimed at those who are new to bookkeeping and have little or no previous knowledge or experience,” said Tena Sheil, an accountant and lecturer who has introduced the Certificate to Ireland. “It’s ideal for anyone who would like to work in an accounting role in a small business, for people who would like to run their own bookkeeping business, or for owner-managers who wish to understand the finances of their small business.” It is also very useful for bookkeepers who would like to enhance their experience with a qualification.
 
Schools
So far, two community schools have had great success with the Certificate, introduced in September 2019. “Malahide and Gorey are running the courses with good numbers attending – essentially, ICB provides the course materials and the school sources the tutors.”
 
The Certificate in Bookkeeping is made up of five topics: Underpinning Knowledge, Preparation of Business Documents, Accounting for VAT, Entering Transactions, and Reconciliation and Reporting.
 
At the end, successful candidates will be able to show a full understanding of the concepts of double-entry bookkeeping and its place in modern business, enter transactions into a bookkeeping system and produce an initial trial balance. They should be able to reconcile sales and purchases ledger balances against the relevant control accounts and reconcile the bank account. They should also be able to identify and correct errors present in the system.
 
What is the ICB?
The ICB is the largest bookkeeping institute in the world, said Tena, who lectures on the ATI course in Gorey Community School’s Adult Education Department and delivers ACCA and CPA professional programmes. The ICB promotes and maintains the standards of bookkeeping as a profession through the establishment of relevant qualifications and the award of grades of membership that recognise academic attainment, working experience and competence.
 
QQI upgrade
Significantly, the ICB also offers a conversion course for those who have achieved a Distinction in QQI Level 5 Manual & Computerised Bookkeeping.
 
Both the Certificate and Conversion Course include student membership of the ICB, where members benefit from enhanced professional status, global recognition, ongoing support and the kinship of the world’s most engaged bookkeeper community.
 
The advantage of having an ICB qualification is that ICB qualifications are recognised as the benchmark for the profession across the world, said Tena.

Night class participants in Cabinteely Community School are thrilled to be learning Country Jive and Line Dancing with tutor Laura Nolan, who will feature on Dancing with the Stars in January!
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As well as Country Jive and Line Dancing, Laura is a professional dancer and provides ballroom and Latin dancing classes privately. “My mother was a dancer, so I started dancing when I was three,” says Laura, who hails from Lucan.

“I started with ballet, Latin and ballroom dancing until I was 16, got all my ballet exams, and then stopped the ballet. I started teaching at 15!”

An accomplished professional dancer, who describes dance as a sport, Laura has an impressive list of achievements. She was a finalist in the U21 World Championship, placing her amongst the top 10 in the world. She and dance partner Alessandro Bosco ranked number five in the World Open in Riga, Latvia, last December. She has won numerous International Open championships and was a finalist in the German Open. In fact, she was the first Irish dancer to compete in the World Championships, so her talent is undisputed.

Máire Kelly started to learn Irish seriously in 2017 – and secured herself a H3 in this year’s Leaving Cert! She is now attending Dublin City University, undertaking the four-year Bachelor of Education degree programme.
 
Home-schooled from the age of eight, she has an international qualification that is the equivalent of the Leaving Cert. “But when I decided I wanted to be a primary teacher, I knew that I would need a H4 in Leaving Cert Irish,” said Máire, from Arklow, Co Wicklow. “So I started learning Irish in 2017 – I knew some Irish words but not many. I did an online course at Junior Cert Level and, last year, I went to the Leaving Cert Irish night class in Gorey Community School and got grinds as well.”
 
Máire was not only motivated by her love of teaching but by a love of languages. “My grandparents spoke Irish and I love languages – I learned Russian using a learning language software programme and now I have pen pals in Russia!”
 
Work experience teaching crochet in a local Gaelscoil also helped to improve her Irish and she was able study at home alongside her siblings. “I’m pretty self-motivated and able to work on my own, so I did a lot of study at home to complement the classes.”
 
In Gorey, she found the night class, which runs on Monday and Wednesday nights, hugely beneficial. “The teachers taught us as peers, which was really nice.”
 
This Leaving Cert for Mature Students night class is specifically designed for students who want to improve a grade achieved previously in Irish so that they can gain entry into courses where a minimum grade of H4 is required. These are typically primary school teaching undergraduate courses. The class focuses on the Leaving Cert oral exam or the Hibernia College Irish interview and on the Leaving Cert higher level written exam paper. People who just want to improve their Irish speaking abilities also attend the class!
 
“The Leaving Cert exam was OK – the essays I wanted didn’t come up, but I was able to tie in essays that I had prepared. I preferred the Oral Irish exam – I was asked my favourite sraith pictiúr and poem.
 
“Overall, I found that Irish was a challenging language but I love languages and I really want to be a teacher, so I persevered!”

​This Autumn sees Crescent College Comprehensive S.J. in Limerick offering a new season of night classes that are as affordable as they are innovative. New courses for this term include Bicycle Maintenance, Greek and Roman Civilisations, Make-up Application as well as Screenwriting, Calligraphy, Ukulele, and Design and Dressmaking for the more creative minds out there.
 
Among the most popular courses are Dog Grooming, Zumba, Woodcarving, Flower Arranging and Bridge, a sociable and inexpensive hobby which is offered at both beginner and intermediate levels.
 
Lifelong learning
“Night classes offer lots of fun and are a great way to meet new people and form new friendships, all while learning a lifelong skill,” said Catherine Scannell, Director of Adult Education in Crescent College Comprehensive S.J.
 
Night class participants will also be able to boost their language skills with classes available in Spoken Irish, English as a Foreign Language, Spanish, French, Japanese, and basic Latin.
 
“Social dancing is a very enjoyable evening and is so popular that the class has been extended to an hour and a half for this term, as has the highly demanded Yoga class. People can also bring their partner to the Social Dancing class.”
 
From chess to cooking
Other courses include everything from Tin Whistle to Guitar, Emotional Freedom Therapy, Woodwork/Joinery, Painting with Oils, Creative Writing, and Chess and Draughts. Digital Skills for Citizens, which is free for those over 45, offers a variety of useful routes to upskill in specific fields such as online banking and social media.
 
“There is a sincere focus on what is current and in demand. Cooking for Men has become more and more popular in recent years as it gives men who might not be as confident as their female counterparts in the kitchen a chance to gain some Jamie Oliver-like skills. Cookery for All Grades and Gourmet Cooking classes are also available.”

It’s not everyone who would do Irish in the Leaving Cert twice. But driving instructor Dane Tyghe is one such person. He travels to Gorey Community School from Wexford two nights a week to learn more than the cúpla focail.

In June 2019, he will sit down to tackle the Leaving Cert Irish exams, slightly older than others in the room. At 39, he’s doing this for no other reason that to improve his own level of Irish.

YouTube
“I want to improve my own fluency in Irish,” says Dane, who did Ordinary Level Irish first time round. Now, he’s got a YouTube channel to teach others how to Learn Irish! “I needed a structure to keep me disciplined – in fact, I’d have done five nights if I could have. But the two nights gives you the intensity and the breaks that you need and the tutors, Daniel and Lucy, were great. They’re very approachable and give great feedback.”

Whilst others in the class are redoing their Leaving Cert Irish in the hopes of qualifying to train as primary school teachers, Dane is on his own journey. “I really just want to improve on the language. It’s a personal goal for myself. I love the language and how poetic it is.”

Motivation
He’s also been motivated by what he says is criticism of the language from people in the media or elsewhere. “Some people say they came through school without knowing any Irish, but I think they’re not prepared now to go and learn it.

“Others just insult the language – so I decided there must be something to it and I started to learn it myself. I watched TG4 and YouTube videos before I found this course in Gorey. I’d say my Irish was at an intermediate level but I’m well on the road to advanced now.”

His Irish has already been tested – during the Oral exam in March. “I went in feeling confident and we had been well prepared. I may have got one or two words mixed up, but I was delighted with the way it went and the examiner was very approachable.”

Focused
Being more mature has helped in the preparation as well. “If you prepare and take breaks in the study as well, you’ll be fine. At 39, I’m more mature and focused, so that’s good.”

He’s also able to surprise learner drivers with his Irish, particularly when teaching Leaving Cert teenagers how to drive!

In the meantime, he’s hitting the books in between the driving lessons. “I’m just so grateful that this course was available. If I’d been learning it myself, I wouldn’t have had the same experience.”

Next stop? Keep learning! “There’ll always be another phrase to learn,” says Dane.

5K and Beyond – yes you can, in Carrigaline
 
Dave O’Regan may be an accountant by day but, by night, he’s responsible for getting Carrigaline running. For the last few years, he ‘ran’ the Couch to 5K class in Carrigaline Community School, Cork.

That class has been so successful that the school has added on a 5K and Beyond night class. The class attracts those who had completed the 5K and wanted to stretch themselves and others who can run 5k comfortably.

“Last year, by the end of the 5K and Beyond class, we had people running up to 10k. We add variety to the training so that participants can see different sides of training – it also breaks up the monotony so that we’re not running the same course each week. So, for instance, we do speedwork – four by 400m runs with two minute stops. The idea is to get people running faster than they would normally run.”

The group will also do hill repeats and, over time, work up to longer runs around Carrigaline. “It’s very enjoyable – it runs over the 10 nights and I tell them that, ideally, they should do two other runs during the week. That way, they’ll be able for the step up next week.”

If you want to trip the light fantastic, head to Bishopstown Community School where tutor Kay Herlihy will put you through your moves.

Kay has been teaching ballroom dancing for the last number of years, with the waltz, foxtrot, slow waltz, quick step, and tango among the signature moves taught. Rock and roll and the cha cha are other dances also on the menu.

“I love ballroom dancing, I’m addicted to it,” says Kay. “I took lessons myself in Cork Dance Club – I still go! Dance classes are great places to make friends, and have some banter and craic.”

Popular classes
Kay’s classes are such a success that people come back year after year to help out, particularly the men. “More women sign up for ballroom dancing, so sometimes some of the men from previous years come back to help pair up with someone for the dances. The idea is that you rotate your partner.”

Couples, old and new, also sign up for the classes – and Kay has helped many a bride and groom to prepare for their first dance.

Stay social, keep fit
Indeed, her own husband was her dancing partner for many years. “We started dancing 20 years ago and I went ahead and did the exams.” An accomplished set dancer as well, she says there are plenty of dancing opportunities in Cork. “People can go social dancing in Ballincollig, Cobh, Douglas, Midleton or Mayfield. You’ll find dancing on at different GAA clubs. I always tell my classes that they should get out and practice.”

Not only is dancing a sociable activity, it’s a great way to keep fit. “Set dancing is more energetic, but people love the slow waltz or the slow foxtrot. You’d often see people dancing as if they’re a pair of gloves, a perfect fit. Dancing in general is a great hobby, you mix with every walk of life but you have no idea what they do as a day job. We’re all just there to learn. And you forget your troubles and focus on the enjoyment of the dance!”