Did you hear one of our learners on RTE's Ryan Tubridy Show recently describingAn Cosán as 'a diamond'?
Sarah Jane Deegan, who recently completed our six-week Return To Learning course, was expressing her gratitude for the way An Cosán is helping turn her life around after she fell through the cracks of mainstream education.
"The whole atmosphere of the place is fantastic," she said. "There was no pressure; we worked as a team and there was a lot of love in the classroom."
It gives us great joy to hear from our learners and graduates how An Cosán is helping them improve their circumstances - not only for themselves, but for their families and communities too.
You can listen back to the interview on the RTE website.
Three of our staff members also took to the airwaves recently. Debra Crawley, Avril Hannifin and Sonya Doherty spoke so passionately about the transformative power of community education, our pioneering work around Digital Inclusion and the warm welcome everyone receives at An Cosán that, by the end of the interview, the Near FM presenter, Victoria Williams, was all set to call in for our famous tea and scones and to sign up to one of our courses! You can listen back to the interview here.
I'm delighted to share that our expanding Digital Inclusion Team has been continuing to build on the success of Get Yourself Online Week with our Get Yourself Online campaign now rolling out across the country. We now have over 30 Digital Champions signed up with each champion working within their local community.
An Cosán is committed to playing an important part in ensuring that Ireland achieves the European Union target of at least 80% of adults with basic digital skills by 2030.
There is a great deal of work to be done to achieve this target, given that one in two adults in Ireland currently lacks basic digital skills. But, with our free digital tools and resources developed in partnership with Accenture, our passionate Digital Inclusion Team (pictured below) and our Digital Champions are committed to helping adult learners across the country upskill so they have the digital know-how required to learn, work and participate fully in society.
We are thrilled that our work with Accenture has been recognised by the Charities Institute Ireland. Last week we heard the good news that we are finalists in the Corporate Charity Partnership category of the Charity Excellence Awards 2022.
We have been busy working on our new calendar for the coming academic year and are excited to announce that we are adding some exciting new courses starting in September. See our Adult Education section to find out more.
None of our Adult Community Education or holistic wraparound supports could go ahead without funding and, on this note, we are looking forward to seeing many of you, our valuable supporters, for ourGolf Classic on 26th August. You can book your place (or sponsor a prize!) at this link. Further details are in our Happenings section.
I hope you are having a relaxing and enjoyable summer and, once again, thank you for your ongoing support.
Yours in solidarity,
Heydi Foster
CEO An Cosán
@HeydiFoster
Learner Voices
Ashling and Sarah Jane
In this video Ashling Collins and Sarah Jane Deegan share how completing our six-week Return To Learning course funded by Coca-Cola HBC has given them a solid foundation to start a Level 5 course with us in September.
"I want to better my life for myself and my children and the beginning of it is this," says Sarah Jane.
"There is a big opportunity there; An Cosán is amazing for helping people," says Ashling.
We were pleased to welcome Minister Heather Humphreys and Coca-Cola HBC Ireland MD Miles Karemacher to our Jobstown centre recently to discover how our courses are empowering young women to return to education and the workplace by boosting their digital skills and their confidence.
The Path of Lifelong Learning
We have a range of Access and Further Education programmes starting in September, including some brand new courses, which we are very excited about! Details below:
We hope at least one will appeal to you, or to someone you know. Please do spread the word and please also let people know about our unique holistic approach - that we offer Early Year's education and care, financial support, IT support, laptop loans, and one-to-one mentoring, tutoring and counselling.
You can submit any queries you may have to us at this link.
We would also encourage you to register for our next online information session. These take place every Friday at 11am and are a perfect opportunity to ask any questions you may have.
Our Early Years' educators across our seven centres were busy in June organising events to mark the end of the academic year. They found many creative ways for our little ones to mark the end of a year of learning. Day trips, sports days, graduation ceremonies and sing-songs all proved popular ... as did a visit from a clown!
Pursuing the HighScope curriculum gives children exactly the confidence and independence they need to take the next step in their educational journey. Those moving on to BIG school took part in transition activities to help them prepare, like trying on school uniforms, reading books about going to school and creating a Mo Scéal (My Story) book, which tells the story of the child’s interests, strengths and challenges. We wish them all the best for the next stage of their educational journey!
If you have any questions about the Golf Classic, please do not hesitate to contact our Grants and Development Officer, Michael Hanly, at [email protected].
Well done to Team An Cosán who braved the elements to take part in this year's VHI Women's Mini Marathon! Lorraine, Sally and Aga raised over €500, which will be spent on extra resources to support the learning and development of the children in Early Years Jobstown where they work.
We are hugely grateful to Accenture who recently donated 47 laptops to us. These are proving a great asset in our Digital Inclusion work, including for the Digital Skills workshops we are running for learners, tutors and community partners over the summer.
Our Digital Skills workshops are taking place from 10:00-12:30 and 14:00-16:00 every Wednesday.
Workshops for tutors and community partners include an introduction to Digital Stepping Stones, Skills to Succeed Academy and other resources and tools that can be used in supporting the upskilling of adults' digital skills.
To find out more or book a place on one of these workshops, email [email protected]
We had another great turnout for the last in ourInnovating Community Health series of talks we co-hosted with Trinity College Dublin (TCD)'s Academic Primary Care Centre Tallaght.
Prof Mary McCarron, Professor of Ageing and Intellectual Disability at TCD, addressed the topic 'Improving the Patient Journey for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities'. The series of talks was such a success that plans are already underway to hold another series, starting in the autumn.
Two of our staff members accompanied two young fathers taking part in the10th Erasmus+ partner meeting of the Europe-wide Fatherhood Project. The meeting, which took place on the Aegina Island in Greece involved a series of workshops and activities, including a spot of sightseeing!
It was an intense but rewarding week of learning and shared experiences, which saw the fathers taking part in interviews and other activities. As part of the Fatherhood Project, An Cosán is involved in developing training materials to support young menin their parenting role and developing healthy family habits.
And finally ... a big shout out to one of our main donors, theCommunity Foundation for Ireland(CFI), for all their support. Recently, they approved funding for our initiative to supportUkrainian women and children. We have already welcomed a group of Ukrainians to Jobstown and we look forward to welcoming more to use our services and supports.
CFI also funds our Mother and Baby Group Programme and, over the next two years, we will welcome through our doors many proud mams and new-borns as they participate in this new parenting programme. Thanks to CFI funding, we also recently kitted out our three Tallaght West Early Years centres with specialised sensory equipment, which has been fantastic news for our inquisitive little ones!
It is through the support of organisations like CFI and our other valuable donors and supporters that we can continue our work transforming the lives of adults, children and communities across Ireland.
Supporting You
Our wraparound supports are provided to our learners and members of our community to support them with the challenges they may face.
Mentoring
Tutoring
Family Supports
Counselling
Early Years
To find out about the supports we offer, contact us at 01 462 8488, [email protected] or on our website.
