An evening of celebration

A great night was had in April with Roddy Doyle as our special guest to celebrate learning and accreditation. Students and their families and friends, our tutors and all our staff, including our C.E. participants, attended. There was a wonderful atmosphere and Roddy received a great welcome from one and all. Students proudly received their parchments from him; including QQI awards, Junior and Leaving Cert. English. He was most generous posing for photos with students and their supporters and chatting to all.

Then we had our students read their own work – childhood memories, managing life’s challenges, poetry and fiction. Roddy was most impressed with the readings. He had pithy, witty and sometimes dry comments to make in response to their writings, which brought about great fun and laughter.

Next we were presented with a CRAOL award for taking part in a radio programme with our local community station NearFm entitled ‘Novels, Play and Schooldays’. Our mature students studying for Leaving Certificate English went twice into the NearFM studio and spoke about their play and novel. Young school-going children also took part. The idea was to broadcast a programme which would support and enhance students’ learning for the exam. Our students reported they learned so much preparing for the programme and then discussing plots and themes together on air. A great occasion for them and a proud moment for their tutor Geraldine and all at KLEAR.

Food and refreshments followed; compliments of our E.T.B. After that we sang and danced the night away to the sound of 60’s and 70’s music. An occasion for us all to remember happily!

We are very grateful to Roddy for his time and enthusiasm. A big Thank You to those of the KLEAR staff who worked behind the scenes to make sure that the night went well. But the greatest thanks goes to Rose Brownen, our ALO, for her diligence and passion in making the night a great success.