Several TFS Yr 1 students have already achieved their essential skills and are processing to the next levels: Joseph McCarthy, Daryl Kearney, Ryan McNeill, Callum McLaughlan, Rebekah Carvill, Saffron Holli Carwford and Amy Dalton.

Amy Dalton is doing her placement in the Essential Skills department and is making an excellent contribution. She has created two display boards: one for ICT and another for employability skills. She is helping with the administrative tasks such as databases, filing, photocopying and record keeping

What is VQ Day all about?

The morning of the sponsored walk began with sunshine, optimism and plenty of energy and stamina. Two tutors and one manager from O’Boyle’s attended the walk along with fourteen students from the organisation. It was a very good turnout.

Our aim was to walk around Castlewellan Forest Park, three times which is the equivalent to ten miles. We all completed the course with ease and had great fun doing it. The students really enjoyed being outside the classroom and having the chance to be a part of a team.

Not only did we raise vital funds for Action Cancer, we also had the opportunity to bond and get to know each other better, a great opportunity to build tutor/student rapport.

Overall it was a great success and hopefully we will have raised plenty of money for a great cause. Cancer is a terrible condition for anyone to live with and can strike at anytime, therefore raising money and letting people know that we care about them and their illness is just as important as raising the profile  of Action Cancer.

“Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love the people who treat you right, forgive the ones who don’t and believe that everything happens for a reason.”

My visit to Barnaby’s was interesting; I thought it was very different to my own place as Barnaby’s has a Library and a snack/breakfast room, we had a talk with Sinead afterwards I was thinking of opening my own Nursery later in life I learnt that it would be a lot of  work and a lot of money. I didn’t know I would have to work with Social Services, Government, builders and painters. I will be thinking of what I will be wanting to do later in life.

My outing to Barnaby’s Day Nursery and our class with our Tudor Aileen. We were given a tour around the Nursery. The owner Sinead explained to us what each room contains, then Sinead gave us a talk on her journey of progressing to become a manager of her own Day Nursery. I enjoyed seeing the difference between my setting and another setting. In later years I hope to achieve something higher on in my Childcare qualification.

I found the careers visit today very interesting. I thought it was quite different to my own placement because it has a library and a breakfast/dining room. It also has an upstairs to the Nursery. We had a career’s talk with Sinead who is the manager of Barnaby’s and she told us the people who would have to be involved when opening your own Nursery they are: Social Services, Architects, Builders and Health and Safety.

Today we went to Barnaby’s day Nursery in Downpatrick for a careers talk with Sinead who is the Manager/Owner of the Nursery. She took us on a tour of the Nursery showing us all the different rooms. She talked to us about her career path to Management. She told us that there are many things she is in charge of including Finance, Staff, Maintenance and Invoices. I found this brief very useful as it gave me an idea of what qualifications I need to progress in Childcare.