The manager in my FET Centre brought it up with us in class, saying that it was a good platform and she encouraged us to participate in it as it gives learners a voice; to let them know what we need, and what needs to be improved. I’m enjoying being a part of it. It’s been really good.
We meet regularly, online and in person, which works well for people. We’ve been mainly working on issues like transportation and work placement.
Individuals have to go and find their own work placements but if we don’t find one, sometimes the ETB can lend a hand to help us. It has not been easy. Most times, students find it hard to get work placements. It would make it easier for people on the courses to find places to do their work placements if the ETB had a list of companies who were signed up to take students. This is something the members of our Student Council would like to see happen.
Tipperary ETB Student Council
The members of Tipperary Student Council really engaged and are comfortable in saying how they feel, and how things are for students out there. I find it amazing to see how people can come together to work together to make things better for everyone. I love it there and it feels like we have a real purpose.
At our open day last week, Ciarán Kennedy (Community Education Facilitator for Wellbeing) came down to let people know about Tipperary ETB and about how to join the Student Council. He has been really supportive.
The Student Council is advertised well in my centre and students have been encouraged to join. When I started my course, they told me about it straight away. Now most of my class has joined as well as people from other classes in my centre.
Learning new skills and working with others
Since I started my course my skills have improved a lot. In my IT Skills module – I’ve learned how to use different software and IT tools, and I’ve learned to navigate the web easily for research. We had to do a group presentation on Green Schools as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Our group had to focus on water, and come up with ways that our centre could use less amount of water so we had to do a lot of research work. We’ve also worked on things like Health and Safety, and Customer Service.
This year we also did a module called Communication Skills, it enabled me with the opportunity to build self-confidence in doing presentations, to prepare for interview and in meetings with people either in social or professional settings. We did team working too, which was a good one, working with my class mates as a team and putting our heads together to make events in the centre go very well. It helped provide us with the opportunity of what it feels like to be working in a team and we collaborated very well amongst ourselves.
I now feel more comfortable doing presentations in class. We also did a practice involving interview scenarios, or a scenario where you are a retailer wanting to advertise your product to demonstrate good customer service. Also, being on the Student Council and being with people where we can voice out our opinions – that has added a lot to my confidence.
My three tutors here are fantastic. They have been so helpful and I really appreciate their support and guidance throughout this course. When it comes to my modules they assist me, and let me know what I’m supposed to do and how to do it. When I’m done, they provide feedback and suggestions on my work and has been really helpful when I’ve had any personal issues – I really appreciate them.
My experience of my course has been really positive so far. There were some difficult scenarios with research work and presentations which were overwhelming sometimes but I was able to learn from them. I saw everything as part of the process of learning – learnt how to be more dedicated and organised. I’ve learned a lot of new skills so far both personally and professionally.
What are my future plans? I hope to advance to Level 5 and from there go on to university. I would like to do a degree and I’m thinking about applying for Psychology in SETU University.
Check out our website to learn more about Learner Voice training and Learner Champions
For more information contact Karyn at kfarrell@aontas.com
Learn more by visiting onestepup.ie
