News & Events

TYs very creative today in Home Economics with our Irish staple food. They were given the task of cooking potatoes in a variety of different ways. They made wedges, potatoe cakes, hash browns, French fries, potatoe cubes, mash and roast potatoes.

On Friday last, 6th May, Nenagh College of Further Education hosted their first graduation ceremony since 2019. Graduates were accompanied by their families and friends with our senior cycle students, teachers and PLC tutors present in the gym. This day is always a very proud day in the life of Nenagh College of Further Education whereby we celebrate the achievements of our adult learners in a special way.

The PLC Co-Ordinator, Lucinda Dillon commented in her opening address that people do PLC courses for many different and varied reasons:

• To gain skills in an area of interest
• To upskill or retrain to change career
• To use it as a steppingstone to enter colleges and universities to pursue further and higher education

The Class of 2022 saw a number of changes and initiatives including:

• Our new Business Administration Course replaced our previous Information Processing programme
• The launch of the new Early Learning and Care course nationally, replacing the old childcare award
• Erasmus+ Programme

Lucinda also took the opportunity to thank our work experience providers on taking our students year after year for without them we couldn’t run such ambitious programmes as a college – TY, LCA, LCVP and PLC. She commented, “That’s why it’s so important to support our local businesses.”

Our 4 QQI Level 5 PLC Programmes on offer for 2022/23 are:

1. Applied Social Studies with Healthcare
2. Business Administration
3. Early Learning and Care
4. Sports, Recreation and Exercise

Finally, it was officially unveiled that Nenagh College of Further Education was granted Erasmus+ Programme status in early 2020 just as the world was going into lockdown with Covid restrictions. Thankfully, the grant funding was frozen for the duration and became available to use once restrictions lifted earlier this year. This now means that 10 lucky PLC students are traveling to Malaga, Spain to do a 2-week work-placement on 22nd May – 4th June. This trip is totally funded by the EU.

Vinnie Graham from Nenagh, a member of the Irish Special Olympics Skiing team has recently spent a week training in Soll, Austria.

The Special Olympics World Championships were due to take place in Kazan in Russia in 2022. However due to the conflict in Ukraine, the World Championships have been cancelled.

Vinnie, who is in second year in Nenagh College, has been training hard at the artificial ski slope in Kiltiernan, Dublin. He really enjoyed his week of training which enabled him to improve his skills and prepare for more competitions in the future.

Nenagh College’s Big brother big sister group celebrated the end of their mentoring programme with a fun filled afternoon in Foroige youth club in Nenagh! Well done to the First Years and Transitions Years who took part in the programme👏🙌🎉

Bienvenue to our French exchange students Jeanne Lucas from Nantes and Maellis Behlouli from Normandy, who are attending Nenagh College this term. Their presence is a great asset to the students of French in the school, giving them to opportunity to practise their French and learn about the culture. They are pictured with French teacher Mairead Sammon.

Nenagh College hosted the Alzheimer’s tea day last week. Thanks to Mr.Kennedy for sponsoring the teas/coffees and biscuits. Thanks to Mel McKibbon Chairperson of the Nenagh Alzheimer’s Society  for calling out on the day and for supplying the balloons and posters for the event. Many thanks to our wonderful Transition Year students Lucy, Nikola and Michael for helping out on the day. Finally thanks very much to Laura and team from Get fresh in then canteen for keeping the teas and coffees coming!

On Wednesday the 4th of May, the 5th year students of Nenagh College paid a visit to the Blackcastle Farm just outside of Thurles. The students that attended are each taking one or more of the following choice subjects; Agricultural Science, Home Economics and LCVP. For the Agricultural Science students, this trip was beneficial to them as it was an opportunity to have hands-on experience on a farm. This provided them with real-life examples of different cattle breeds and their maintenance as well as the grass types. They were informed about the herd of Piedmontese cattle and their special qualities. This breed of cow produces much healthier cuts of beef due to the high muscle mass compared to low fat quantity. The cows are reared by their mother until they are ten months old. This breed of cattle is kept indoors during the three coldest months of the year as they do not adjust well to the cold dampness. The cows’ coats are entirely white once reared but are brown as calves. As the farm is striving to be eco-friendly there is an abundance of biodiversity to be seen. This includes the uncut hedgerows of 10 years that are home to birds and other wildlife and an abundance of wildflowers due to the acre planted to help bees thrive but also the lack of pesticide use.

The students who study Home Economics got a preview of a Health and Safety approved system producing and packaging beef products. Each member of the team had an assigned job, each wore the appropriate PPE and had time management skills. This kept the system in place efficiently. They were shown the machinery that minced the beef and incased the sausages in a collagen wrap. They watched how the sausages were counted, placed in packaging, and labelled by hand. All cuts of meat were held in a walk-in fridge of 4 degrees Celsius. When the products were placed in boxes, they were placed with dry ice packets, this was in case the products stayed out of the appropriate temperature. The dry ice would ensure they were kept cold to prevent the growth of microorganisms such as pathogenic bacteria. As there was also a kitchen and chef on duty, the Home Economics class benefited in the culinary aspect too. They got to witness technique as well as be introduced to new dishes.

The trip to Blackcastle Farm was an important experience for the LCVP students for their reports on organizing an outing. This gave a primary example for them to analyze and piece together the factors it took to organize. This includes the transportation by bus, the arranging of the venue, the scheduling of the trip and costs. The LCVP students got to view the processes of an up-and-coming local business. These students came prepared with questions to interview the hosts with and to understand their organization better.

This trip was beneficial all around and was a memorable and enjoyable outing.