Celebrate Learning – The AONTAS STAR Awards - Showcasing Teamwork, Awarding Recognition
The STAR Awards
The STAR Awards 2010 - Winners announced!
index
- Local Ulster Winner
- Local Munster Winner
- Local Leinster Winner
- Dublin Local Winner
- Regional Ulster Winner
- Regional Munster Winner
- Regional Leinster Winner
- Regional Dublin Winner
- Local and Regional Connaught Winner
- Nationwide Winner
- Once Off Initiatives Winner
- Projects in Progress Winner
- Workplace Learning Winner
The STAR Awards Ceremony is about showcasing teamwork and awarding recognition - it's about acknowledging the fantastic work undertaken by adult learning projects throughout the country. Most of all, it is about celebrating the positive contribution that these projects make to our society, our economy and our local communities.
110 nominations came from adult learning organisations, community and voluntary groups, the business sector, government agencies, statutory bodies and NGOs. Thirteen awards were made in total - to projects working within Ulster, Munster, Leinster, Dublin, Connaught and throughout Ireland both in the local community and in the wider county and province. STAR Awards were also awarded in the Workplace Learning, Projects in Progress and Once Off Initiatives categories following their successful introduction for the STAR Awards 2009.
Nominated projects were requested to demonstrate the following criteria:
- A high level of teamwork and partnership amongst participant groups
- A learner centred approach to education provision
- Adult education practice and methodologies
At the STAR Awards Ceremony on Monday, 22 February 2010 in Dublin, the thirteen winning projects received their STAR Awards. The STAR Awards have been awarded for outstanding, learner centred adult and community education projects which demonstrate high levels of collaboration amongst participant groups. The learning involved has included learning for personal fulfilment, social change, active citizenship, skills development, community development and other related fields. The awards have highlighted and supported the collaborative learning approach which is vital to developing healthy and vibrant communities.
And the Winners are...
Local Ulster Winner
Winner: First Steps Women's Centre (FSWC)
First Steps Women's Centre (FSWC) is an organisation based in Dungannon, Co Tyrone offering a wide range of training
to all women within the local area and also as far afield as Clogher and Fivemiletown. Since its establishment 1998,
"First Steps Women's Centre" has been a beacon of hope and support for many women in Dungannon. Programmes
are developed in consultation with the local community and aim to build confidence, well being and friendships
was well as developing academic skills. The Centre's success is also exemplified by statistics from their courses and
feedback from centre users. Since the commencement of courses for the September 2008 academic year FSWC have
achieved retention rates of between 80% and 100% for all their courses, with pass rates on average of over 95%.
Highly Commended: Women's TEC
The aim of the Women's TEC project is to upskill women aged 16+ years & raise awareness and provide
non-traditional skills training which will engage women to consider employment.
Local Munster Winner
Winner: Downtown Centre
Established in 2007, the Downtown Centre is an access, guidance and support centre for adults who are
seeking to progress to higher education. The Centre is a collaborative initiative of the Shannon Consortium
partners - the University of Limerick, Limerick Institute of Technology, Mary Immaculate College and the
Institute of Technology Tralee - and is funded by the Higher Education Authority Strategic Innovation
Fund, Cycle One. The Centre aims to attract a diversity of applicants to higher education by providing
a small, welcoming and accessible environment in which adults can seek information and guidance on
progressing to third-level education and can attend information seminars and workshops to support them
in making their decision about their third-level learning options.
Highly Commended: Scarriff Community Garden Project
The Garden Project aimed to create a community space where those from all walks of life, with an interest
in gardening could work collectively and learn the necessary skills to promote community and to develop
a community garden.
Local Leinster Winner
Winner: Revamp Training Project
The Revamp Project is a non-profit making furniture recycling and reuse project established in 2002 as a social
enterprise to reduce waste and provide training for young people from a welfare dependent background.
It is a tailor made programme providing a mixture of learning and manual work devised by FAS and the
Department of Social and Family Affairs in conjunction with the Longford Employment, Development and
Information Centre. The 48 week course, accredited by FETAC involved personal development, information
technology, literacy and numeracy as well as three practical subjects: upholstery, woodwork and tiling.
Through the Revamp Furniture Store, which was established following the success of the project, quality
furniture is provided at affordable prices, demonstrating the multiple benefits of reuse and recycling. Over
70% of the trainees have progressed into full time employment, apprenticeships or further education or
training.
Highly Commended: The 5 to 6 Womens' Art Project
The 5 to 6 Womens' Art Project is a community development programme for the benefit of socioeconomic
disadvantaged women and women who feel isolated or marginalised in Kilkenny City and County. It
provides support and arts education activities, encouraging life long learning.
Dublin Local Winner
Winner: RADE Ltd. Recovery through Art, Drama and Education
RADE was established in August 2004 with a dual function to be an innovative high quality arts project
and an effective intervention programme aimed at helping drug users. Participants come from a variety
of backgrounds, levels of addiction and illness. The programme engages recovering drug users in arts
activities by working with their inherent creativity to use it as a resource to promote positive change.
Through working with professional artists towards public productions the programme competes in an
active way with the passive stimulation experienced by drug taking and helps to promote self education,
confidence and self esteem. Working in Dublin 8, RADE seeks to enable participants to broaden horizons
by engaging in cultural pursuits as an alternative to drug use.
Highly Commended: Degree Programme in Leadership & Community Development
The Degree Programme in Leadership & Community Development was developed by An Cosán, based
in West Tallaght and IT Carlow. Many of the students are early school leavers, from disadvantaged,
marginalised and/or minority backgrounds. All of the students work in either a paid or voluntary capacity
in the local community
Regional Ulster Winner
Winner: Women's Health & Well Being Programme
Over the past eighteen months Donegal Women's Network, (DWN) in partnership with the Women's
Health Development Officer (WHDO) HSE West, have designed, developed and delivered a Women's
Health and Well Being Programme (WHWB). It provides opportunities for women with a wide variety of
experience, both lived and professional, to learn together about working with groups. As they acquire the
skills and knowledge to fulfill their commitment to the project, they themselves learn and grow together.
This project availed of the experience of women who were first-time adult learners alongside those with
professional qualifications. Some of the women are already pursuing further studies. During this training
the women connected on a personal level with each other and brought the fruits of their learning to the
much wider community of women as adult learners in Donegal. This programme is now being rolled out
in County Sligo and it is envisaged that it will also be delivered in County Leitrim.
Highly Commended: Co Monaghan High Support Process (HSP)
The main objective of Co Monaghan HSP is to adapt a multi-agency approach to implementing supports/
interventions to enable marginalised clients to overcome barriers and progress into education, training
and/or employment.
Regional Munster Winner
Winner: National Learning Network, Focus Programme
The Focus programme was the result of a review of Mental Health Services carried out by National Learning Network
and the HSE which recommended (1) an increase in the number of rehabilitative training places within the mental health service and (2) exploration of innovative rehabilitative training initiatives. The aim of this programme is
to empower participants with mental ill health to avail of opportunities to enhance their personal development,
community integration, vocational orientation and physical and mental well-being. The design of the programme
strives to provide and deliver a meaningful and holistic service to people with mental ill health in their own community.
The Focus Programme endeavors to improve the quality of its participants' life through social interventions leading
to greater inclusion, integration and destigmatisation. The project is based in Raheen in Limerick.
Highly Commended: The Grotto Learning Project
The Grotto Learning Project is an adult education project based in the Childers Road Halting Site in Limerick.
In January 2009, it was suggested by learners that they work on Our Lady's Grotto on-site which was built some
16 years previous and was the worst for wear after years of exposure to the elements. The initiative lead to
increased levels of enthusiasm amongst participants.
Regional Leinster Winner
Winner: Co. Longford Adult Educational Guidance Service
Co. Longford Adult Educational Guidance Service was established in 2001. The aim of Co. Longford Adult
Educational Guidance Service is to provide a professional and comprehensive educational guidance service
to adults returning to education and training. Although the service was initially set up to work with specific
target groups namely Adult Literacy, VTOS, BTEI, Community Education and clients from the Education
Finance Board, the Guidance Service identified gaps in provision and expanded its service to embrace
learners who were presenting themselves to other key agencies in search of direction and guidance.
These clients include long-term unemployed, lone parents, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities,
and represent the most marginalised and socially excluded in the county. Co. Longford Adult Educational
Guidance Service recognises that education is a very powerful tool in combating poverty, social exclusion,
and disadvantage. The guidance service plays a pivotal role in enabling and empowering adult learners to
access educational opportunities, both locally and nationally.
Highly Commended: The Six Book Challenge
The Six Book Challenge is an initiative introduced in 2008 by the Reading Agency in the UK. Kilkenny
County Library registered to take part in the challenge with the aim of involving reluctant adult readers
with their local library.
Regional Dublin
Winner: Soilse Career Guidance Service
The aim of the Soilse Career Guidance Service is to facilitate participants in planning future careers,
provide career guidance, and in turn help participants to address obstacles to progression. Participants in
Soilse all come from a drug addiction background, having experienced extreme forms of social exclusion,
manifested by homelessness, criminal records, early school leaving, no work history, family breakdown and
poor life expectancy. Soilse's career guidance staff are seconded by the CDVEC where the emphasis is on
adult educational progression. The career guidance practitioners in Soilse operate as facilitators working
in partnership with the learner, with shared power, where career goals are carefully designed by offering
explanation, guidance, counsel, critique and encouragement. Soilse was established in 1992.
Highly Commended: Open Learning Centre
Established in 1986 as part of the Central Library, The Open Learning Centre is a unique learning facility
offering access to all regardless, of age, social status or ethnicity. It constitutes a unique, safe, organic
learning environment, where people from 124 countries come to learn together. Courses are self learning,
so students can learn at their own pace
Local and Regional Connaught Winner
Winner: The Luisne Art Project
The Luisne Art Project was developed in 2005 by a group of Artists in collaboration with The Crann Mor
Centre, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo. It is an Arts Disability Programme. The members of the Crann Mor centre
meet at TACU Family Resource Centre, Ballinrobe for weekly facilitated workshops. The purpose of the
programme has been to establish a long-term art project of quality, which responds to the talents and
needs of the participants of the centre. It recognizes the importance of art and creativity as a positive and
powerful force in the lives of the individuals. The philosophy of the project is underpinned by a belief in
the equality and integration of people with disability in society. Since the project was established in 2005,
17 service users have taken part. The project is supported by a partnership between the Western Care
Association and the Arts Office of Mayo County Council.
Highly Commended: Barrel Top Wagon Project
The Barrel Top Wagon Project is a multidisciplinary group endeavour which aims to construct to a high
standard a traditional Traveller Barrel Top Wagon. It is run as part of the Back to Education Initiative (BTEI)
under the County Galway VEC in partnership with The Western Traveller and Intercultural Development
Association (WTIDA) based in the Bru Bhride Centre in Tuam.
Nationwide Winner
Winner: Open Training College - BA in Applied Social Studies (Disability)
The BA in Applied Social Studies (Disability) is offered to adult learners' nationwide working in the
disability sector. It is founded on a three-way collaborative approach between the Open Training College,
the employing agency and the student, which supports the application of learning in the workplace. The
course is extremely flexible and is open to any student who is part-time, full-time or volunteering in an
agency. The aim of the degree course is to upskill those staff members working in disability agencies
nationwide so that they can learn best practices and affect positive change on the ground that in turn
directly helps people with disabilities, their families and the larger community. The course is designed in
a way that helps adult learners to return to education in the most comfortable, accessible and supportive
manner. It's an open learning course which is HETAC accredited and offers adult learners the option of
completing the course at their own pace and at a time that suits them.
Highly Commended: ARI "Train the Trainers" (IT Skills) - IT Training Scheme for Active Retirement
Ireland Members
ARI Train the Trainers (IT Skills) is an initiative for retired people throughout the Republic of Ireland.
Participants receive hands-on instruction from ComputerGym in a Mobile Computer Lab in one location in
each of Active Retirement Ireland's Regions.
Once Off Initiatives Winner
Winner : "How to Learn English in Ireland?" Four Part Community Radio Documentary Series
"How to Learn English in Ireland?" is a four part community radio documentary series designed to offer a
practical 'road map' for learning English as a second language in Ireland and throw light on the practical
steps people can take to learn the English language. The project gave a great insight into the practical
advice, support and encouragement Irish people can offer someone who is learning English or struggling
to communicate in the English language. The radio series was a collaborative project produced by Dublin
South FM Community Radio Station in association with County Laois VEC, County Dublin VEC and City
of Dublin VEC. Project participants included ESOL learners attending English classes throughout the
participating VEC's. The radio series features interviews with people who are learning English as a Second
language (ESOL Learners) and numerous Irish contributors. Everybody who participated in interviews did
so voluntarily and gave willingly of their time.
Highly Commended: Women Together Community Education Calendar
The Community Education calendar project involves eleven women's community education groups from
around Galway City who have each taken a photograph for the calendar that represents their identity as a
group. All proceeds from the sale of the calendar will go to COPE Waterside House.
Projects in Progress Winner
Winner: Song for All
The 'Song for All' project is a partnership between the Carlow Education and Training Centre, a Senior
Traveller Training Centre, and the University of Limerick. The project aims to provide a programme of
study for members of the Traveller community to further both their musical education and their personal
development. Two learners from the Centre have received much local acclaim for their singing and this
prompted the Centre to explore different possibilities into how it might be possible to develop both
their musical talents and at the same time encourage their formal educational development. Following
intensive discussions with the Carlow Education & Training Centre, the learners and the University of
Limerick offered the learners a place on the Certificate in Music and Dance, after they had successfully
passed an audition, and the Centre provided the pastoral and academic support for the learners to be able
to study this course whilst based in Carlow and without them having to leave their community.
Highly Commended: Blended Learning Project
Co. Meath VEC Adult Basic Education Service in conjunction with NALA, helped pilot a Blended Learning
project, which provided the opportunity for centre-based learners to achieve FETAC Level 2 accreditation
through on-line assessment using the new NALA Writeon.ie website.
Workplace Learning Winner
Winner: National Certificate in Butchering Skills
The National Certificate in Butchering Skills (NCBS) is the first national qualification for butchers in the
history of the state. It comprises of eight modules, four of which were developed by Associated Craft
Butchers of Ireland. All are individually FETAC certified and together constitute the NCBS. The team at
ACBI strives to put young and old butchers through a dedicated programme that will lead to certification.
Each learner receives individual attention from their dedicated assessor. Assessors are all ex butchers, who
have owned businesses themselves and they want to see candidates thrive through learning on the job
and mentoring. The National Certificate in Butchering Skills was established in 2005 and its first graduates
graduated in 2009.
Highly Commended: Cater Pass (FETAC III Food & Nutrition Accreditation)
The Catering & Hospitality Skillnet is a non-profit organisation funded through the Department of Enterprise,
Trade & Employment, established for the benefit of Catering & Hospitality Industries Nationwide. During
the development phase of the Skillnet tremendous emphasis was made with plotting the path for designing
and creating Cater Pass.
