WEA courses

Welcome to the French Beginners Course! Embark on an exciting journey to learn the basics of French. Through fun, interactive lessons, you'll master common greetings, essential vocabulary, and pronunciation. Progress to basic conversations about everyday topics like food, travel, and hobbies. You'll learn to order in a café, discuss friends and family, and ask for simple touristic information. Explore French culture, traditions, and landmarks to deepen your understanding. By the end of the course, you'll feel confident introducing yourself in French and engaging in simple conversations. Let’s begin this adventure together! Bon voyage! (Have a good journey!)

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the world of textiles, covering the fundamental techniques and creative possibilities of working with various fabrics and fibres. Participants will explore different methods of textile creation, including weaving, knitting, dyeing, and printing. Through hands-on projects, demonstrations, and guided exercises, students will develop their skills and artistic expression in textile arts. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the properties of different materials, mastering essential techniques, and fostering creativity in design and execution.

We will explore the developments in Modern 20th century sculpture through the work of a selection of women sculptors. Then we will consider the way these sculptors experimented with shape and form, in figurative representational and abstract ways which often pushed boundaries and set precedents. We will analyse the sculptor's styles and choice/use of different mediums. We will also consider the wider chronological context of sculpture and how these sculptors relate to the developments. This course is for learners who have an interest in Art and a curiosity for this three-dimensional medium. The course material will cover a range of 20th century material, making comparisons and contrasts.

If you enjoy music, then this course is for you! We will be doing some listening and moving to music. You may like to follow some of the rhythms in the music and play or sing along. There will be some old favourites for you to enjoy and maybe even remember the words. We may learn something new, just to give ourselves a bit of a challenge! We may even compose our own songs! But don’t worry, there will be plenty of help to make this easy! No experience is needed to take part in this course. Taking part will lift your spirits and make your heart sing! The Reaching Out Programme classes are open to people living in the community that can have their needs met by the class. This is a class for people with a learning disability.

Develop foundational reading skills with this non-accredited Pre-entry Reading course. This English course is for speakers of other languages and is a face-to-face class in a local centre.This ESOL reading course helps people who are just starting to learn English. It will help you gain confidence reading short simple texts and common words in English. What we’ll cover:- Recognise the letters of the alphabet in upper and lower case; use an understanding of letters and sounds to identify common English words in everyday situations; read signs, symbols and texts you will come across in the community; and understand how punctuation is used to help you read more easily.

This course is designed to work in conjunction with our entry level ESOL courses, and will allow learners to put the skills learnt in this course into practice. Learners will have the opportunity to develop relationships alongside each other, rehearsing spoken English in a fun and relaxed environment. These sessions are designed to add to learners wellbeing, as well as mastering their current learnt English.

Beginner’s Digital Skills course for adults. Learn basic computer skills and get digitally fit for modern life. Learning for life and work. Learn to use digital devices and gain essential computer skills for professional and personal use. Digital training helps you move with the times and not get left behind. This beginner’s course is for anyone who wants to learn digital skills, no matter your current knowledge. This course is appropriate for complete beginners, so don’t worry if this is all new to you. Learn to use word processing software and fill out online forms in this Digital Skills course. Understand how to use email and search for information online. This digital skills training also teaches you how to shop online securely. You’ll understand online safety and data storage. Digital courses online offer you learning for life and work. You’ll learn digital skills to help you in your everyday life. This course could also help you progress to job roles that require digital work skills.

Experiment with a range of materials and complete a number of exciting projects in art including landscape painting and a personal project. This course offers expert but accessible instruction in drawing, colour mixing, landscape painting and a personal project such as a portrait or abstract design. The course takes place at Ashley Place, which is a residential home for adults with a physical disability, but the course is open to everyone from the community with or without a disability.

We will consider a range of films, from classics to contemporary cinema. We will discuss the style and meaning of diverse extracts drawing on key ideas from Film Studies. We will consider films from diverse countries, comparing and contrasting these with American and British cinema. The class will be organised around discussion of selected extracts, with guidance on points to look for, including different aspects of film such as the screenplay and cinematography. Students will be encouraged to develop their responses in small groups. Case studies will be included on Alfred Hitchcock and British cinema.

Plays of Brian Friel will be studied, read and workshopped. The group will discuss his stage devices and how his plays might be produced. We shall look at aspects of how he creates characters and tells epic stories on stage that resonate with current modern theatre audiences. His plays use intriguing theatrical metaphors and poetic structures to reflect on the ways in which Ireland has evolved, resisted and grown over its history. Friel’s writing produces powerful imagery on-stage that take audiences into the heart of the issues he explores. Over ten weeks, two to three plays will be discussed and workshopped to appreciate the various theatrical devices that Friel often uses.