
Last week many of our students got awarded certificates for learning. This is what they said:
“For a person of my age going on 60, it was nice to be back in education getting that little bit further than I would have got and to receive something for all my hard work. It does mean a lot. The only thing I ever got from school was a letter to say my homework wasn’t done right. I’d bring that home to my Ma and she would say, did you not tell the teacher I couldn’t read and write? They were the only letters I ever got. I never got rewards like that until now. I am very proud of them. It does mean an awful lot. It really does.” By Mags
“I was delighted to get a certificate for all the hard work that I put into learning. I never got any recognition for anything that I did when I was in school. This year I got the Spirit of DALC Award. I was shocked, surprised, overwhelmed and very happy to receive it. I felt so very proud of myself. My family were delighted for me too. I want to thank everyone in DALC for all the wonderful support they give me. I will always treasure my award.” By Martin
“I left school when I was 13 years old and started work in a sewing factory so I never actually done any sort of tests in school. I just went to school because I had to. I wasn’t very interested in school to be honest, because I wasn’t good at it, my reading and spelling weren’t up to scratch, and maths was the worst of all. I hated maths. I hated school. Somehow I got through life on my basic skills, getting jobs as a cleaner mostly, jobs that didn’t require me to write, spell or use maths for anything. When my children would ask me to help with homework I’d say ‘ah wait till your Da comes home.’ Then when my children got older and had their own kids, my grandchildren would ask me to help them with homework or read them a story. I said to myself, I’m going to learn, so I went to DALC and never looked back. I can read, I can write, I can use computers. And when I finish a course, I stand up and get my cert. I feel like I am intelligent for the first time in my life. I feel good, I feel happy in myself. I actually got a distinction this year for Level 4 Communications and I tell everyone I did because I’m very proud of myself. Very proud. That cert means the world to me.” By Donna Flood Chaney.
“Proof you can do the work and it can help you.” By Mary
“It felt good to know we are coming on.” By Tony
“It helps when you look for a job. It shows the difference between going for a job, to have a cert or not.” By Coolio
“It is something you never got before. It shows independence with reading, writing, listening and speaking.” By Catherine
“For me it is happiness.” By Frewoini.




