Community Learning Programme Reviewed And Refreshed - East Anglian Daily Times Education Page, 10 August 2004

As I write this it’s a lovely sunny summer day. If we’re enjoying the same glorious weather while you are reading it, you may find it a little strange that this week I’m going to talk about the Autumn. But the recent publication of the Suffolk College Community Learning Programme prospectus means the enrolment process has begun, and with some courses filling very quickly it’s well worth browsing the brochure as you lay on your sun lounger.

The College’s Community Learning Programme has been reviewed and refreshed to establish a new range of courses in some 40 centres across south Suffolk. For the Autumn 2004 programme there are almost 300 courses on offer.

In the new prospectus there is an intriguing range of opportunities among the classes making their first appearance. If, for example, the lovely weather has inspired dreams of owning your own place in the sun you’ll be interested to see that Buying a Property in Spain and Buying a Property in Turkey have joined Buying a House in France in the Languages’ portfolio. No fewer than five new topics appear in the Special Interest section. These cover subjects as diverse as Understanding Your Dog, Centuries of Soundbites, Identifying Gemstones and their Origins, Be your own Life Coach and – one close to the heart of anyone who has found themselves in this position – Help! I’ve got to speak.

You will, of course, also find plenty of the perennial favourites such as computing, cookery and literature. Here as well there are new faces among the old friends. The computing category now includes Using the Internet, eMail with Confidence, and eBay Uncovered. There are five courses flagged as new under the Cookery heading – Basic Cookery, Entertaining Guests at Home (Fine Dining), Classic English Cookery, New-Classic French Cookery and Mediterranean Cookery. Literature welcomes three new courses – Poetry Direct, Creative Writing: Introduction to Popular Fiction and Introduction to Newspaper Journalism – the last two of which are accredited by the University of East Anglia and could open the door to a Diploma in Creative Writing.

The content of the Art section boasts not only six new programmes but also a new way to enjoy Mole House Studios. This is the Art Flexi Course. You can choose eleven sessions from any of the Mole House Studios courses, except Saturday mornings. This means you can take single sessions for a day’s art or take a group of days for an art break.

You can find full details of the Community Learning Programme on the website, www.suffolk.ac.uk/community_learning, or in the printed prospectus which can either be collected from the Suffolk College Information Centre on the Rope Walk campus or your local library, or requested by calling (01473) 343666.