Adam Werney has been attending the Aspire Centre for 5 years participating in personal development and family learning courses. He has 2 children; Daniel aged 9 years and pupil at Sheringdale Primary School and Emily aged 13 years and a pupil at Ricards Lodge High School. He first came to the centre to complete a Parent & Child rock climbing course and following on from that attended course in Family Cooking, Pottery, Textiles, Arts & Crafts, Baking, Groovy Science, iMovie and Caribbean Cookery. Adam hs progressed on to adult learning courses and has attended Spanish Level 1 and 2 and is currently registered on the Italian Cookery course. He finds this new course creative and useful and says that his family have benefitted from the Italian recipes.

One of Adam's favourite courses was the rock climbing and he has developed a personal interest in this area as he is now a keen climber and member of Southfields Mountain Sports Club. He says "Every time I go climbing it is a personal challenge for me - whether it's on a climbing wall or mountain crag. Most people have some fear of heights and I am no different. Seing my son reach the top of the climbing wall for the first time was a great feeling of achievement for him and me."

He fully beleives in lifelong learning and as a former pupil at Southfields he has enjoyed compelting Family learning courses as it has given him the opportunity to catch up on things he missed out on at school. He says that "the range of opportunites for recreation and learning is wide and full of variety for both adults and children. Parent and child classes provide a great opportunity for learning something new together. There is always something new that catches your eye and makes you think that would be interesting. Family learning classes give you the chance to gain new experiences and skill in areas that perhaps you would not usually consider."

He believes that the main reason why Family Learning is so rewarding and successful is because it gives parents uninterrupted quality time to learn and have fun with their child away from the distractiuons of modern life at home. He says "I always recommend courses to family and friends; the facilities are great and the staff are always welcoming, enthusiastic and supportive."

Grandmother Angela Eyers regularly attends the Aspire Centre @ Southfields Community College for adult learning.  She first came to the centre to complete a basic CV workshop and then progressed on to complete a Computer Basic Skills course to help her with her future employment.  Following on from this, she realised the importance of gaining a basic skills qulaification to help her with her jobsearch and as such registered on an Adult Literacy Level 1 course. This year Angela is working towards her Adult Literacy Level 2 qualification and, as an experienced parent, she currently supports the weekly parent drop-in session at the Aspire. While attending this session, Angela was given information about a Community Health Development Programme run by Wandsworth NHS and held at the Katherine Lowe Settlement. She attended this course and achieved a certificate of attendance.

Angela is delighted that she is still learning and achieving things as a mature student and takes great pleasure in being a positive role model for her daughter and grandson.

Angela's daugher, MArsha, also makes use of the services on offer. She has previously achieved Literacy Level 2 and currently attends the parent weekly drop-in sessions with her mother. Marsha's son is a student at the College. There are times during the week when he and his mum are learning in the same building at the same time. He thinks that this is great and is very proud of the progress both his mum and gran have made on their courses. He said "Mum is learning new things and then she is teaching them to me."

Together Marsha and her son have completed a Family Learning Baking course, as well as a Parent and Child Rock Climbing course, both of which they really enjoyed. Marsha sadi, "I wanted to share an activity that we would both enjoy while at the asme time learning something new. It was terrific to work with my son in this way and it gave me an opportunity to see how he learns alongside other young people."

Both Angela and Marsha think that 'Lifelong Learning' affords people an excellent opportunity to catch up on things they missed when at school and that it also gives adults a chance to do something completely new. Marsha said "It gives you the chance to gain qualifications if you wish, but just as importantly it allows you to socialize and meet others."

When asked what they would say to other families about trying a family learning course, they all said at the same time...
"Go for it!"