Part time SNA Course in Portabello!!

aloevera

im not sure if this is the correct forum to be posting this to so sorry if it isnt in advance..

im interested in doing the part time S.N.A. Level 5 (that will qualify you to be an SNA in a creche, Primary school, and playschool one could say) course in that Portabello run, its 989Euro and starting 27th January - 19th May.

im after filling in the form, but woould like some feedback from people (who have completed the course not only in Portabello but any SNA course..) before sending it away, just incase its s***e or whatever..

and yes, i know the chances of a job in this sector are slim to none, but i want to have it under the belt for future reference, in the caswe of travel etc.. or even years to come when our wonderful economy boosts (im hopeful:D).

Cheers in advance

mamindah

Hot discussion on this topic on www.educationposts.ie, forums, sna!

The advice seems to be don't do it if you want to work as an sna. there are no jobs.

If you have another specific reason for doing it, other than for the purpose of working as an sna, then do it!!!

mamindahouse

mamindah

Hi again aloevera,

Sorry, I didn't have much time, so I just left short reply to you yesterday.

After looking at a number of comments in a few discussions in the educationposts.ie forum, I would say definitely do not do the sna course.

1. qualification does not seem to be recognised abroad. one poster said she was paid as an unskilled worker eventhough she had fetac qualificiation.

2. the sna cert or diploma is worthless in terms of gaining credits for further study, eg with the open university

3. these private 'colleges' are getting a bad name for being a money making racket, portabello especially seem to have bad reputation and are expensive

4. you are better off looking for relevant work experience, then if you get sna job (which is pretty unlikely) then do an sna course through dept of ed. these sna courses can only be done by those working as sna's (i think) and the awarding bodies are the colleges of education: st angela's sligo, mary immaculate limerick and church of ireland.

5. a lot of posters regret doing these courses as there are no jobs, no job security and no recognition

best of luck aloevera, hope this advice helps

Patsy Panda

Hi there,
I am suprised to see your comment regarding this course.I ave recenty completed this course and really enjoyed it. I gained a great understanding of special needs education. My tutor was excellent she had a lot of experience in this area and was very helpful to me throughout the course. I have been lucky enough to secure employment . I am putting so much of what I learned to practise. I personally would recommend this course to anyone who wants to work in the special needs area. I am just about to start my fetac level 6 course with portobello and am looking forward to it. :):)

Helen Kitty

I completed this course in May of last year and am still awaitng my correct cert, having been sent the wrong accreditation. I would not recommend Portobello School purely based on my experience, although I have heard of others who were thoroughly happy.

My own experience was that the tutor was dire(Dublin Centre), and as this is the responsibility if the college themselves, I would lay the blame soley at their feet, even if they provide good tutors in other parts of the country.

The course is an absolute rip off for the qualtiy of learning provided, luckily I have secured employment, but I feel I learnt absolutely nothing to equip me in my job, and am basically learning as I go. Communications from the course are extremely poor also.

Despite this, and despite the low number of jobs out there, I would recommend that you do the course with another college as it really is an amazing area to work in and I absolutely love my job.

bahktawra

do you have a course in childcare level 6 in sligo

Moonbeam

it only qualifies you to work in a creche if you have a full childcare qualification,currently there is no requirements to have any qualifications work work as an SNA in a primary or secondary school though there are less jobs then people looking for them so the more you have to back up your qualification the better.
I did it in the local VEC by evening over a few months and it was €250.
Chevron training run it by distance too.
999 sounds crazy expensive for a component certificate.