Our 12 Week Certificate Course is an intensive course that is hard work and great fun.
We have students from all over the world of all different ages and backgrounds and we hope that every student enjoys the course. However depending on what stage of your life you are at you might find different things a challenge. This page hopes to point some of these out to you so that you can be aware of them and better able to deal with them.
If you are coming to us straight out of school, we have put together a few points to help you and your parents understand the challenges you will face and how to get the most out of the course.
For many of you, unless you were in a boarding school, this will most likely be the first time you have lived somewhere other than the family home. It is great fun to live in a house with other young people but it also puts responsibility on you. You might find that this is your first time needing to do some of the chores for yourself, you can chat through with your parents some points around doing your laundry and keeping yourself well. We expect students living in communal accommodation to work together to keep the house tidy and well maintained.
We expect all students to turn up for class every day. We take a roll call and require that you are in class each day. We also have lots of extra items happening in the morning and evening. These are optional, but we strongly encoursage all our students to take advantage of all these options
The course is busy and tiring. Sometimes it is easy to work hard all day and play hard in the evening. It is important to stop and take stock everynow and again so as not to tire yourself out.
We understand that living away from home and having to deal with lots of new situations can be quite overwhelming for some people. We have dedicated members of staff who are very happy for you to approach them if you are finding it all a bit too much or having difficulty with some aspect of the course. Please don't hesitate to contact the office if you feel this way while on the course.
Alcohol and illegal Drugs are a fact of life.
Ballymaloe Cookery School has a zero tolerance policy on use of illegal drugs. If you are using illegal drugs while at Ballymaloe Cookery School you will be asked to leave the course and we will not provide a refund.
Ballymaloe Cookery School has a zero tolerence policy of abuse of Alcohol . We know many people like to enjoy alcohol sensibly and we do not wish to interfere with any student over 18 who wishes to have a drink. However, being drunk repeatedly, missing class due to hangovers, any threatening behaviour towards anyone, but particularly other students will be treated very seriously and may result in the student being asked to leave the course.
The course is busy and hard work and we know students will have a few drinks. However any use of alcohol that interferes with your or anyone elses ability to enjoy the course will be treated very seriously.
