Castletown mum tells story of going back to school

Going back to education in your 40s isn't easy, especially when you don't have good memories of school and you've spent the last 25 years rearing children. But that's exactly what mum-of-eight Jackie Finney (45) from Castletown, Navan, did and, since then, she has never looked back. Jackie will appear on RTE's 'Stuck for Words' documentary series that highlights the lives of people with literacy problems and the impact going back to education is having on their lives. Her story will be broadcast on RTE One at 7.30pm next Monday, 7th June. "When my friends say to me now, 'Oh, you're back in school, are you mad?' I say 'No! It's the best thing that ever happened to me'. "I used to think I'm going to be at home for the rest of my life and I'll never do anything different. Being a mother, a wife, a committee member - being everything to everybody and nothing to myself. Going back to education has opened up a new world to me and new opportunities and new people. I'm going to make the most of it. I really am," she said. It was when Jackie's daughter went to Australia that she decided to do computer classes in Meath VEC in Navan so they could keep in contact. Using a computer has now become vital in Jackie's life. "I used to be afraid of the computer - if it was plugged in, it would stay plugged in for the day because I wouldn't touch it. Now I take pictures on my phone, stick them up on the computer and, in a few minutes, my daughter can see what's happening in Australia. I feel like I haven't lost her thousands of miles away. I feel like I'm really in touch with her, probably more than if she was here. Because we talk so much on the computer, I know everything she is doing on a daily basis via Facebook," added Jackie. Computer classes led Jackie to enroll in other courses that develop core skills for getting back to work, including writing, numeracy and interview skills. Her confidence has improved so much that she recently went for an interview and got a job in a crèche. "I sat a very good interview because I had the interview techniques from my course. I was only in the door at home when they rang to say they were giving me the job. Well, I was roaring and jumping and screaming. I love being in there with the children now because, at the end of the day, you can have all the qualifications in the world, but you also have to have a heart. So now I'm going to find out how to look after children after rearing eight of my own - it's so funny to me, that!"