Parents can become more involved with their children's schooling and young people can learn common courtesy if they enrol in one of a whole array of courses offered by Government this autumn.

In addition, prospective holidaymakers can plan a trip to Walt Disney World down to a tee if they decide to try a new travel course.

Organised by the Community Education and Development Programme, the Parenting and School Relations course, which will be free of charge and was requested by Parent-Teacher Associations across the Island, will look at giving parents the ability and confidence to relate with teachers in talking about their children's education

Programme executive director Patricia Chapman said: "A lot of the time, parents are embarrassed to talk about these things with the schools and this course will hopefully let them know that they are more than welcome to come and talk about how their kid's are progressing.

In addition, the Anger and Conflict Management course will aim at helping the older people understand the younger generation.

Ms Chapman said: "This particular course will focus on getting an angle on the young and old and how they relate to each other. It's mainly for parents who would like understand their children a bit better."

Another course being offered for the first time this session is a Charm and Character class which is aimed at young people and looks at teaching them the ins and outs of good manners and etiquette.

Ms Chapman said: "Basically, they learn things like how to set a table and how to be considerate and polite to others, for instance, that they should give up their seat to someone elderly on the bus. The course teaches basic courtesy and conduct."

She said the course had been organised at the request of parents who felt their children were not quite as well-mannered as they could be.

Another new course inspired by suggestions from the public is a travel course aimed at helping families plan a stress-free vacation to Walt Disney World.

For $75 for the semester, participants can expect to build a notebook to organise their trip and determine the best time to visit, place to stay and way to navigate the theme parks.

Ms Chapman said this was one of the more unusual courses to have been requested by people in survey forms that were completed after the end of the last session of courses.

She explained that the computer courses, which aim at teaching people from basic to advanced levels, were by far the most popular.

"We get a whole range of people doing these classes. Often it is people that have just purchased a PC and want to do a bit of troubleshooting."

The archery course is another favourite, along with a host of activities ranging from swimming and golf instruction to kickboxing and Tai-Chi Chuan.

Also on offer are Bermudian and international cooking courses, Yoga, language instruction and classes in art, photography, stained glass, sewing and even masonry.

These and other courses are being held at Clearwater Middle School, CedarBridge Academy, Spice Valley Middle School and Sandys Secondary School beginning the week of September 17.

For more information, the Community Education and Development Programme can be contacted on 236-0829.