Until the beginning of 2020, sister’s Deirdre and Janette of Kay’s Flower School in Dublin were running a successful floristry school, having taken over from their mother who’d originally founded it in the 1980s. But then the pandemic hit, and everything closed down, but that didn’t defeat Kay’s, they simply moved online.
Only it wasn’t quite that simple. It would have been easy to prop a phone against a bucket and film themselves making a hand-tied, but the sisters set to their new method of teaching with determination and professionalism. Anyone who questions the idea that floristry can be taught successfully online, well, Deirdre and Janette can dispel any such doubts.
‘We’d always taught in the classroom in the traditional way.’ Explained Deirdre. ‘Until the pandemic, when we lost all of our classes, so I went on a course for editing and recording, Janette went in front of the camera, and we used our 30 years of experience to put together our first online Module.’
The key to their success? A tremendous amount of organisation and hard work. New recruits have boxes of flowers simultaneously delivered to their homes, and not just in Ireland, they have students across the world. Then they are taken, step-by- step through every stage of each design. A students WhatsApp group sees Janette spending hours during the day, evening and weekends commenting, guiding and giving feedback. Online Bloom Rooms and Facebook groups keep everyone connected, even after they have finished their courses. Recognised internationally as well as at home, over 80% of flower shops in Ireland have staff who have been trained by Kay’s.
‘It’s important to train and to educate yourself.’ Said Deirdre. ‘This way standards are maintained and raised. We’re just the starting point, we send them off to fly and learn more.’
