Transition Year

PORTMARNOCK COMMUNITY SCHOOL TRANSITION YEAR

Transition-year Teacher says! “The opportunity of a lifetime to be used with the lifetime of the opportunity” Student says! “…get involved in as many things as you can, the year will be so much better…”

WHAT IS TRANSITION YEAR? Optional first year of a three-year Leaving Certificate Programme Strongly subscribed to by students, staff and parents of Portmarnock Community School Programme varies from school to school

WHAT IS TRANSITION YEAR? …a unique one year programme that promotes the personal, social, vocational and educational development of students and prepares them for their role as autonomous, participative and responsible members of society.

WHAT IS TRANSITION YEAR? …a bridge to enable students to make the transition from the more dependent type of learning associated with Junior Cycle to the more independent learning environment associated with Senior Cycle. …encourages the development of a wide range of transferable critical thinking and creative problem solving skills.

T.Y. Year Head : Mr Dempsey Tutors: Mr O’hAonghusa, Mr McDermott, Ms Tynan, M Curran, Mr McNieve T.Y. Co-ordinator: Ms. Molamphy

Some key dates from 2014/2015 Exams –4th and 5th December ‘14: – TY exams (Gaeilge, English, Maths and Continental languages) Exams – 14th and 15th May ’15 : – TY exams (Gaeilge, English, Maths and Continental languages) Work-experience 8 th Dec. ‘14 (two weeks) Community-care 2 nd Feb. ‘15 (two weeks) TY Night Monday 18 th May ’15

Work-experience Diary due date: Monday 19 th January 2015 Community-care Diary due date: Monday 9 rd March 2015 Late diaries will be penalised

Planned week for Play - Week of November 16 th 2015

WORK EXPERIENCE - AIMS To experience the nature and realities of working life… To identify skills and abilities required for particular jobs… To achieve a realistic knowledge of their own interests, abilities and social skills… To achieve a knowledge and understanding of job application and selection...

THE WORK PLACEMENT Students are advised to begin their search for a placement as soon as possible… During the work experience students keep a diary of each days work... They are monitored by teachers through telephone calls to their employers…

Community Care... to give students a greater understanding of volunteering in their community…...a time set aside to in the transition year calendar for pupils to give back to the community…

EVALUATION –Initiative in finding a placement 10% –Full completion of diary 25% –Presentation of diary on due date 15% –Report from employer 30% –Oral presentation to class 20% Your Tutor is responsible for this evaluation

Wednesday Modules 1.Animation – Ms. Tynan 2.Film Appreciation – Mr. Higgins 3.Heritage - Mr. Dempsey / Mr. Curran 4.Model making – Mr Behan 5.Life-skills – Ms. Richardson First-aid – Civil Defence

TY Reports Irish / English / Maths / Continental European Language You will sit two formal examinations (Christmas and Summer) and receive two reports with a percentage grade in each subject

May TY Report Divided into three parts: The Modules (except life-skills / First-aid) = 400 marks Academic options (six subjects plus I.T. and P.E.) = 800 marks Participation = 500 marks (Work-experience (100), Community Care (100), Portfolio(300)

Modules and Academic options You teacher will clarify with you the nature of this assessment and its due date - this may be online or as a verbal presentation or a poster, etc

Last year (2014/2015) ,500 - Distinction 825 – Merit 600 – 824- Pass 1 – 599- Fail A small number of students got a “fail” certificate last year, many got a distinction.

TY Reports – as usual in January and June. This will include your absences. May TY Report – on the TY Night – a significant certificate crafted by Mr. Higgins

Gaisce There are 4 different challenge areas. To earn an award, you will need to participate in each of the 4 challenge areas. You might decide to build on an activity you’ve tried in the past. Each participant must participate in at least one new activity to earn an award. The 4 challenge areas are: 1. Community Involvement 2. Personal Skill 3. Physical Recreation 4. Adventure Journey

Gaisce Presidents Award Leader: Mr. Dempsey Face to Face and Online requirements with both Mr. Dempsey and Gaisce Deadlines are deadlines

Internal programmes Various Talks e.g. Garda road-safety DATS Aptitude Tests Thinking Outside the Box Law Day Titanic Trip

Other Activities Mini-companies, mentored by Fingal Enterprise Board AIB Build a Bank An Gaisce Award (€10 extra) The Play 2014 “Much Ado About Nothing” Musical 2014“ The Phantom Of The Opera” Fundraising – Walk in my shoes/ RNLI

Other Activities Create-school – movie/video making Compute TY DCU Department of Foreign Affairs Law library GAA coaching with local Primary-school Pupil participation in the Arch Club Rotary Club – youth leadership Variety show

Links with Third-level DCU Compute TY (thirty places 2014) UCD – Physics workshop (one place) RCSI – Mini-Med (one place) RCSI – Innovations exhibition (thirty places) Physics Department TCD – nanotechnology / Astrophysics (1 place each) DIT Computing academy (five places)

The way students (you) are going to college is changing DCU: Degree in Problem Solving & Software Development (2013) General DCU entry requirements plus Maths – not an accumulation of points We still encourage students to do well in their Leaving Certificate exams, but we will select students based on their passion, experience and ability Subjects + Portfolio + Interview

DCU Portfolio ideas Had appropriate computer-based experience during transition year inside school Developed a web site Programming, participated in initiatives outside school e.g. ComputeTY, DIT Computing Academy etc

TCD & the CAO – trial from a new system will take into account Leaving Certificate results, a student's performance ranking in their own class, and a personal statement written by the student....want to get a raw honest enthusiastic assessment or account of why the person wants to study these particular things, who they are and the context in which the results were achieved

Sports programmes …emphasis on Coaching …emphasis on skills development … Scuba Diving (extra cost) Certificate …Sailing (extra cost – National Certification)

PE Assessment Students will use….technology to present or display information on the skill component, psychology, or nutritional aspects of Physical Education. There will also be a unit on Sports Science. Deadlines are deadlines for submitting projects…

Extras Ski-trip (participants selected in Third- year) South Africa experience (participants selected in Third-year) Surfing in Mayo (with an marine awareness module) - Sailing with Malahide Yacht Club – certification – excellent value for money

Unscripted opportunities Film Gardening Student Council Fundraising

Portfolio The Portfolio is the purposeful collection of your work To show your effort, progress and achievement in ten areas of learning You will select the pieces of your work that best show learning, not necessarily the best pieces

Portfolio Interview Portfolios submitted to Tutor on Friday April 24 th 2015 Interviews: By tutor Monday 27 th April and Monday 11 th May

Transition Year fee A fee of 250 euro “easy payments” on the school website Letter going home in April/May Pays for a range of activities

Activities from the fee DATS Law Day Play First Aid – Civil Defence and equipment Ballymun School Christmas trip European Youth Parliament DCU Compute TY Thinking Outside The Box Portfolio Prep days

Irish Books Glendalough trip as part of their Gaisce Award, buses and hostel Jean Gill – JC results day Textiles and model making equipment EcoUnesco application Day out – cinema and bowling Samba drums Create School – movie and video making

Supervision for TY activities when teachers are out Buses – Glendalough, cinema, Titanic Titanic trip