Portmarnock Community School Donal O’ Mahony

Our experience – over three phases... Autumn / / 2015

Portmarnock Community School 850 pupils approximately, co-educational Wide catchment-area across North County Dublin Strong academic and extra-curricular focus

Some history Portmarnock Community School became an NCCA Junior Cycle Network School in May 2012 I am the Link-teacher Very supportive Principal, Pat O’ Riordan I presented about the possibilities involved with Junior Cycle reform to my colleagues in September 2012 N.S.P.I

A new vocabulary Framework document Short Courses Subject specifications Toolkits Key Skills Statements of Learning Assessment for Learning Moderation Priority Learning Units Portfolios Level Two learning programmes (L2LP’s) 2014: J.C.S.A. – Junior Cycle Student Award

Keep in mind – the student experience is central

In Portmarnock there seemed to be a lot of interest in Short Course development

Why this interest? A strong history of innovation in Transition-year e.g. Photography, Heritage, Film, Animation, English, History... A confidence and capacity to introduce new and innovative methods of teaching Junior Cycle reform – an opportunity to mainstream from Transition-year to the Junior Cycle

NCCA support from 2012 Online space – J.C. 2.0 Many teachers from Network Schools were very active in this during 2012/2013 Lots of ideas

Noticed that many Link schools were working with their strengths, whether Short-courses, Assessment for Learning, Key-skills etc

We promised Support to teachers November 2012: In-house staff-development particularly in the area of Key Skills (used a cross-subject approach) Denise Kelly from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment) presented in the school to about fifteen teachers (who volunteered) on Short Course development Very well received – learned a lot

We lead... Management and I are very supportive of the move from product to process in relation to learning Want to develop the students appreciation of the “how” and “why” of learning over a period of time This is a rationale we bring to the table at all meetings

We asked... Teachers to volunteer to develop their own Short Courses This was at a time when the NCCA had subject titles for their for Short Courses but no developed ones as such (not the case now) The NCCA had a template however which was (is) what the teachers worked off

Areas to be covered Title 1. Introduction to Junior Cycle: Standard for all short courses 2. Rationale: Setting the course in the broader context 3. Aim 4. Links: Statements of Learning / Literacy and Numeracy / Key Skills 5. Course Overview 6. Expectations for Students 7. Assessment and Certification 8. Resources

Some teachers worked as a group Some alone and then consulted each other Denise Kelly (NCCA) was available for advice via . I was the conduit, as the Link-teacher Three Short Courses emerged – Media literacy (David Clarke and Aileen Bradley), Animation (Karen Tynan), Robotics (Michael Sweeney and Danny Murphy).

Decisions... December 2012 and January 2013 Principal, Deputy Principal, Link-teacher and our Time-tabler Go with two Short-courses? Yes Which ones? Animation and Media Literacy

Why these two? The Robotics Short Course was not fully finished Animation had been highly developed in Transition-year Animation and Media Literacy very much complemented each other - Good mix of ideas – teachers saw possibilities between the subjects Attractive to boys and girls

Caveat about using pre-existing courses Material must be re-modelled for the younger students, taking into account the principles of the Junior Cycle Framework

Where on the timetable? Within an existing option-block No change to the structure of the timetable as such Treading slowly... Students have to do both Media Literacy and Animation One double each – for three years (c. 120 hours each)

Block with Materials Technology (Wood), Home- Economics and Technology An option block that allowed corresponding subjects to be taken in 4 th / 5 th Year Banding meant two class groups – offered it to one class in the band Twenty-four students

School certificate at end of Third-year (2016) Assessment focus in Second and Third-year

There was a very strong presentation to the parents and guardians of the incoming Sixth-class (January 2013) Covered a lot of positives about Junior Cycle reform and education in general Our choice of Animation and Media Literacy reflects what is relevant to real-world needs and expertise

Minimised the use of the phrase Short Course and looked at it as the introduction of a new subject

A digression! I think the term Short-course was unfortunate “You mean I’m going to replace my subject with a short- course” “I’ll be a short-course teacher...” There is the potential of short-courses to promote and develop subjects, and indeed to define the identity of a school over time

Back to Portmarnock! A draw from the hat if oversubscribed students applied

Lessons learned A lot of work (time) developing in-house short courses – teachers found the Short Course Template a challenge, but fulfilling when completed Reliance on one teacher – what if our animator leaves? Don’t become a hostage to one teachers specialism... Implications for numbers in the other subjects in the block

Lessons Learned Need for some updated training in Animation – speed of change of applications The need for technical backup – in our case relying on a technically literate teacher to manage software updates for the animation teacher Need for digital resources – Broadband and Wi-Fi NCCA in discussions on ICT infrastructure

ICT Infrastructure

Lessons Learned Need for time for conversation with fellow Short Course teachers

Lessons learned Using First-year to establish the Group-work and other skills – no assessment focus is of great value Its insights like this that give an idea as to how First- year might be re-imagined...

Lessons Learned Don’t presume that because students opt for a course that they have certain competencies Don’t underestimate students either – confidence built during First-year is now becoming obvious

Hard work to establish the course identity Keep trying to establish the Short Course / New- subject identity – do things to highlight the course – at Assemblies, on the website etc.

2014 / 2015 Context is changing NCCA has drafts of eight Short Courses for incoming 2014 First-years – consultation process in place

2014 / 2015 Context changed in/for Portmarnock Two teachers have been involved with the NCCA, examining aspects of teaching and learning from the Short Course in Coding Two P.E. teachers have been exploring possibilities with the Physical Education Association of Ireland and the draft Physical Education Short Course One P.E. Teacher had developed a Sports Science module in Transition Year

2014 / 2015 Decided to introduce two new short courses / subjects To spread the load amongst a variety of teachers / subject areas In the same block Offered to both bands A minimum of 48 students

2013 / 2014 Coding – as per the NCCA draft short course specification – two teachers Sports Science – at the request of a member of the P.E. Department, who has developed his own Sports Science course in Transition Year – two teachers

Current teacher concerns Sports Science – to develop a separate identity from the existing Junior Cycle P.E. classes Timetabling needs around Sports Science Assessment in general, assessing our own students in particular and exploring moderation

Other Concerns Costs associated with these courses – can students asked to pay for swimming? Buses for external trips... Any formal funding for running Short Courses from the NCCA or others?..... Saving money one way, so give us money another way Do we need to look for sponsorship? Do we need to develop linkages with a University who will work with us as a local-school?

Other concerns Started to collect feedback from current First-year parents / guardians Students were telling them about the subjects Concern about feedback to date

Other concerns If we go with Robotics in 2015 / 2016, what subject would we place with it so as to attract the balance of boys and girls? What do parents think of the changing of the Short Course subjects each year? What are the implications for Transition Year?

Assessment / Moderation We are conscious we have got the Short Courses off the ground in a creative way – now want to get the Assessment right Support for Short Course Assessment / Moderation training for teachers We would like Portmarnock to get support from the NCCA in developing this, not alone for the Short Course teachers, but for all teachers in the school

Websitewww.juniorcycle.ie

Thank you! Website