A presentation on the Junior Cycle Framework for Portmarnock Community School

1. New Junior Cycle Framework
CHANGING THE WAY WE DO JUNIOR CYCLE
EDUCATION
PORTMARNOCK COMMUNITY SCHOOL
AUGUST 2012

2. Why change?
Changing the Junior Cycle student experience...from a
dress rehearsal for the Leaving Certificate to a learning
experience in its own right...
Evidence base from the
 NCCA‟s own consultation process
 ESRI
 PISA
All the educational partners are on-board to date...
Donal O' Mahony

3. From late August 2014 we will teach subjects and / or
short courses for the Junior Cycle
Donal O' Mahony

4. Central to the subjects and short-courses
24 Statements of Learning and 6 Key Skills
Continued emphasis on literacy and numeracy
Look at the handout...
That is the key message – 24 statements form the new
core of learning...
Donal O' Mahony

5. Assessment
 Students present evidence of learning in:
 Eight subjects
OR
 Seven subjects and two short courses
OR
 Six subjects and four short courses
 Evidence of learning must be presented in the subjects
English, Irish and Maths.
 Any other subject can be one of the six, seven, or eight...
Donal O' Mahony

6. Taught over Two Years
 ...the evidence of learning from First-year will not
feature in the assessment for qualification (Read the
ESRI research)
 ...whatever flexibility you want within First-year, as a
transition from Primary to Secondary
Donal O' Mahony

7. Higher level?
The only subjects with Ordinary and Higher levels will
be Irish, English and Maths
No written exam will be longer than two hours
There will be five grading points (for subjects and
short courses)
Donal O' Mahony

8. National Framework of Qualifications
 Award aligned with NFQ Level 2 for students with
particular educational needs (centred around
Priority Learning Units)
 Award aligned with NFQ Level 3 will replace the
existing Junior Certificate
 The NFQ Level 3 is “...smaller than the Junior
Certificate...” ...allows focus on “...learning, skills,
innovation and creativity...”
Donal O' Mahony

9. The Subject Teacher – assessment – current
thinking
 60% of marks for coursework taught over Second and
Third Year.
 40% of marks for portfolio work (digital or otherwise)
gathered over Second and Third Year – assignments,
projects, case-studies, performances, practical-
activities/tasks...
 The SEC will set the exam for the 60%,
 We will assess the 40% with SEC moderation
Donal O' Mahony

10. Starting?
 Now...Some schools may have reduced the number
of JC subjects this school year and started to develop
short courses
 At the latest... August 2014- students going into
Fifth Class next week
 Teachers, Parents, Students, the Board have
all to be consulted about our start date...
Donal O' Mahony

11. Subjects
 English has been announced as the first subject to be
revised.
 Existing junior cycle subjects will be reviewed and new
specifications developed to reflect the new Framework
for Junior Cycle.
 They term „specification‟ will replace what we previously
called a „syllabus‟ and will apply to both subjects and
short courses.
Donal O' Mahony

12. Subjects
The subject specifications will be shorter
 partly in response to concerns that existing
syllabuses are in some cases just too extensive
 to contribute to creating the space for the school to
develop its junior cycle programme.
Donal O' Mahony

13. Subjects
 Most new subject specifications will be designed for
approximately 200 hours of learner engagement.
 Specifications in the subjects English, Irish and
Mathematics will continue to be designed with a
minimum allocation of 240 hours in mind.
 All existing subjects will be revised and their
new, shortened specifications will be made available in
advance of their introduction in the new junior cycle.
 Subject content will remain familiar.
Donal O' Mahony

14. Short-courses
Short courses (100 hours approximately) will be less familiar
Both an NCCA template for particular short-courses and the
opportunity for custom-built school courses
Assessment of short courses is school-based on a portfolio
of work - assignments, projects, case-studies, performances,
practical-activities/tasks...
The school will issue the results to the SEC for inclusion on
the NFQ award...
Donal O' Mahony

15. Examples of short-courses
 History – local oral history project
 Chinese language and culture
 Geography - Development education
 Web design
 P.E. - Sports Science (hurling / camogie focus)
 Home Economics – restaurant menu development
 Art - Animation
 Music – instrument tuition
 Engineering – a course in robotics
 Materials Technology Wood – a wood design project
 Business – personal finance
 Irish, English and Maths teachers may want to teach short -
courses
Donal O' Mahony

16. The Teacher
 Generating and gathering evidence of learning
 Judging and reporting evidence of learning
 New report-card templates for communication with
parents
Donal O' Mahony

17. What now?
 You all received an invitation to join JC2.0, the JC
Network
 Look in on what is happening particularly under the
tab, Resources and FAQ’s
 Introducing Key Skills
 Thinking about Short Courses
 Programme Planning
 Consulting with your students
Donal O' Mahony

18. What now?
 Management issues:
 subjects
 timetabling
 teachers, parents, students and the Board of Management
 Evaluation of existing Junior Cycle: identification of
strengths and challenges, what we want to keep...
 Discussion amongst ourselves - to be on agenda for
Subject meeting 4 – 5 PM Tues. 4th September
 Looking at what other schools are doing...
Donal O' Mahony

20. What now?
 Subjects piloting aspects of short-courses
 Short-course training by the NCCA – teachers in-
service on 5th and 7th November
 Thinking through Portfolio development
 Report back to the NCCA on progress
Donal O' Mahony

21.  Smith. E. 2006. Junior Cycle Education: Insights
from a longitudinal study of students. NCCA:Dublin.
 Frequently Asked Questions. JC2.0. Online:
http://juniorcyclenetwork.ning.com/page/faq
 Towards a Framework for Junior Cycle. NCCA:
Dublin. 2011.
Donal O' Mahony

22. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Ireland License. To view
a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ie/.
Donal O' Mahony