Size
Single sex or mixed
Age and tradition
Facilities and resources
Patron and trustees
Principal/Management team
Students and their parents
Teachers
School context – Influences on timetable
Junior certificate
Junior Certificate Schools Programme
Transition Year
Leaving Certificate
Leaving Certificate Applied
Further Education
Courses
Broad and balanced The Arts?Flexible and responsive Music, drama, dance
Core subjects Science?
Non-exam subjects P.E., S.P.H.E.,Guidance?
Option subjects Taster?
LCVP Status?
e-learning Priority ?
Curriculum Choices
NCCA Research Value –added dimension
Ist Year –critical
2nd Year
3rd year
Connect with the Primary.
Critical Year for student engagement
Levels and uptake
What is working well.........?
What would be even better if......
8
•Students making a greater connection with learning
•Improving the quality of learning that takes place
•Ensuring literacy, numeracy and key skills are
embedded in the learning
The focus is on...
9
•What a student will learn described in statements of
essential learning across a number of areas of
learning?
•The skills of literacy and numeracy and other key
skills embedded in areas of learning and the
curriculum?
Learning
10
• Assessment playing a major part in everyday learning
over the three years of junior cycle?
• Students being more responsible for gathering and
presenting evidence of their learning?
• Teachers judging, giving feedback, and reporting on
that evidence?
Assessment
A new Framework for Junior Cycle?
• Two new qualifications?
• Smaller qualifications with caps on the number of
curriculum components, giving schools more space
and time to spend on their junior cycle programme, on
literacy, numeracy and key skills?
Qualifications
A new Framework for Junior Cycle?
Progression Observation
Transition Year
5th year
6th Year
Pisa Observations
Great challenge
Need for support.
Information processing
Personal effectiveness
Communicating
Critical and creative thinking
Working with others
These skills have been identified as central to teaching and learning across the curriculum in senior cycle
NCCA 5 key skills for senior cycle
The choices- information of family and friends-50% and 33% respectively with Career Guidance~10%. However, the lower the socio-economic grouping the more critical the school in guiding the student.
What is working well........?
What would be even better if......?
Blueprint for the curriculum
Engine of the school
Statement of the school’s ethos- Mission statement
Stages PlanningClass Scheduling SEN schedulingImplementing
Timetabler v Scheduler software
Timetable
SEN scheduling
When
How
Who Role of SENO
Teachers
SEN
Number of periods in the week
Teacher allocation and class size
Inherited arrangements
A. Ps. On 18 hours
Room availability
Teacher with a single subject
Lack of teachers for a specific subject
Restrictions
The full allocation for guidance, learning support, special education needs and newcomer students should be used for their intended purpose
All teachers timetables should meet the Depts. contractual requirements
The school management and staff should revise the policy of streaming in all subjects and should use a policy of banding and mixed ability setting
A review of the school timetable should be undertaken in the medium to short term
The senior in-school management team should take greater responsibility for the planning and development of the school timetable and ensure students’ needs are given first priority
Quotations from two WSE reports
Inspection recommendations
Curriculum planning
Teacher Capacity
(See handouts)