The Junior Cycle is of three years’ duration. The Junior Cycle covers a vital period in young people’s lives when they encounter significant changes in their educational experience.
Subjects offered at Junior Cycle Level in St Kevin’s Community College include core subjects (usually compulsory for all students), a modern language (French or Spanish) and optional subjects. Students engage in a selection process of option subjects upon enrolment after a short tasting period in first year. Descriptions of each subject are available on the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment website.
In St Kevin’s Community College all students have access to Higher Level subjects (Irish, English & Maths) and students and parents will be supported and advised by subject teachers, resource department teachers and guidance counsellors on the appropriate choice of level for each subject before final assessments take place.
Students may study a mixture of subjects and short courses, as well as presenting school experiences for certification purposes
(see www.oide.ie/post-primary for further details and latest updates).
Core Subjects
- Irish
- English
- Maths
- History
- Geography
- Religious Education
Options – Choose 3 from:
- Music
- Home Economics
- Science
- Art
- Woodwork
- French
- Spanish
- Engineering (Metalwork)
- Business
Wellbeing Programme:
- PE
- SPHE
- CSPE
- Guidance Related Learning
- Transition & Transfer
Junior Certificate School Programme (JCSP)
The Junior Certificate Schools Programme is an intervention into the Junior Cycle and not an alternative to The JCSP Programme.
The JCSP Programme attempts to help young people experience success and develop a positive self-image by providing a curriculum and assessment famework suitable to their needs.
The programme aims to ensure that students actively participate in their learning, make progress and build on their achievements. The programme also aims to develop students’ literacy, numeracy, communication and group work skills.
On completion of the programme, students receive a profile which is an official record of their achievements from the Department of Education and Skills.
Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs) have been introduced as part of the Junior Cycle (1st-3rd Year) to allow students to demonstrate their understanding of concepts and skills and their ability to apply them in ways that may not be possible in an externally assessed examination. They will be used in the assessment of learning in subjects and in short courses.
We have developed a calendar of CBAs for our 2nd and 3rd years to help you as parents/guardians know what work is expected of them. A short description of each CBA is provided below.
2nd Year CBA Calendar
| Subject | Duration |
Description |
Approximate Dates for CBA |
| Visual Art | 4 months | From Process to Realisation: Group or individual project where students choose to work from one of the range of given themes to develop their ideas and create a realised work. During a maximum of four months with support/guidance from teacher | Jan-March 2nd Year |
| Home Economics | 8-10 weeks | Creative Textiles: This is an individual project. Students will produce evidence of the application of the design brief process to one of the following options: Make a creative textile item for an individual or the home or recycle or upcycle a creative textile for an individual or the home. | Jan-March 2nd Year |
| Geography. | 3 weeks | Geography in the news: Structured inquiry through a response to a recent geographical event(s). Response to a media source. Response may be presented in a wide range of formats. At the end of a three week period students will report on their inquiry, based on a recent media source, relating to a geographical event. | Jan-March 2nd Year |
| Maths | 3 weeks | Mathematical Investigation: A report may be presented in a wide range of formats. A student will, over a three week period, follow the problem-solving cycle to investigate a mathematical problem. Problem solving cycle: define a problem, decompose it into manageable parts and/or simplify it using appropriate assumptions; translate the problem to mathematics if necessary; engage with the problem and solve it if possible; interpret any findings in the context of the original problem. | January 2nd Year |
| Science | 3 weeks | Extended Experimental Investigation (EEI): A student will, over a three-week period, formulate a scientific hypothesis, plan and conduct an experimental investigation to test their hypothesis, generate and analyse primary data, and reflect on the process, with support/guidance from the teacher. | Nov – Dec 2nd Year |
| History | 3 weeks | The Past in my Place: Display which can be completed by a group, pair or individual.
Students will be required to research a project on a local historical monument, event or key personality. |
March 2nd Year |
| Business Studies | 4 weeks | Business in Action Group Project: Based on one of three options:
Enterprise in action Economics in Action Finance in Action |
Nov 2nd Year |
| Spanish/French | 3 weeks | Oral Communication in the target language: Individual, pair or group communication using an interview, role-play, presentation (accompanied by question – and – answer session) or conversation in response to stimulus material.
|
April 2nd Year |
| English | 3 weeks | Oral Communications: Individual or group communication or presentation/performance of 3 minutes on a topic the students chooses. | Feb– March 2nd Year |
| Music | N/A | Composition Portfolio: Two pieces chosen from the student’s portfolio. Compositions are produced over the course of the year. | May 2nd Year |
| Engineering | 3 weeks | Engineering in Action: Students will investigate real-life applications of the processes and principles of engineering. Students can focus their investigation through the lens of a specific strand, a combination of two strands or can adopt an integrated approach across all three strands. The students will communicate their findings through any appropriate media. | Jan- Feb 2nd Year |
| Wood Technology | 3 weeks | Wood Science in our Environment: Students will explore a wood science-related issue within a local/global context. They will analyse the information/data collected, evaluate and present the findings of their research of the issue they have investigated. | Jan 2nd Year |
3rd year CBA Calendar
| Gaeilge | 3 Weeks | MRB2: Communicative Task: 3-4 minutes of an oral task in the format or a presentation, role play or interview. Can be completed alone or in a group. | Jan – Feb 3rd Year |
| Visual Art | 3 months | CBA2: Communicate and reflect: Individual project where students choose one form a range of given themes and generate preparatory work which they present to their class for discussion and feedback. | Sept – Nov 3rd Year |
| Home Economics | Term 2 | CBA2: This is an individual submission. Students will utilise the design break process to research, generate ideas and possible solutions for their food literacy skills brief, drawn from a list of briefs issued by the State Examinations Commission. | Jan 3rd Year |
| Science | 3 weeks | CBA2: Science in Society Investigation (SSI): A student will, over the three week period, research a socio-scientific issue, analyse the information/secondary data collected, evaluate the claims and opinions studied, and draw evidence based conclusions about the issues involved, with support/guidance from the teacher. | Nov 3rd Year |