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)