Transition Year 2010 – 2011
Transition Year offers students the opportunity to engage with experiences outside the classroom as well as trying out modules in subject areas they may wish to undertake in Leaving Cert. The experience of TY at CBC also encourages social interaction in the wider world to help others and bonding exercises to get to know each other better and to realise their own abilities. The year aims to be a positive experience for the students and as such will always depend on the effort that the student themselves put into the activites on offer.
SOCIAL PLACEMENT
This Year the Social Placement Module for students ran for half a year. Students were placed at projects about the local area and sometimes further afield and attended each Tuesday morning returning to school for the afternoon classes.
Projects were diverse and the skills required by the different organisations varied. T just get a feel for the work here are are a few examples;
- Cuala GAA Schools Programme – over the course of the year 12 students participated with the Cuala Programme. They taught Primary School children basic GAA skills . They acted as refereees and mentors for the programme and did a great job according to the organisers.
- St. Francis’ Street School Rugby Programme – over the year 14 students accompanied Mr. Byrne to work with the Primary school children of the innner city. They taught basic Rugby skills to children who might not otherwise have the experience of handling a rugby ball. The culminated in a visit by the Francis Street children to CBC to play with the lads on our pitches.
- St. Mary’s Home for the Blind, Booterstown – 8 stuents in the year worked at the Home for the Blind and accompanied them to Mass and helped the nurses with tasks at the centre.
- Alzeimer’s Centre Blackrock – 4 students worked with Alzeimers patients each week playing cards and games and listening to their stories.
Next Year students will find their own placements and Tuesday mornings will be allocated to the Social Placement.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Ty offers students the opportunity to engage with the world of work. The two weeks after the Christmas holidays is assigned for the work experience and students find their own placements. They are introduced by the school and monitored with employer’s returning reports on how they have worked. This year studnt’s worked in diverse environments from working at Google, Restaurant’s as Chef assistants, Engineering firms, with the Guarda Siochana in the local stations, in Law firms to name just a few. We were selected from a lottery this year by RTE and 2 students got to work at their studios for a week. DCU also selected 2 students to attend their engineering workshops. The reports that were returned heaped great praise on our students this year and showed their willingness and enthuasism. Some students were given permission to attend further work experience during the year such was the standard. All students were given their reports on TY night as a reference for future employers. Congtatulations on a job well done!!
FIELD TRIPS
- Connemara -The annual trip to Connemara takes place at the end of September for half of TY and during exam week in May for the second half. The students try out outdoor activities such as surfing, rock climbing, hill walking and riding while there. They get to brave the elements in the beautifully picturesque setting of Recess in Connemara.
- Carlingford – This year we headed to the outdoor centre at Calingford for a one day water based set of activities like canooing, Banana boating and pier diving. Unfortunately at the end of October the snow also came and this must have been the worst day to go anywhere! Nethertheless our brave lads donned their wet suits and did it! Fair play to them all!!
- Adventure Day Wicklow – The Sports Science teachers accompanied the students to the adventure in Wicklow where they got to hang form ropes and swing in the forests
- Wicklow Walk for Gaisce – the annual walk for the attainment of an Gaisce awards takes place each Easter Holiday and lots of students were involved this year hiking their way across the Wicklow Mountains from Marley Park to Lough Teigh. The added excitement of staying at the an Oige Hostel for one or two nights just added to the adventure.
Charity Collections
As part of TY students take part in collections for specific charities. The students of 2010/11 were very motivated to collect for others and participated wholeheartedly in the collection days organised:
- Focus Ireland Collection – The TY lads of CBC played a central part in collecting for the Homeless organisation of Focus Ireland for their annual Flag Day. Following a talk from the organisation at the school the boys worked tirelessly in Dublin City centre to help the fund and the Focus Ireland people were highly impressed with their charm and ingenuity to raise funds!
- Flag Day for Zambia – The students who were going to Zambia organised this flag day in the local Dun Laoghaire area with permission from the Gardai. They organised their year with a timetable and rota together with bibs and buckets and oversaw a very effective fundraiser for the project raising €870 on the day. Well done to the whole year for getting behind the day!
- Happy Heart Collection – CBC joined the nationwide Happy Heart Collection in Dublin city to raise funds for this deserving organisation. This was the biggest organised fund raising day and some the lads got to dress up as hearts. Once again the entuasism from the boys was spectacular and the compliments of the Happy Heart Foundation came back to them.
Well done to this TY group for your generosity! It was deeply appreciated by all!
MODULES
With 40% of TY focussing on academic achievement students are required to still engage with the curriculum but this can offer the opportunity to expand parts of subjects taken for Junior Cert. It can also allow students to get a feel for subjects they may wish to take for Leaving Cert. The basic subjects of Irish, English , Mathematics and Languages are still compulsorary but emphasis can go outside the usual Junior/Leaving course for TY. Modules are in other subject areas are offered to all students and this year the following were offered:
Modules are split into sections: Academic Sciences Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Geography
Art
Tech. Graphics
Accounting
Music
Expanding Public Speaking
Politics
Classic Studies
Film Studies
Media Studies
Development Studies
Cooking
Mini Company
Extra Sign Language – ½ course
Steer Clear Driver Education Programme
ECDL Certification course
Sports & Health Science
As part of the Modular courses students had extra talks or workshops in these areas throughout the year. All students attended the IFC as part of their Film studies Module, the “Psycho Spagettti” production in both Dun laoghaire and the Laughter Lounge, the Forensic Workshop “ A case of Identity”, the Film Workshop on Film Production, Irish Aid in Dublin, Music Workshops in Sligo to name but a few.
TRANSITION YEAR AWARDS
To celebrate the achievements in TY awards are given out to students at a presentation ceremony. All students achieve awards based on their reports from teachers, attendance levels and attainments throughout the year. The overall scores are in the following categories:
- COMPLETION 40 – 54%
- MERIT 55 – 74%
- HIGHLY COMMENDED 75 – 89%
- DISTINCTION 90 –100%
Just to point out that 60% of all TY’s this year attained the HIGHLY COMMENDED award and aboveso well done to all who gave their all!! Special awards are also given for trophies and prizes in specific areas. The nominees are students who excelled throughout the year in these areas.
SPECIAL AWARDS
PUBLIC SPEAKING Nominees Winner
Rory Conlon
Conor Boyle Luke Murray
Luke Murray
The Public Speaking award was judged on TY night after a Public Speaking debate by the nominated students of Mr. Byrnes Public Speaking classes from the year.
SCIENCE Subject Winners Young Scientist of the Year Winner
BIOLOGY – Rory Conlon
CHEMISTRY - Barry Kane Barry Kane
PHYSICS – Joseph O’Reilly
BUSINESS Nominees Winner
Mark Costelloe
Kevin Boland Sean Drummond
Sean Drummond
SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Nominated by the Sport Science teachers Mr. Finnegan and Mr. Corcoran
Nominees Winner
Eoghan McKeever
Joshua McKell
Michael Courtney Michael Courtney
David O’Rourke
Daniel Jordan
This Year for TY at CBC was a very successful one. By it’s nature TY changes from year to year and with it the expectations of all involved. To keep up with students impressions of the year we survey them to get a feel for what is working and what we can improve. This year the students felt a student committee which links to the co-ordinators was needed and we introduced this after Christmas to get feedback and discuss areas of interest with the students. This idea is a good to keep for the future and will be good for communication with students and parents. We also reacted to feedback from the Parent Council with suggestions and queries from them. We aim to make TY a worthwhile and good experience for our students while still attempting to keep them focussed on their own learning. All the 3rd Year students heading into TY should think hard about what they wish to achieve in their Transition from Junior to Leaving Cert and hopefully the year of 2010 – 2011 will inspire you to do so!
Ms. H. O’Connor/TY Co-ordinator
Differential Aptitude Tests
This year, the 4th years will be sitting the DAT’s during the Christmas exam period. They will be sat over a two day period, with Ms. Murphy as the examiner.
The DAT’s, also known as the Differential Aptitude Tests, are a series of EIGHT exercises designed to assess an individuals’ ability in relation to their age group, across a number of generalised academic and non-academic aptitudes. The DAT’s are a very useful tool in helping you decide which subjects to choose for the Leaving Certificate, what level of subject to consider, and can even be useful when thinking about college and career options. They also give you an idea of where you general strengths and weaknesses lie.
You cannot prepare for these tests, so there is no studying involved.
The eight areas to be examined are as follows:
Verbal Reasoning (VRPR): The ability to understand concepts presented in words. This test reflects the individuals’ ability to abstract or generalise and to think constructively.
Numerical Reasoning (NAPR): This test examines the ability to reason with numbers, manipulate numerical relationships and to deal with quantitative materials.
Abstract Reasoning (ARPR): This test is a non-verbal measure of an individuals’ reasoning ability. It examines the ability to perceive relationships in abstract figures and generalise and educe principles from non-language designs.
Clerical Speed and Accuracy (CSPR): This test measures speed of response when completing simple perceptual tasks. The objective of the test is to measure speed of perception, momentary retention and speed of response.
Mechanical Reasoning (MRPR): This test is designed to examine an individuals’ ability to work out simple mechanical problems and is useful for those curricula and occupations which demand an understanding of the principals of common physical forces.
Space Relations (SRPR): This test examines the ability to think in spatial terms and manipulate shapes using only the mind. It measures two related abilities – the ability to visualise an object from the representation of a pattern, and the ability to imagine how the object would appear if rotated in various ways.
Spelling (SPPR): This test is designed to examine an individuals’ ability to spell words correctly and spot incorrect spellings in text format.
Language Use (LUPR): This test is designed to measure the individual’s ability to detect errors in grammar, punctuation and capitalisation.
Once completed, the tests will be sent to the DAT’s scoring centre, and the results will be returned to the school in January. Each student will receive feedback on an individual basis and there will be an information evening for parents where they will receive their son’s scores in a document to keep.
