Transition Year

The TY Biology program involves a selection of material picked from Classification, Ecology, Evolution, Genetics, Microbiology and Human Biology.

Over the course of the year, every TY student will take part in the Book Club rotational 6 week module. It is a module designed to foster independent reading and to forge oral analytical skills in a group setting. The module meets for a double period weekly. The teacher leads an analysis of “Foster” by Claire Keegan, consolidating the learning outcomes of JCT English in the first part of the class and then students complete independent reading in the school’s library for final 40 minutes. The wide selection of genres are promoted in this module together with the benefits of the escapism and social aspect of reading literature.

Students complete a project called ‘My Ideal Business’, describing the ideal business they would like to set up or work for. Topics covered include enterprise, recruitment, marketing, business ownership structures, insurance, employment legislation and consumer legislation.

The Chemistry module aims

• To improve on skills developed at Junior Certificate

• To give students an appreciation of the practical value of chemistry

• To encourage development of problem solving skills

• To improve ability of students to use more advanced laboratory equipment

• To encourage students to work independently

After the module students should be able to:

• Design their own experiments, based on previous experience and knowledge acquired during TY module

• Work independently, demonstrating skills of observation, recording, analysis and interpretation

• Work efficiently, neatly and with safety and discipline

Module in Film Studies – some aims and objectives

You will learn about:

The visual language of cinema/cinematography/film shots and angles/colour/composition etc.

How ‘other worlds’ are depicted in three different films

Films that you might not see outside of this class…films that are different from the ones you are normally exposed to

How all the different elements of a film come together to create meaning and make an impact on the audience

The role of the director and how their vision shapes the experience

The film’s social context

Indepth, close analysis of key scenes or moments from a film; how our perception changes on a second viewing

Aim :

The aim of this module is to increase student’s awareness of the French culture and language and to immerse them in authentic situations using a French film.

Learners will develop five language skills: reading, listening, writing, spoken production and spoken interaction.

Objectives:

Students will:

• be able to express an opinion on a film

• learn vocabulary of education and school

• write and present auto portrait

• discuss school rules

• compare schooling in France and in Ireland

• discuss good/bad students and teachers

• learn some words in “Verlan”

Methodologies: Research, project work, review, survey, role play.

The Reach+ College and Preparation Programme encourages students to match their aptitude, values, interests and personality to career pathways and course opportunities. This programme includes an online learning environment where students can complete and store all of their career research. This module covers the areas of Career Planning, Self Assessment, World of Work, World of Education and a Career Investigation. Students are encouraged to engage in a wide variety of activities and research designed to prepare them for the transition from secondary school to work or college.

The Guidance module in TY allows students to investigate future careers and college courses which may be of interest. The students will complete a number of exercises such as interest and personality inventories. The module largely follows the format in the Reach+ programme. Students can also explore the area of Subject Choice which will be important in selecting subjects for 5th Year.

Mr MacNamara’s Class:

Europe and the Wider World 1850 to 1918.

Topics covered include: Monarchies & Republics, The Great Powers, Imperialism & the ‘Scramble for Africa’, Suffragettes & Suffragists, WW1.

Ms. Doyle & Ms. Ní Shíomóin’s classes: We are piloting a course to introduce students to genealogy with an emphasis on developing their research skills. Students visit Glasnevin Cemetery Museum and are assigned to group projects that involve researching the genealogy of selected individuals. They will use this research to create a wider historical profile of the individual and the time in which they lived. This will be tied into the decade of centenaries. They will learn to use census records, birth records, military archives etc to glean information on their chosen individual. This research will be delivered collectively in class by each group in the form of an oral presentation. Students will send their findings back to Glasnevin and can choose to have their work published electronically.

The module equips students with the skills to mentor younger students when they are in 5th/6th year. They learn communication skills, assertiveness, problem solving, team work and conflict resolution. These skills are essential as they go out into the world after school.

The module focuses on building up some of the basic marking out and bench-working skills through an initial single piece project, before moving on to more collaborative design based projects. These are students driven and may incorporate cross-curricular and year projects links. The final project will require research, design and prototyping, usually linking with a recycling/environmental theme, and building upon the previous learned practical skills.

Games is a module designed to engage students in activities outside of ‘the norm’ and outside of our junior cycle PE programme in MT.

Local facilities/ instructors are sourced in an attempt to ignite new interests/ experiences and encourage lifelong physical activity among our students.

Activities include TRX, kickboxing, self-defence, pitch & putt, fencing, sailing, water sports, climbing.

Some of these activities are facilitated on-site while others are easily accessed by foot or via public transport.

There is a cost incurred to cover instructors fees, but this is kept at a minimal school discount rate (usually €25-€30 for a 6 week block).

Hikes around Howth Head, foot golf, jumpzone are other typical activities for the Games group; again, to encourage physical activity through many different forms, easily accessible in the locality.

Organising Teacher: E. Ryan (PE Department)

In this short module we work on some important lab skills used by practising scientists through conducting a variety of experiments in the areas of mechanics, heat and optics e.g. taking accurate measurements, graphing skills, calculator skills. Some of the experiments are tasters of experiments done in Leaving Cert Physics which are adapted to suit TYs (less theory, more practice). All experiments include ways of feeding back to students how accurate their measurements and results are, and ways of improving accuracy. If time permits we also cover areas in the history of Science by looking at the lives and work of Aristotle, Galileo, Newton and Einstein.