Voice, Choice and Flexibility are central to our curriculum planning. For 2nd Year and 3rd Year, the curriculum can be divided up into
- Core Subjects
- Choice Subjects
- Option Short Course
- Wellbeing
Check & Connect continues as the 15 minute start for each base class each morning.
Core Subjects
All students study English, Gaeilge, Maths, and History as part of the core curriculum.
Choice Subjects
Students carry forward the 4 choice subjects they chose in 1st Year after the taster programme. This means 4 subjects from Business Studies, French, Geography, Home Economics, Music, Science, Visual Art, Wood Technology. Each of these subjects gets 3 hours per week in 2nd Year, with the intention of providing students with more depth in their choice subjects.
Wellbeing
Short courses are provided in CSPE, SPHE and PE. Additionaly, students continue with their chosen short course from 1st Year in either Artistic Performance, Coding or Climate Action. In 3rd Year, there is a Guidance class provided for students. The Learning to Be and Learning to Learn programmes are for 1st Year only and do not continue into 2nd and 3rd Year.
CBA Calendar for 2nd and 3rd Year
Assessment in our school is the all day, every day. However, there are specific moments in the school year that we capture this assessment and where students receive both feedback and grade descriptors. These are called Classroom Based Assessments and are similar to the assessments students are used to in our school from first year.
The CBA calendars below (in PDF format), will help you in supporting your child from home and give you an understanding of what their year looks like in terms of CBAs.
2nd Year Students
3rd Year Students
To support parents/guardians, and indeed, students, with their understanding of CBAs, we have put together a guide that we think will be of assistance to you
Checkpoint Examinations - 3rd Year
In February of 3rd Year, students sit in-class examinations called Checkpoint Exams that reflect the learning of that time. An infographic below provides more detail on Checkpoint Exams.
The timetable for the 2024 checkpoint examinations can be seen below. The 2025 timetable will be created in January and uploaded here as soon as possible after this. Grade descriptors and feedback are reported on in March each year via VSware.
