Transition Year

The 2021-2022 school year saw our first Transition Year Programme in Firhouse ETSS.

We have continued to build and improve our TY Programme and are having a great time as we develop the programme over the 2023-2024 school year.

A. Parent/Guardian Information Evening 2023-2024

• TY Information Evening PowerPoint 2023-2024.pdf

B. Wriggle Link - TY Bundle Options

• https://www.firhouseetss.ie/Page/Transition-Year--Wriggle-Bundle-Options/12347/Index.html

C. Work Experience/Community Placement documents and dates

• Work Experience/Community Placement dates 2024 / 2025
  • 21st October - 25th October (Monday - Friday)
  • 10th February - 14th February (Monday - Friday)
  • 07th April - 11th April (Monday - Friday)

The process to begin looking about work experience starts the April of 3rd Year. Students prepare their CVs so they can spend the summer looking for work experience. It has been suggested to students that they are probably more likely to get success if they go into places and present themselves looking for work experience rather than sending emails.

The following work experiences have been suggested:

• Ask family and friends
• Go to local shops and businesses
• Dundrum Shopping Centre
• The Square shopping centre
• Charity shops
• Local libraries
• Local primary schools
• Local creches
• Local Community Centre
• Find a career area that they are interest in e.g. architecture or law and contact local architect or law firms
• www.ty.ie
• https://togetherfm.com/
• https://www.learningwaves.ie/ty-media-programme

Every student will need to have work experience sorted, there won't be the option to come to school. We allocate 3 weeks over the year as part of the Transition Year programme.

• Insurance Letter for Work/Community Experience - This will be updated after 19th October 2024
  • Firhouse ETSS_Insurance Letter.pdf

• Garda Vetting (only required in specific work experience placements, not all)
  • In relation to the work experience/community placement weeks, should Garda Vetting be needed for a specific work experience, please complete the following form: Garda Vetting (How To and Application Form)

Assessment in Transition Year

This year, to keep reporting in TY as regular as possible, there are going to be reported assessment moments throughout the year. This means that there is no winter check-in and summer check-out. Instead, there are 5 assessment periods . It is hoped that these regular assessment moments can serve as a motivation piece with the TY students. More regular reporting meant that the TY team and parents/guardians can get a clear overview of how a year is going for a student.

Most subjects in TY will have 3 assessment moments over the course of the year. Shorter courses have 1 or 2 assessment moments. As these are completed, teachers create their own ‘Class Assessment’ on VSware and provide rich feedback as part of this process. This feedback is available to students via VSware.

To see the feedback from Assessment Period, please do the following:

• Step 1: Login to VSware
• Step 2: Click your child's name
• Step 3: Click 'Assessment'
• Step 4: Click 'Class Assessment'
• Step 5: Use the dropdown menu to find the subjects that were in focus in the assessment period you are looking at