Senior Cycle Enrolment
SENIOR CYCLE ENROLMENT
Welcome to our Senior Cycle Enrolment and information page.
Dear prospective parent/guardian/student,
Welcome to our Senior Cycle information section. Please watch the relevant Senior Cycle Programme Videos below. (TY/LCA/LC)
After watching these videos:
* If you decide to enrol in TY or LCA, then complete the Enrolment Form below. (DO NOT COMPLETE THE OPTIONS FORM ON VSWARE)
* If you decide to enrol in 5th year, then please watch the LCVP video and the relevant subject option videos below, before completing the enrolment form and then logging into VSWare to select your Senior Cycle subjects.
NB. Please ensure you watch the relevant subject videos below when creating your subject preference list. We have found, students often choose a LC subject without fully understanding what the course entails, and then quickly find it is not what they expected and they wish to change subjects in September/October. This often results in them being unable to get into the subject they now want due to option blocks. Also, if you have not studied a subject for the Junior Cycle and wish to take it up for the Senior cycle, please discuss with the relevant teacher before adding it to your list of preferences.
Please contact the school directly if you wish to discuss a new enrolment into Senior cycle in our school and to discuss the subjects we can offer your child if places exist in the existing classes.
Kind regards,
DQuinn
principal@dunmorecs.ie
There is no formal examination at the end of Transition Year, school-based forms of assessment are recommended.
The Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) is a two-year Leaving Certificate available to students who wish to follow a practical Leaving Certificate programme with a vocational focus on the world of work and life-long learning. Work experience is a significant component of the programme and students get to sample a range of jobs and get first-hand experience of the world of work.
The learning experiences are active and practical where students apply their knowledge, skills and experience to real life situations in the school, in the workplace and in the wider community.
The programme provides a wealth of opportunities that enhance the self-esteem and confidence of students. There is less emphasis on the final examinations as course work is essential throughout the two years and students’ gain ‘credits’ as they go along. Students’ work and skill development is assessed in different ways including interviews, written, oral and practical components.
| 62 credits | 31% | ongoing attendance, class work and assignments |
| 70 credits | 35% | 7 student Tasks (Project Work) |
| 68 credits | 34% | 7 Final Examinations |
| Total: | 200 Credits: | 100% |
Four times throughout the two years students get a statement of their results from the State Examinations Commission.
In this way they experience regular feedback on their success and achievement. As students complete and submit their Leaving Certificate Applied course work they are awarded what are called ‘credits’.
There are 200 credits available in total.
The leaving Certificate Applied is awarded at three levels:
| Pass | 120-139 Credits | (60-69%) |
| Merit | 140-169 Credits | (70-84%) |
| Distinction | 170-200 Credits | (85-100%) |
Students who accumulate fewer than 120 credits receive a Record of Experience.
A student can proceed to further education through pursuing Post Leaving Certificate Courses, which are available in Colleges of Further Education. These courses lead to qualifications, which are awarded by the QQI. Direct Access to Third Level Education through the CAO system is not possible immediately on completion of the Leaving Certificate Applied.
However, students who complete the course and progress on to a QQI Level Five Award can become eligible for admission to some third level courses in the Institutes of Technology.
A Leaving Certificate Applied student can enter an apprenticeship course and is also qualified to apply for direct employment.
Click here for an Information Handout on LCA
Please note: An LCA class will only run with sufficient numbers. If it is not running, you will be notified shortly after the closing date and your child will be offered to apply for TY (if they haven’t already completed TY) or fifth year.
Most Senior Cycle students will continue to choose the traditional Leaving Certificate. Irish and Mathematics are available at Higher, Ordinary and Foundation levels. All other Leaving Certificate subjects are available at Higher and Ordinary level. Those students who wish to opt into taking LCVP, effectively an extra subject in the Leaving Cert exam may do so when enroling. Further information on subject choice and LCVP are available in the linked videos.
Please ensure you watch the videos produced by our teachers on each of the option subjects to assist in your decison making.
The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) is a course designed to enhance the vocational dimension of the Leaving Certificate (established). It is a combination of the established Leaving Certificate and an extra subject called Link Modules. The LCVP combines the academic strengths of the Leaving Certificate (established) with a new and dynamic focus on self–directed learning, innovation and enterprise.
Participants in the programme are encouraged to develop skills and competencies fundamental to both academic and vocational success.
The primary goal of the LCVP is to prepare young people for adult life by ensuring that they are educated in the broadest sense, with an ability to cope and thrive in an environment of rapid change.
The use of active teaching and learning methodologies is encouraged across the LCVP curriculum. Experiences such as work placement, career investigation, mini–enterprise, business and community visits are an integral part of the programme.
Please watch the presentation on LCVP on this page.
Please note: the previous requirement of specific subject combinations, and a modern Foreign languauge are no longer applicable, so all students are now eligible to take LCVP.