The Department of Education hosted the first Senior Cycle Redevelopment Conference for school principals and deputy principals in Croke Park, Dublin.  

Four hundred school principals and deputy principals from all counties in Ireland converged for the inaugural conference which has been organised to share information about the Senior Cycle reform and to gather feedback from them.  

An update was provided to the school leaders about the introduction of revised specifications for seven existing Senior Cycle subjects - Business, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Ancient Greek, Latin, and Arabic – next year. Moreover, two new Senior Cycle subjects – Climate Action and Sustainable Development, and Drama, Film and Theatre Studies – were also introduced.

All of the revised and new Senior Cycle subjects will have an additional assessed component which will account for at least 40 per cent of the marks. Students studying the new Drama, Film and Theatre Studies subject will be able to create their own short theatre play or film and show it to a live audience. In parallel, students studying Climate Action and Sustainable Development will undertake ‘Creativity in Practice’ projects which can include organising a public debate on climate action or a project which allows people to connect with local nature.  

Additionally, principals and deputy principals were briefed about the development of measures to enhance the experience of Transition Year, including additional TY supports for schools and the ‘TY Tasters’ for students to introduce them to apprenticeship and other FET courses. Furthermore, school leaders were also informed about the development of a new Senior Cycle learning programme for students with special educational needs, who currently only have a learning programme up to Junior Cycle.

A Programme Delivery Board and a Partners’ Forum to drive the Senior Cycle Reform were also established. School leaders in attendance at the conference in Croke Park had the opportunity to hear from officials and others involved in work on the redevelopment programme.

Source: Eurydice Unit Ireland