St. Mary's College - Transition Year

Mission
‘Transition Year Programmes aim to promote the personal, social, educational and vocational development of the students and to prepare them for their role as autonomous, participative and responsible members of society’ (Dept. of Education & Science).

Aim
The main aim of Transition Year is to promote maturity.

Objectives

• To give students opportunities to discover and develop their own individual gifts and strengths.

• To experience a year where the emphasis will be on individual responsibility and the nurturing of thinking, caring, articulate and self-confident people.

• To give students a chance to learn how to learn: how to research, to use technology, to try new skills and to gather information. These are the strengths you’ll need in college and beyond.

• To recognize, understand and appreciate the amalgamation of individual strengths when achieving effective cohesive teams.

• To give students extra time to explore choices for the Leaving Certificate. Choosing the right subjects for your interests and abilities is going to improve your performance.

• To give students the opportunity to explore career ambitions by doing work shadowing placements.

What is the Transition Year Programme ?
Transition Year is a one-year programme between the end of the Junior Certificate and the start of a Leaving Certificate programme. Transition Year tries to give a broad education to students-it’s about learning in many different ways. As a Transition Year student you will learn the traditional way. But you will also learn through practical experience and you will learn through meeting people beyond the classroom. Transition Year will help you to find and develop your own special interests and talents, to become more aware of your place in the community and to lay a solid foundation for your future choice of Leaving Certificate.

Your daughter will be encouraged to look at the following:

What am I good at?
How might I make use of my interests and strengths to do well?
What skills could I try to develop in Transition Year that might be of use to me in the future?
Who are the people in my community? How can I help them and how might they help me?
Where do I see myself after school and how might I best prepare for life after school?

Transition Year Programme –St. Mary’s College, Naas

There is no fixed course for Transition Year. The programme varies from year to year.  
The following is a sample of the topics which may be covered in the Programme:


Students study all the following subjects:

• Art-Modelling, Calligraphy, Stage Design & Painting, Graphic Design.
• Business-Business & Accounting Education, Buying & Selling Products, Young Enterprise Awards.
• Career Guidance- Preparation for Work Shadowing/C.V./Subject Choice for 5th year.
• Computing-Word Processing, Database & Spreadsheets, Internet, Digital Camera.
• English-Creative Writing, Modern Novel, Poetry, Film Studies.
• Environmental Studies-Global Warming, Ozone Depletion, Pollution, Deforestation, etc.
• French/German/Spanish-Writing, Reading, Oral Communication, Language acquisition skills.
• Gaeilge-Poetry, Writing, Reading, Oral Communication, Language acquisition skills-Fáinne.
• History-Colonizers & the Colonized-Africa, Demography/ population trends & social issues, Women in history.
• Geography- Kildare, Africa,  Disasters
• Home Economics-Cookery, Craft Skills, Costumes for the Musical
• Maths-Numerical reasoning, Logical & analytical problem-solving & Computational skills.
• Physical Education-Aerobics, Pilates/Yoga, Dance, Fitness, Outdoor Pursuits, Squash, Rock Climbing, Golf. Orienteering, Athletics, Hockey, Tennis, etc.
• Religion-Biblical references, Liturgical year, Festival preparation, Retreat.
• Road Safety Programme
• Science-Energy, Environmental awareness, Biotechnology, Sports science, Forensic science, Experiments, Genetics including DNA Profiling, etc.
• Technology-Design & make products using wood, plastics incorporating simple electronics.
• Social Enterprise Action Programme

The following are some of the other activities the students engaged in 2010-2011:

• Gaisce
• Musical-The Wizard of Oz
• Best Buddies
• Gelling Outing-Manchester/Alton Towers
• Christmas Outing
• End of Year -Baltinglass Outdoor Pursuits
• Young Enterprise Workshops
• Mini-company
• Religious Ceremonies
• Work Shadowing
• Community Service
• GAA Museum and Croke Park, Walking Tour of Dublin
• Film Studies Day
• Social Enterprise Action Project
• Visiting Speakers
• Gaisce Walk- overnight in Glendalough Youth Hostel
• Ploughing Championships
• Law Course
• Visit to the Zoo

The school will use a variety of forms of assessment in looking at the students’ personal and academic progress throughout the year.  Continuous assessment means that they have to work hard all year round. They may also experience written, oral, aural, portfolio or folders, project displays, exhibitions of work, T.Y. Journal, work shadowing assessments, etc. Reflecting the learning led emphasis of the Transition Year programme, certification is school based rather than national.

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Transition Year and the World of Work

One of the aims of Transition Year is to prepare students for adult and working life. In St. Mary’s College we have a week of work shadowing in November and a week before Easter. Students choose placements that reflect their career ambitions–working alongside an employer/employee, observing her/him at work and seeing what happens in the workplace.  
Students will prepare for work shadowing in the classroom – keep an on-the-job journal and afterwards, back in school, reflect on and learn from the experience.  As well as this their employer will provide an assessment of their attitude and performance and this may be discussed as part of a debriefing session back in school.  Overall Transition Year has helped thousands of students to set clearer goals for their studies, their careers and their lives.

Community Service

In St. Mary’s College all Transition Year students will undertake one week Community Service. The purpose of this module is to allow students to give back something to the community and to experience life from the point of view of others, eg., the elderly, children or adults with physical or intellectual disabilities, etc.

Gaisce-The President’s Award

Gaisce is the National Challenge Award from the President of Ireland to young people between 15 and 25 years of age. There are different types of award-bronze, silver and gold. In St. Mary’s College we undertake the bronze award in Transition Year.

What is it all about?
The President’s Award works on the basis of a personal challenge set by the student. She will set the challenge and agree it with the Leader. She will not be competing with other participants as each challenge is completely individual…..so the only person the student competes with is herself.

The four challenges are:

1. Skill-1 hour per week for 13 weeks.
2. Community-1 hour per week for 13 weeks.
3. Physical-1 hour per week for 13 weeks.
4. Adventure-2 days-foot expedition 25-35kms.

5.   1 challenge from skill, community and physical must be continued for a further 13   weeks giving 26 weeks in total.

It’s up to the participant to earn this award. It is about “stickability” and learning to overcome problems during participation. On successful completion of the 4 challenge areas the students receive their award.

Key Concepts of Transition Year

• Education for maturity is a central thrust of all aspects of the Transition Year Programme.

• The emphasis is on the process of learning rather than on the content of individual courses.

• Transition Year is not led by the demands of a terminal written examination, rather it is learning-led, driven by students’ needs.

• Broad curriculum content.

• Young peoples own experiences are valued and learning from experience is central to the programme.

• Transition Year engages in a wide variety of teaching and learning styles, including negotiated learning, activity-based learning, group work, project work, visiting speakers, trips, etc.

• The programme extends learning beyond the classroom, harnessing the external learning environment and linking the school with a variety of social agencies, particularly the local community and employers.

• Orientation to adult and working life is a major aim of the Transition Year programme.  Work shadowing, community service, and enterprise education are ways of achieving this aim.

• Transition Year provides opportunities to reinforce what has been learned at Junior Cycle and to ensure that basic competencies are further developed.

• Promoting maturity emphasises life-skills, including social awareness and increased social competence.

• The development of general, technical and academic skills within a Transition Year programme is directed to promoting self-directed learning among students.

• An ultimate goal of a Transition Year programme is the development of young people whose motivation for learning is intrinsic rather than extrinsic.

Transition Year can give the student opportunities to:

• Develop a variety of new skills

• Discover more about your own personal strengths – what they are good at

• Learn more about the working world through work experience

• Discover more about job and career opportunities beyond school

• Sample and discover new subjects

• Build a solid foundation of skills for a Leaving Certificate programme

• Take part in outdoor pursuits

• Learn about working as part of a team

• Practise and develop oral communication skills

• Develop skills that are necessary for the world of work and further study

• Hear adults talk about their career experiences

• Learn through meeting people beyond the classroom

• Develop your own natural skills and talents

• Undertake projects on topics which interest you

• Make informed choices about Leaving Certificate subjects

• Practise meeting deadlines for assignments

• Engage with civic, social and political issues and form your own opinions

• Explore the possibilities offered by computers and information technology

• Improve your skills of relating to people

• Become a more independent learner

• Become skilled at planning and doing homework on your own

• Develop more understanding and confidence about yourself as a person

• Develop more mature student-teacher relationships

• Learn about leadership, co-operation and dealing with conflict

• Become more motivated for the Leaving Certificate programme

• Add a valuable set of experiences on to your C.V.

• Become a more mature person

Certification

Certification is offered at four levels-A, B, C, D- based on the quality of student’s assessments throughout the year. You daughter will receive a grade for

• Academic Achievement
• Personal Development

Selection Process


Since we offer the course to a limited number of students, we have certain important procedures in place for selecting students:

• Students’ ability is not an issue but their willingness to participate, their co-operation and work ethic is important.
• Intending students are asked to outline in writing reasons as to why they wish to take the course. Students applying for the course will be interviewed to assess their suitability.
• Students’ discipline records, as well as their record of attendance, participation, attitude and behaviour in their 3rd Year are taken into account.

Costs involved

If you decide your daughter would benefit from T.Y. it is important to realise there will be costs involved. The fee for 2011-2012 is €450. Cost of Art materials, Technology & Gaisce will be extra.

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The following are the reflections of  Transition Year students.

Our year so far...
September 2010
If we could sum up September in one week it would be “tremendous”.  The year began with three days of orientation.  We got talks from the organizations we might get involved in during the year.  These include “Touch Foundation”, Best Buddies and Gaisce.  Although the best was yet to come…Alton towers! Our gelling trip started early on September 8th when we set sail across the waters to Manchester.  The rest of the day consisted of a trip to Old Trafford Stadium, followed by a much anticipated trip to the Trafford Shopping Centre.  After that we headed over to the YHA Hostel for a much needed rest.  We arrived at Alton Towers as the gates were opening.  Alton Towers was indescribable it was so good.  The day was amazing and everyone left on a high from the rush of the rollercoasters.  We rounded up our trip with a game of bowling.  We arrived home wrecked but happy at 7am the next morning.  In the weeks that followed we were off again to the Ploughing Championships in Athy.  We had a great day in the muck and some of us even met the Irish soccer player Kevin Doyle.  We left Athy with a bag full of freebies and a smile on our faces. That’s why September was tremendous.

October 2010
October began with much anticipated auditions for the school musical ‘The Wizard of Oz’. This displayed the great talent in our year.  Following recalls, the parts were cast.  TYs can’t wait for this year’s trip down the yellow brick road! In early October, the school held their annual sponsored walk.  It was, as usual a great success.  Many Transition year students took part, and were rewarded with cakes and cookies after the 10km walk.  Mini-companies progressed further this month, as TYs visited the Moat Theatre to participate in a workshop facilitated by the County Enterprise Board.  This was the second time they took part in such a talk, and benefited greatly from it.  We prepared for the Harvest Festival as part of our religion programme.  At the end of the month a maths quiz was organised.  After a busy month we were all looking forward to a well deserved October mid-term.

November 2010
The law course was a great beginning to November.  Three barristers came in to instruct us about various aspects of law.  The law course included a mock trial in which some of the TY’s were asked to stand in as characters in the fictional case study.  After that, there was a talk.  One of the barristers used the case of the ‘Scissor Sisters’ to illustrate some points of law.  In mid November TY French students were treated to a cooking demonstration from the French chef, Sylvain, from the local restaurant ‘Vie de Chateaux’.  While teaching us how to make éclairs Sylvain spoke French.  After the demo, we all got to sample his creations, either chocolate or pistachio.  We were given the opportunity to ask Sylvain questions about his life as a chef.  The 25th of November was the date set for our first bake sale in aid of this year’s musical.  This was a huge success with most of the cakes and buns being sold that lunch time. Remaining cakes were subsequently sold at break time the following day.

December 2010
December saw the deadlines of many projects due.  The projects were due for Geography, Spanish and Maths.  We were relieved to have reached all our deadlines.  During the month we started preparations for our Irish oral exam “The Fáinne Award”.  During class we had mock Fáinne exams and we worked on our pronunciation.  ‘The LA Make-Up Academy’ visited out school and spoke to us about their careers and informed us of career options involving make-up.  They demonstrated how make-up can be used for special effects in movies and how make-up can open many career paths.  We were enthused by them and everyone found the talk really interesting and informative.

January 2011
Transition Year has been extremely busy this year.  Some months, there were less activities going on.  We started off the new term in January by taking a trip to Newgrange.  The trip was very worthwhile and very interesting.  Best Buddies held their first get together and had a meal at the Chinese.  This was a great night for everybody to get to know each other. Most people are nearly finished their thirteen weeks of their chosen activity for Gaisce .  Many groups for mini-company have begun selling their products, and are progressing with their business report.  The business reports have a deadline of February 17th, where mock interviews of the mini-company will take place. During January a Forensic Scientist came in and explained to us the work of a forensic scientist.  He made up a crime scene and gave us some evidence to consider while we tried to solve the crime.  All the bits of evidence had a twist to them and it was up to us to put the pieces of the jigsaw together.  This organised activity made us think outside the box and was very enjoyable.  Overall January kept us on our toes between the musical, trips and mini-company.

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Shauna A. O’Brien 5th Year 2010/11

Transition Year, TY, 4th Year, a ‘Gap Year’.  Transition year is given many different names by many different people, but I think that I would like to call it ‘The Best School Year of My Life’, and possibly one of the best years of my whole life.  The memories from the year, the laughs and the friends stay with you.  I think that at the end of the year, everybody knew the name of everyone in our year, and everyone felt the same way as I did, that they didn’t want the year to end.  So many trips, subjects, modules and activities were done over the course of the year that if felt like a rollercoaster at times.  A very fast, very thrilling, ride that you wanted to get on again and again. I think that was seen literally on the gelling trip we had at the beginning of September 2009, when we ferried ourselves off to Manchester to see Old Trafford, and bond while screaming the whole way through the rides in Alton Towers.  Then, when we were all warmed up from that trip, for the Ploughing championships we dragged out our wellies and forced our minds to think ‘outside the box’ for ideas regarding mini company. Business was never my favourite subject, but it was easy to get into the spirit of starting your own company with friends!  The year was speeding along with the first week of work experience looming on everyone. The November placement I had in a veterinary clinic was both nerve-wracking and enlightening as I discovered that my idea of the career matched the reality and more, and that meeting and working with new people was not as difficult as I expected it to be.  A person who cringes every time the phone rings and she is supposed to talk, I was able to gain the courage to answer the reception telephone – a small feat for some, but I found it a Herculean task in the beginning!
Skipping though the snow and a flurry of musical rehearsals, we reached March to put on our production of ‘Honk!’.  We had spent many long hours going endlessly through scene after scene after song, and our hard work – and Mr. Lanigan’s, Noel’s and Deirdre’s work as well – finally seemed to be paying off.  Musical helped give confidence to everyone that took part, and aside from a few mishaps on the last night – whole thing went off without a hitch. Musical brought people closer together as characters doing scenes together had to practice and work for a long time.  It was one of the highlights of the year I think.
The second week of work experience I decided to do something completely different in that I went to the Kildare Nationalist.  I was very excited about this as I was given a lot of responsibility during the week.  I was given the opportunity to go to court, work in the reception answering phones and taking appointments, and even writing articles.  There was so much work involved in writing an article that I never realised, but I think it paid off, as four of the articles I wrote were published in the paper!  The week improved my confidence and I became more organised and focused in what I was doing.
I feel that the activity that impacted me the most in Transition Year was our week of community service.  I did my placement in KARE in Naas, working with people with intellectual and physical disabilities.  It was a real eye-opener for me as I learned all the things that the workers and volunteers did every day.  My world rarely collided with the world of the people in KARE, but after the week of community service, I am proud to say that I can stop and talk to almost every single person who is in the KARE programme when I meet them on the street.  I made some great friends during that week of community service, and I hope to remain friends for a long time.
Although we had many trips towards the end of the year, including a trip to the Zoo, to Baltinglass Adventure Centre, and to Kairos to make a short TV show, my favourite trip was to Causey Farm.  We were taught how to make bread and play the bodhrán and even learned a couple of Irish dancing steps, which was great craic all round.  The best part of the trip though, was bog-hopping.  Most, if not all of us, had never been bog hopping before. Leaping from a ledge into a messy gloop of bog was hilarious, but a struggle to get out of once the legs went into the wet.  We had to work together to get each other out, and even then some people were stuck in the centre for ages, having forgottenthat they themselves were stuck while they were helping others.  It was a very mess ride home in the back of the tractor, but it was the best trip to end on a high of what had been an amazing year.
‘The Best School Year of My Life’ is a year that isn’t for everyone.  In my case, TY helped me grow in confidence and maturity, helped me make friends, and become a better person in my community.  For me, and for my friends, transition year was a collective memory that I will treasure always, long after I have left St. Mary’s.

Cara Gill (Head Girl) 6th Year 2010/11

In my opinion, TY is a great year full of incredibly valuable experiences for young people. TY is the only year where your daughter will have the opportunity to focus on personal development rather than academic achievement.   With activities that you’ve heard about already, like trips, Gaisce, musical and work experience, among others, numerous skills are learned for blossoming in the outside world, far beyond our school community.
Confidence is a huge thing gained from doing TY. I can honestly say that my confidence, and my friends’ confidence has soared from doing TY.  You are introduced to new scenarios and new situations outside your comfort zone which require you to find confidence in yourself. For example, going on a work placement to a company where everyone is much older and much more educated than you are is a daunting task.  But as a TY student you just get on with it and then feel comfortable in these unfamiliar situations.  Also from work experience I have chosen my career path.  I am now dead set on becoming a doctor, and I’ve found a focus that has kept me driven to study this year.

In TY you learn a lot about your personality.  You learn whether you’re a good team leader or a good team player, whether you’re and extrovert or introvert, a budding actress or a vet. You have the opportunity to discover so many things about yourself and your friends.  You discover likes and dislikes that you never knew about.  You are pushed out of your comfort zone and because of this, you learn more and more about yourself everyday.
I asked a few other girls what they felt they most got out of TY and they said things like – maturity, sense of responsibility, ability to focus on Leaving Cert. studies, ninety five new friends, appreciation of what goes on in the community, new entrepreneur skills and communication skills. These benefits were had by girls who put 100% into anything they did in TY, and they are the ones who really enjoy and get the most out of Transition Year.
And then of course like all good things, TY had to come to an end.  A big concern that a lot of students and a lot of parents have is getting back into 5th year and knuckling down to do some studying.  To be honest, I have to say that the first few weeks were completely horrible. It’s such a big transition from being on a trip, or doing a project, or being involved in mini company to spending eight hours concentrating, and then going home to do homework and study for another three.  But honestly, even the 3rd years that go straight to 5th, find it difficult.  The 3rd year workload and 5th year workload are completely different so everyone will feel a little overwhelmed or tired until they settle into it.  For me, I’d feel like I had my year of personal development and discoveries and fun, so I wanted to jump back into things. I was prepared for the work and I was ready to move on and take the next step.
It’s difficult to sum up what one person got out of TY, because it varies from person to person.  I feel more mature, more responsible, independent, confident and I just feel more focused on completing the Leaving Certificate.  It’s a really good year full of opportunities you don’t get in any other school year.  If your daughter is a girl who will put everything into TY then she is the one who will get the most out.

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The Benefits of Transition Year – some recent research

Personal Development:
‘Transition Year Co-ordinators identified the overwhelming reward of the job as being the student development enabled by the T.Y. experience’.
TYCSS Survey on Co-ordination 2000/Report of Findings

‘School Management ….. tends to stress fairly similar objectives in relation to TY provision, including maturity, personal development of the student’, developing social skills’, ‘widening the scope of learning opportunities’ and ‘to enable students to make more informed choices in Fifth Year’.
Do Schools Differ? Dr. Emer Smyth

Lifeskills Acquisition:
‘There is growing anecdotal evidence that students who have taken the TY programme are more self-reliant learners when they enter third-level education than their peers’.
Commission on the Points System, Final Report & Recommendations

‘Students who do Transition Year, which encourages students to organize themselves for projects and study, seem to cope better with college’.
War of attrition:Time to get real about dropouts/
Education & Living, Irish Times – March 2002

Student Outcomes: Students who take Transition Year differ in a number of respects from those who do not take the programme. On average, students who took part in Transition Year achieved higher Leaving Certificate exam grades and were more likely to go on to higher education than non-participants, all else being equal. This pattern may reflect a number of aspects of the programme.

1. Students receive greater exposure to the kinds of subjects they will take for the Leaving Certificate and it would be surprising if this did not have any positive effects on subsequent performance.

2. Being a year older as such does not seem to enhance academic performance. However, the emphasis on self-directed learning and the perceived consequences of participation for maturity may enhance the study skills of students.

3.  Previous research (Smyth, 1999) has indicate higher academic performance among students who have had positive interaction with teachers and a number of students in this study reported improved relations with teachers as a result  of taking part in the programme.
The Transition Year Programme – An Assessment (2004)
Emer Smyth, Delma Byrne, Carmel Hannon (E.S.R.I.)

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TY Gelling Weekend 2011

TRANSITION YEAR CHRISTMAS OUTING 2011

 

Transition year Gaisce Awards 2012

Gaisce is the National Challenge Award from the President of Ireland to young people between 15 and 25 years of age. There are different types of award-bronze, silver and gold. In St. Mary’s College we undertake the bronze award in Transition Year.

What is it all about?
The President’s Award works on the basis of a personal challenge set by the student. She will set the challenge and agree it with the Leader. She will not be competing with other participants as each challenge is completely individual…..so the only person the student competes with is herself.

The four challenges are:

1. Skill-1 hour per week for 13 weeks.
2. Community-1 hour per week for 13 weeks.
3. Physical-1 hour per week for 13 weeks.
4. Adventure-2 days-foot expedition 25-35kms.

Congratulations to all the Transition year students who received their Bronze gaisce Awards recently. Contratulations also to Edel Pyke 6th year 2011 who achieved a Gold Gaisce Award. Edel will be presented with her medal and certificate by President O'Higgins at a later date.

 

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