LCA in a Deis School

Schools that participate in the DEIS are required to implement a range of planning, target-setting and on-going review processes in the following priority areas:

• Retention and Attendance
• Literacy and Numeracy
• Examination Attainment and Educational Progression
• Partnership with parents and Partnership with others.

LCA was introduced in Scoil Mhuire in order to improve retention and attendance, literacy and numeracy, examination attainment and educational progression of students who would struggle to complete the established LC.

Class Organisation:

LCA is

• A two year programme Leaving Certificate Applied programme for a selection of students entering senior cycle.
• Timetabled classes are scheduled Monday - Thursday with student work experience taking place every Friday.
• Due to the relatively small number of students enrolled in the LCA programme all students are in the same class and pursue a common curriculum. In the event of a large uptake of LCA Students in the future they will be divided into two class groups again
• Active learning methodologies are an integral part of the teaching of LCA
• We currently have approx 20 teachers involved in the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme, coordinated by Katrina McGonagle.

Curricular Content

Schemes of work are compiled by the subject teacher and provided separately in this folder. Difficulties arise teaching both Year 1 and Year 2 together. Teachers allow for this as best they can in their schemes of work.

The Leaving Certificate Applied is structured around three main key areas

• Vocational Preparation,
• Vocational Education
• General Education

These three elements are interrelated and interdependent. This programme is characterised by educational experiences of an active, practical and student-centred nature.

Work Experience is part of the Vocational Preparation Module.Each student will complete work experience every Friday during term time. Students should take part in a different work experience each session. This means that students of LCA will experience four different work locations over two years.

Programme Subjects

The LCA programme in Scoil Mhuire offers the subjects:

1. Vocational Preparation and Guidance
2. Graphics & Construction
3. French
4. Irish
5. Information Communication Technology
6. English and Communication
7. Mathematical Applications
8. Leisure and Recreation
9. Guidance
10. Hair and Beauty
11. Engineering
12. Hotel Catering & Tourism
13. Social Education
14. Vocational Preparation & Work Experience
15. Religion

The LCA offers the subjects at a common level for all students

Assessments/ Examinations Procedures:

• Continuous assessment takes place throughout the 2 years and students’ gain ‘credits’ as they go along.
• Each subject teacher allocates 1 credit (exam subject), 2 credits (non-exam subject) at the end of each session to students who have completed all key assignments and have a minimum of 90% attendance.
• Each teacher has a record of Key Assignments completed/ not completed and attendance record.
• The LCA Coordinator distributes a credit sheet to each subject teacher at the end of each session to fill in. Teachers fill in whether students completed Key Assignments and have met the attendance requirements.
• The LCA coordinator collects record sheets and fills in official DES student credits online. Principal verifies results.
• Student must tick of a key assignment list for each subject, if completed and sign. These sheets will be stored by the coordinator in the LCA cabinet along with the teacher credit record sheets.
• Teachers keep the actual key assignment in a safe place in their classroom these can be forwarded to the LCA coordinator at the end of each session. They must be available for examination in the event of appeals.
• Students’ work and skill development is assessed in different ways including interviews, written, oral and practical components.
• Four times throughout the 2 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.
• Students can obtain a total of 200 credits over 4 sessions in two years:
• Students in Sixth year have Mock Examinations in the subjects that are examined in LCA State Examinations at the end of 6^th Year
• Teachers may also assess students’ worksheets and will consider students participation in class when writing reports.
• Teachers provide verbal feedback to parents on their son’s progress at Parent/ Teacher meetings once a year.
• Students practice and complete previous exam questions from state examination