The new junior cycle places the student at the centre of the learning process it will allow for new ways to learn and offer a broad range of skills to be assessed.

Purpose of Education in Junior Cycle:

Help students become better learners and develop a love of learning.
Provide a solid foundation for further study.
To develop skills for learning and life.
To support learning through improved reporting to both students and parents.
There are six key skills that underpin the framework for Junior Cycle. These will inform teacher planning, as well as the development and implementation of, junior cycle programmes in school. These key skills will permeate across the entire curriculum.

The Junior Cycle Curriculum

Deele College Junior Cycle Core Subjects & Option Subjects

All Junior Cycle students study English, Irish, Maths, Science, History, Geography, SPHE, CSPE, Religion, Wellbeing and PE.
Students in 1st Year then select 3 option subjects to study for the remainder of their Junior Cycle programme.
In 2nd year Spanish is added to the option subjects and the students then select 3 subjects.

The Junior Certificate Schools Programme

The JCSP is a national programme sponsored by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). It is based on the concept that all young people are capable of achieving real success in school and that they can have a positive experience of education, if the conditions are favourable. The JCSP provides students with an opportunity for success in school and reward that success with an official record of their achievements, validated by the DES. All students who are part of the JCSP must sit the Junior Certificate like their peers.

Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement JCPA

When a student has completed their Junior Cycle, they are presented with a Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA). This shows the student what they have achieved throughout the 3 years of their learning journey.

The JCPA will show the following

Results from your SEC exams (including your Assessment Tasks)
Results from your Classroom Based Assessments (CBAs)
Other Areas of Learning

Other Areas of Learning

Students will have the opportunity to engage with a range of other learning experiences within the Junior Cycle Programme.

The Other Areas of Learning is school related, e.g. school sports team, choir, quiz, mini company etc.

The focus is on skills & knowledge, it should be linked with a Key Skill. Please see 8 Key Skills from Junior Cycle.

These OALS will appear on the student’s Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement.

Statements of Learning

Key Skills

Junior Cycle Assessment 2024/2025

Revised assessment arrangements that were introduced for the year 2023/24 will remain in place for students in third year in the school year 2024/25.

Classroom Based Assessments & Assessment Tasks

Each student must complete a minimum of one CBA in each subject and one CBA in each short course. Please Note Irish, Visual Art, Home Economics, Music, Wood Technology, Graphics and Engineering MUST complete CBA 2.
Students from this cohort will not be required to complete Assessment Tasks.
Schools have autonomy to decide whether to complete one or two CBAs in each subject.
To ensure assessment of oral communications skills, students must complete CBA 1: Oral Communication in Modern Foreign Languages and CBA 2: Interacting through Irish in Gaeilge.
As they are linked in each case with the final examination in the subject, students studying Visual Art, Home Economics, Music, Applied Technology, Engineering, Graphics and Wood Technology must complete CBA 2.
In Visual Art, one CBA must usually be presented in 3D. This requirement is waived for students in third year in 2024/25
In the Physical Education short course, students in third year in 2024/25 are required to complete a minimum of one Classroom-Based Assessment.
All 3rd years at present should have CBA1 completed. The latest date for the completion of CBA1 was May 2024.
In the event that a subject has not completed CBA1 then CBA2 must be completed for these students in 3rd year.
Please be advised that our 3rd years must have at least one CBA completed by the end of this current school year 2024/25.
CBA1 is acceptable in most subjects, however there are exceptions to some subjects below. Subjects where CBA 2 must be completed for 3rd years regardless if whether they have already completed a CBA1 are: Irish, Home Economics, Visual Art, Music, Graphics, Engineering and Wood Technology.
In 2nd Year, students will complete CBA 1 in each of their exam subjects.
In 3rd Year, students will complete CBA 2 in each of their exam subjects.
Classroom Based Assessments (CBA’s) are completed in a block of 3-4 weeks in class

Assessment Task (AT) – NO Assessment Task for 2024/2025

When a student has completed CBA 2 in 3rd Year, they normally are required to complete an Assessment Task (AT).

The AT is completed over 2 lessons in class under the supervision of the teacher.
It asks the students questions to reflect on the skills, knowledge & understanding they developed & experienced whilst preparing for & undertaking this CBA.
The Assessment Task is then sent to State Examinations Commission (SEC) to be marked.
It will account for up to 10% of the state-certified examination and will be incorporated into the grade that a student receives for their final SEC examination.

**Students from this cohort will not be required to complete Assessment Tasks.

** Please see Schedule of the CBA’s for 2nd year & 3rd year below**

Junior Cycle Content Creation

With the implementation of the Junior Cycle, the ‘Content Creation Group’ of the Donegal ETB have created units of work for the English, Irish and Science subject specifications. This animation describes how this initiative began, developed and the direction where it is hoped to go.

Junior Cycle