TY FAQs
Transition Year classes comprise an equal amount of students from each of our third year classes 3A – 3F. Normally a limit of 24 students per class applies.
Students are offered a place on our TY programme following the satisfactory completion of a detailed application form.
The fee for TY is €500. A deposit of €200 is paid when a student accepts a place on the programme in May. The remaining €300 is payable when the student returns to school in September. The fee covers activities such as Horizon, Ploughing Championships, Law Education for Schools, Cardiac First Responders, Songschool, Driving tuition, Geography fieldwork, YSI fee, Drama fee….
We believe the programme enables students to mature, to develop confidence, to become independent thinkers, to make informed subject choices and to gain a valuable insight into broad variety of career areas.
Students make new friends, they develop a range of transferable skills and they achieve certification in various areas such as ICDL, CFR and YSI. They gain valuable insights into the world of work when undertaking Work Placement. TY students tend to have quite an impressive CV to submit in their Portfolio in May.
On the contrary, teachers notice greater maturity and application among those who have completed the TY option. Our past TY students consistently rank among our high achievers when Leaving Cert results are issued each August.
Volunteer! Participate! Get involved! Set some personal challenges! Use your initiative! Take responsibility! Be positive!
In September 2019 a decision was taken to rebrand from ECDL, the European Computer Driving Licence to ICDL, the Digital Skills standard. This is in line with ICDL Foundation strategy to have a single consistent brand across the 100+ countries where ECDL/ICDL operates. See full details on official rebrand in Brussels last week (https://www.ecdl.ie/blog/)
The purpose of this rebranding was to revitalise, refresh and reflect the reality of the programme. The message is simple “ICDL – The Digital Skills Standard” .This removes the International /European distinction and retires the old driving Licence analogy.
Transition Year students in Coláiste Muire have the opportunity to study a number of modules in ICDL and undertake examinations for certification if they wish. All examinations take place during school time. Some modules involve an element of self-directed learning, therefore the number of modules undertaken during Transition Year can vary from student to student. We generally recommend that students should aspire to completing seven modules during the course of transition year.
Students can opt for one of the following three options. This usually needs to be confirmed by the end of September.
The following are the options available to students
Option 1 ICT Bundle – (This is by far the best value option for students.)
Cost per student €99.00
Students have unlimited access to all 13 modules of ICDL (listed below). These include access to interactive e-learning resources, practice diagnostic tests in advance of the actual test and examination fees in all the modules. Students also have access to the 4 modules of Computing Curriculum (also listed below).
ICDL Modules
- Word Processing
- Spreadsheets (Excel)
- Online Essentials
- Computer Essential
- Using Databases
- Presentation (PowerPoint)
- IT Security
- Project Planning
- Online Collaboration
- WebEditing
- ImageEditing
- Data Protection
- Digital Marketing
Computing Curriculum Modules
- Digital Media 1
- Computational Thinking 1
- Multimedia Storytelling
- Microcontrollers
The main benefits to students of this option are as follows:
- Unlimited access to diagnostic or ‘mock’ ICDL exams which they can practice in school and at home a number of times before the exam.
- Unlimited opportunities to undertake the tests at no additional cost – i.e. if you fail a test you can repeat it at no extra cost.
- Students can access the e-learning modules both at school and at home.
- Students have access to the resource material during their time in school, hence students can complete the remaining modules during fifth year and leaving certificate if they wish to do so.
Note – a good internet connection is required to have access to the e-learning modules at home. To have access to diagnostic tests at home you need to have MS Office 2016.
Option 2 – Three Modules
Cost per student €50.00
This price includes the cost of a skills card required to sit the examination and the examination fee for the first three modules (the student can decide on the modules they wish to undertake).
Key Points
- Additional examinations may be undertaken by the student at a cost of €10 per examination.
- Students do not have access to specific e-learning interactive modules but have access to class notes.
- If a student fails an examination the cost of repeating each examination is €10.
- Diagnostic or ‘mock’ examinations are not included in this price and may be purchased at an additional cost of €3.50 per examination. These can only be practiced once. If you wish to practice a second time there is an additional €3.50 charge.
Option 3- Class assessments
No cost to the student.
The student follows the course material as prescribed by the teacher during class time and is assessed by the teacher. However, the student does not undertake any formal recognised examination.
There are two weeks allocated each year to Work Experience in our TY Calendar. The first week of Work Experience/ Community Work is scheduled prior to Christmas week. Work Experience 2 is scheduled prior to the Easter holidays.
We ask students and their parents to source these placements. The school provides insurance cover and details are available from Ms. O’ Regan in September each year. Students are not permitted to organise a placement outside of these weeks (and insurance will not be provided) without permission from the school (e.g. specific TY College placements or TY Industry placements).
If a student is over 16 years and intends doing Work Experience in a Primary school or Creche or with a childcare provider they must have Garda Vetting. A student should check if vetting is required should she intend doing work placement in a hospital, day care centre etc. A vetting application form is available to download from the documents section of our TY hub. Completed forms should be returned to Ms. Pound, Principal who organises vetting through the JMB. Please note that a student has to be vetted for each placement. It is not possible to vet students under 16 years.