Press release
Senior Cycle Redevelopment Partners’ Forum meet to discuss implementation progress
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Published on
Last updated on
Today, 18 January 2024, the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Partners’ Forum held its fifth meeting to discuss the implementation of Senior Cycle Redevelopment. The Minister for Education, Norma Foley, established the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Partners’ Forum in April 2023.
On 20 September 2023, the Minister announced an acceleration to the programme for Senior Cycle Redevelopment. Nine new and revised subjects will be introduced nationally in 2025; two years earlier than planned. All new and revised subjects will incorporate additional assessment components, assessed by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) and worth a minimum of 40 percent of the available marks. Further tranches of subject revisions are to be introduced annually from 2025.
At today’s meeting of the Forum, members were briefed by department officials on progress in implementation of the Redevelopment programme. The Forum noted that the first tranche of new and revised Leaving Certificate subjects will be introduced in schools in 2025. Draft specifications for tranche 1 subjects; Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Arabic, Ancient Greek and Latin are now open for consultation until 23 February 2024. Submissions on the consultation can be made on the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment website. The Forum was also updated about the development of modules at Level 1 and Level 2 for students with additional learning needs, an updated Transition Year Programme Statement and a specification for SPHE. It was also noted that work on Tranche 2 subjects for Established Leaving Certificate will commence in February. The subjects in Tranche 2 are: Accounting, Construction Studies, Engineering, English, Geography, LCVP Link Modules and Physical Education.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) provided a detailed briefing on the design of the draft subject specifications and highlighted how the additional level of detail included in the specifications will provide support and clarity for teachers. In conjunction with the SEC, the NCCA also provided a presentation on the principles adopted to inform the design of the additional assessment components.
The NCCA along with the SEC made a presentation on how the additional assessment components included in the new specifications represent a significant development in senior cycle redevelopment designed to complement terminal written examinations in the assessment of students’ learning and key competencies in Senior Cycle.
The members of the Forum discussed the presentations and the developments reported to them, and provided feedback to the officials and agencies. The Partners’ Forum will submit their second written report to the Minister shortly, outlining their response to reported progress to date, and implementation proposals. The Forum will continue to represent the views of stakeholders in the redevelopment programme as it evolves.
The Forum will meet again next month, 20 February 2024.
The purpose of the Partners’ Forum is to facilitate information exchange and to provide informed insights on the implementation of Senior Cycle Redevelopment. Membership consists of various education stakeholders including representative bodies for students, parents, and teachers.
The Senior Cycle Redevelopment Partners’ Forum is a representative stakeholder engagement group to underpin the collaboration necessary to support implementation and, address and discuss issues pertaining to the implementation of the redevelopment of Senior Cycle as they evolve.
The core functions of the Partners’ Forum are to:
The Forum’s membership includes representatives of a wide range of stakeholders including students, parents, teachers, and school management, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) and other relevant organisations.
The Forum provides reports at least twice yearly to the Minister for Education on the work of the Forum which shall include setting out the views of its membership in regard to the implementation of the Senior Cycle Redevelopment programme of work.
Draft specifications for six of the nine subjects in the first tranche (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Arabic, Latin, and Ancient Greek) have now been completed. Public consultations for these draft specifications are open until 23 February 2024.
Development of the draft specifications for the remaining three of the nine subjects in the first tranche (Business; Drama, Film and Theatre Studies; and Climate Action and Sustainable Development) is currently at an advanced stage and is expected to be completed in early February.
The Minister has recently approved the list of subjects in the second tranche of revised specifications, to be introduced in all schools nationally in 2026. The list of subjects in Tranche 2, which has been published by the NCCA, consists of Accounting, Construction Studies, Engineering, English, Geography, Physical Education, and the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme Link Modules.
The NCCA has commenced work to establish Subject Development Groups for Tranche 2 subjects, with the Subject Development Groups expected to hold their first meetings in February 2024.
Development work is continuing on the development of L1 / L2 Modules for students with additional learning needs. These are expected to be available for consultation in February 2024.
The department is engaging ongoing with Oide, the newly integrated support service for teachers, on the provision of teacher professional learning for the introduction of new and revised subject specifications.