JCSP

JCSP has been successfully running in Ringsend College for many years.
The aim of the JCSP is to provide a fresh approach to the Junior Certificate Programme for potential early school leavers who are struggling to cope with secondary school. It is an intervention for these students based on the concept that all students are capable of achieving real success in school.

The JCSP seeks to retain students in school through addressing factors that are linked to early school leaving. This is based on the premise that if students can be given an experience of success while at school they are more likely to remain in school, at least until they have completed their Junior Certificate examinations.

The JCSP aims to provide a curriculum framework that assists schools and teachers in making the Junior Certificate more accessible to those students who may leave school without formal qualifications. It attempts to help students experience success and develop a positive self-image by providing a curriculum and assessment framework suitable to their needs. On completion of the programme students receive a profile which is an official record of their achievements, validated by the Department of Education and Skills.

The JCSP approach involves:

Analysing students’ strengths and weaknesses and taking note of any specific areas of concern.
Planning programmes of work which both build on students’ abilities and address the main obstacles which hinder their progress.
Providing feedback to students and parent(s)/guardians on student progress and achievement.

Cross-curricular work which helps to locate discrete skills and knowledge in a meaningful context, which reinforces learning across subject boundaries and which promotes collaboration among teachers.
Basic skills development relevant to many areas of the curriculum and which are important for managing daily life, both inside and outside school. These include, but are not confined to, literacy and numeracy.
Personal and social development which enhances self-esteem and the ability to relate well to other people. All areas of the curriculum have the potential to contribute here.
Allocation of time to all subjects is in line with the subject regulations as laid down by the Department of Education and Skills.

A large quantity of resources from the JCSP support service is ordered on a regular basis. Teachers can request to order any particular JCSP resources from the co-ordinator. JCSP resources are on full display in a designated area of the staff workroom. Resources are also provided through JCSP initiatives. Applications for these can be made through the JCSP co-ordinator.

The JCSP Support Service runs initiatives where teachers are facilitated in introducing new and creative ways of working with the students. The purpose is to provide opportunities for teachers to develop and explore new strategies, methodologies and interventions to support student learning. Many of the initiatives are an extension of the sharing of best practice at in-service. Strategies and interventions that have proven to be successful are further developed and explored by teachers involved in the JCSP.

The initiatives provide teachers with a small subvention to facilitate them in investigating and evaluating a specific strategy or intervention. Other initiatives are developments of successful interventions which are supported by the provision of guidelines and materials at in-service. As part of the Student Profile System many statements have been designed that describe the skills and knowledge attained by student involved in specific initiatives.

Applications for initiatives can be made to the JCSP co-ordinator after Subject Department meetings at the beginning of the school year. The JCSP will discuss with the Principal and a formal application is made to the JCSP Support Service.

Here a just a few of the initiatives ran in recent years:

A trip to Inis Mór as part of the Gaeilge initiative
A geography field trip
Seachtain na Gaeilge Céilí and competitions
Reading Challenge competitions
Maths and numeracy challenges
Science week
Digital storytelling workshop
Home Economics Healthy Eating week

All students in Ringsend College are lucky enough to have access to the digital library, 100’s of books are available here through Sora to all students throughout their school life. Below is the link to the digital library:
https://soraapp.com/welcome

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