Curriculum:

This programme ensures that each student, on the completion of the Junior Certificate examination (Year 3), will have the full range of career choices and subject options open to him/her as s/he progresses to Senior Cycle.

Career Paths.
St. Brogan’s College students achieve high grades in the national examinations and are gainfully employed in a wide range of careers: business, banking, commerce, trades, government services, farming, the professions, priesthood, enterprise, etc., etc.

Programmes.
There are three Senior Cycle programmes currently being taught at St. Brogan’s College: the traditional Leaving Certificate, the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (L.C.V.P.) and the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme (L.C.A.P.).

LCVP is an additional leaving certificate subject offered to senior cycle students in St Brogans. Its aim is to prepare students for the world of work. The course comprises of two modules:

The World of Work

Enterprise

Students must complete a portfolio by year two and also sit a written exam. LCVP prepares students for entering into the world of work, by completing a CV and attending a recorded mock interview. Students also learn about enterprise and the world of business.

Students can also use points awarded from LCVP to gain entry to third level colleges.

LCVP Co-Ordinator: Nuala Falvey

LCVP is a Senior Cycle Programme of the Department of Education and Science, designed to give a strong vocational dimension to the Leaving Certificate (established). The programme combines the virtues of academic study with a new and dynamic focus on self-directed learning, enterprise, work and the community.

Resource Teaching at St. Brogan’s College

Resource teaching is a relatively new phenomenon in the Irish Education System. Resource teaching posts were first introduced in November 1998 as a result of the allocation of additional teaching hours for students with Special Educational Needs (S.E.N.).

            The role of the Resource Teacher is primarily to teach students with S.E.N. and to look after their welfare. The resource teacher gets to know the S.E.N. students, their strengths, their needs, their learning styles and devise strategies to accommodate their learning styles.

            The resource teacher also liaises with the mainstream teachers and advises on matters pertaining to the students. Successful inclusion of students requires collaboration between all teachers involved.    

            The resource teacher generally supports students who have been formally assessed by a psychologist as having a special educational need.

            The Education for Persons with a Special Educational Need Act 2004 (E.P.S.E.N) defines a special educational need as:

            “a restriction in the capacity of a person to participate and benefit from education on account of an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or learning disability, or any other condition which results in a person learning differently from a person without that condition”.

            The term ‘Special Educational Need’ covers a broad spectrum of conditions. Learning disabilities are categorised as Low Incidence and High Incidence.

Low Incidence include:

·        Physical Disability

·        Hearing Impairment

·        Visual Impairment

·        Emotional Disturbance

·        Severe Emotional Disturbance

·        Moderate General Learning Disability

·        Severe/Profound General Learning Disability

·        Autism/Autistic Spectrum Disorder

·        Assessed Syndrome

·        Specific Speech and Language Disorder

·        Multiple Disabilities

High Incidence include:

·        Borderline Mild General Learning Disability

·        Mild General Learning Disability

·        Specific Learning Disability

A student who has been diagnosed and allocated resource hours may be withdrawn from the classroom by the resource teacher or if it is deemed beneficial for him/her to remain in the classroom, a resource teacher will be involved in supporting the student through Team Teaching in the classroom.

            Students who do not meet the criteria for resource teaching support, but who have low achievement levels in Literacy and Maths are eligible for Learning Support. They are taught in small groups.

            The Post Primary Guidelines on Inclusion state that:

“The goal of inclusion is not to erase or ignore differences between individuals, rather inclusion aims to enable all students to fully belong to the school community and to be educated within a framework in which differences between individuals are accommodated”.

            St. Brogan’s College takes pride in being an inclusive school and is focussed on achieving the full potential of all its students.

 

Irish English Mathematics History Geography French Physics

Chemistry Agricultural Science Biology Engineering Design & Communications Technology Construction Studies Accounting

Business Home Economics (New Syllabus – Scientific & Social) Art (with Craftwork option) Art (with Design option) Computer Studies Career Guidance Religious Education.

   
The academic work in the classroom is supplemented by an excellent career guidance programme delivered by a fully-qualified Guidance Counsellor who is a permanent member of staff.

LCA is well established in St Brogans. It’s an alternative option for senior cycle students who want to get their leaving certificate. It’s aimed at students who are not planning on progressing directly to third level. It is a practical based leaving certificate aimed at preparing students for the world of work and adult life. Students carry out a number of tasks and practical work that improve their organisational and interpersonal skills, the course also aims at improving communication and social skills amongst the group. LCA students in St Brogans attend 4 days a week and go to work experience on day 5.

LCA Co-Ordinator: Nuala Falvey