The Junior Cycle: Your Journey of Discovery
Welcome to the Junior Cycle, the first three years of your secondary school journey here at Donahies Community School! This exciting programme is designed to help you grow as a learner and as an individual and we are here to help you as much as possible along the way.
Over these three years, you'll explore a range of subjects, develop important skills, and discover your interests. The Junior Cycle focuses on:
Active Learning: You'll be involved in your learning through discussions, projects, investigations, and more.
Key Skills: You'll build essential skills like literacy, numeracy, critical thinking, creativity, communication, and working with others.
Wellbeing: Your wellbeing is important, and the programme includes opportunities to learn about and support your physical, mental, and social health.
Assessment: Your learning will be assessed in a variety of ways, including Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs) and a final examination at the end of Third Year.
Key features include:
Core Subjects: All students study Irish (unless exempt), English, Maths, Geography and History. We also include Wellbeing subjects such as CSPE, SPHE and PE.
Other Subjects: Students choose from a range of other subjects, which include science, languages, arts, and technology.
Short Courses: We offer short courses, which are smaller in scope than full subjects, and are designed to cater for a wide range of student abilities.
Key Skills: The curriculum emphasizes the development of key skills like communication, critical thinking, and teamwork.
Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA): The JCPA replaced the Junior Certificate (2022) and provides a comprehensive report of student achievement, including results from state examinations, Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs), and other learning experiences.
The Junior Cycle is a fantastic opportunity to lay a strong foundation for your future studies and to develop into a confident and engaged young adult. We look forward to supporting you on this exciting part of your educational journey!
Privacy Notice - Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement Award
It is required by data protection law that before schools commence processing of any personal data a school must first bring a privacy notice on how the student's personal data will be processed to the attention of parents/guardians. This privacy notice relates to those students who have undertaken Junior Cycle at Level 3 of the National Qualifications Framework, i.e. those students who have undertaken Junior Cycle State Examinations.
You can read a copy of the Privacy notice HERE
You can find out more about the Junior Cycle HERE