Post-Primary Context - Junior Cycle

The Junior Cycle

Junior cycle education places students at the centre of the educational experience, enabling them to actively participate in their communities and in society and to be resourceful and confident learners in all aspects and stages of their lives (NCCA 2011).

Most significantly, the new junior cycle programme emphasises a balance between knowledge and skills, a dual approach to assessment, a flexible programme for student learning, reporting of a broader picture of learning and increased collaboration between teachers (NCCA 2015).

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Features of the Junior Cycle

The key elements for the implementation of junior cycle education are outlined in the Framework for Junior Cycle. Schools are given flexibility in designing and implementing programmes and learning experiences relevant to the context of their school cohort.

Each school’s programme

is guided by the twenty-four statements of learning, eight principles and eight key skills that are at the core of the new junior cycle
encompasses learning in subjects or a combination of subjects and short courses
will include an area of learning entitled Wellbeing
will provide a range of other learning experiences
may include priority learning units (PLUs) that will help to provide a junior cycle programme that is appropriate to the needs of particular students with significant special educational needs (NCCA 2015).

What informs learning in the Junior Cycle?

Eight principles underpin the entire Framework for Junior Cycle. These principles inform the planning, development and implementation of the new junior cycle. It is envisaged that these principles will form the basis of the development of a positive, inclusive and engaging learning experience for all students.

Twenty-four statements of learning are underpinned by the eight principles of junior cycle. These inform the planning and evaluation of a school’s junior cycle programme.

Eight key skills are required for successful learning by all junior cycle students. These key skills are designed to support students in their lives across the curriculum and beyond school and are embedded in the learning outcomes of the subject specifications. These key skills should be developed and brought to life through everyday classroom learning experiences throughout the junior cycle. Teachers should plan learning experiences and teaching, learning and assessment approaches that allow students to become acquainted with these key skills and develop proficiency with them.

Subjects, Short Courses and Wellbeing

New subject specifications have been developed for each Junior Cycle subject. These can be accessed here. Students will study English, Irish, Mathematics, History and Wellbeing along with a number of other subjects in their junior cycle programme. English, Irish and Mathematics are offered at two levels; higher and ordinary. They require a minimum of 240 hours engagement over the three years. The remaining subjects are set at a common level and require 200 hours of engagement. Each subject specification is based on Learning Outcomes which are organised into strands and elements. They align with Level 3 of the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ).

In addition to these subjects, students also have the opportunity to study short courses on an optional basis. Each short course will require 100 hours of student engagement. The NCCA has developed ten short courses. More information on these courses is available here. Schools may also decide to develop their own short course (in keeping with a template and guidelines set out by the NCCA). This can help to meet the interests and needs of students, relevant to the school’s own context.

Priority Learning Units (PLUs) and short courses at Level 1 and Level 2 are available for students with significant special educational needs.

Student wellbeing is at the heart of junior cycle. Wellbeing in junior cycle is about young people feeling confident, happy, healthy and connected (NCCA 2017). It is based on six wellbeing indicators; Active, Aware, Connected, Resilient, Respected, and Responsible. Students will engage in learning about, and for, Wellbeing throughout the Junior Cycle. This can provide opportunities for students to develop skills, enhance their own wellbeing and develop essential social and life-skills. CPSE, SPHE and PE form part of Wellbeing. Additional information on Wellbeing for junior cycle can be viewed here.

Teachers should collaboratively engage with each other to plan for teaching, learning and assessment in their subject area. The Junior Cycle for Teachers website has dedicated subject teams where additional information can be found on subject-specific planning.

Teaching and Learning

At the core of junior cycle is quality learning experiences that allow for the acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills relevant to the personal and social development of the student. A teacher’s vital role in facilitating learning should be informed by teaching, learning and assessment approaches that should focus on the development of knowledge, attitudes and skills.

Students should have opportunities to develop critical thinking skills, engage in research, collaborate with others and take ownership of and reflect on their own learning. Teaching, learning and assessment strategies that teachers may consider adopting to activate these skills can be found here. A renewed focus should be placed on differentiated learning and integrating formative assessment on an ongoing basis to create an inclusive learning environment where all students engage with their learning and can fulfil their potential.

Assessment and Reporting

The area of assessment has undergone significant changes in the new junior cycle. The approaches to assessment in junior cycle are both formative and summative to allow for a more rounded assessment of a student’s achievements.

Within the junior cycle, there is a renewed emphasis on formative assessment. Assessment is formative when either formal or informal procedures are used to gather evidence of learning during the learning process and used to adapt teaching to meet student needs. Some approaches that may be used to support formative assessment can include effective questioning, effective feedback and the sharing of success criteria (NCCA 2015).

Information on Assessment for Learning strategies that can be used to implement formative can be found here.

In keeping with this renewed focus on formative assessment, two Classroom Based Assessments have been introduced to each subject at Junior Cycle. These take place during second year and third year (except in Irish where both CBAs take place in third year). These Classroom Based Assessments are intended to represent a snapshot of a student’s learning at a particular stage. Each assessment can vary according to the subject but may typically include research, oral presentations, or investigations. On completion of the Classroom Based Assessment, students should reflect on their experiences of the assessment.

When students have completed the Classroom Based Assessment, subject departments meet for Subject Assessment and Review (SLAR) meetings to engage in discussion to make judgements about the quality of a student’s work using the Features of Quality contained in the assessment guidelines. At these meetings, teachers share and discuss samples of student work to reach conclusions about the quality of a student’s work. Teachers should engage with the annotated examples of student work issued by the NCCA and compare their judgements with their own colleagues to determine the quality of a student’s work. Additional information on these meetings is available here.

Within the junior cycle, summative assessment complements formative assessment. Assessment is summative when it is used to evaluate student learning at the end of the instructional process or of a period of learning (NCCA 2015).

In third year, after completion of the second classroom-based assessment, students complete an Assessment Task for each of their subjects. The Assessment Task accounts for a percentage of their Junior Cycle descriptor and is completed in class and assessed by the State Examinations Commission. A student’s achievements at junior cycle is recorded on the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA). The JCPA will outline a student’s achievements across subjects (including SEC results and classroom based assessments), short courses. wellbeing, priority learning units and other areas of learning (where applicable). A partly complete JCPA is sent to the school, where reporting on CBAs, Other Areas of Learning, and Wellbeing will be conducted.

Currently students receive the results of their junior cycle examinations (administered by the State Examinations Commission) in advance of their JCPA. Students receive their JCPA in the first term following third year.

Additional Supports

Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT) provides whole school and subject-specific CPD sessions around the new Junior Cycle. Their resources can be found here.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has a broad range of material around Junior Cycle. These can be found here.

Resources referenced

National Curriculum for Curriculum and Assessment Towards A Framework for Junior Cycle (2011)

National Curriculum for Curriculum and Assessment A Framework for the Junior Cycle (2015)

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment Junior Cycle Wellbeing Guidelines (2017)

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment Focus on learning (2015)

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