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School Curriculum
SJSS prides itself in being an academic school that promotes hard work for all students, provides opportunities for student leadership, offers a diverse STEM, Languages, Arts and Sports programme, facilitates a holistic education and provides all students with three key stages of learning: Junior Cycle curriculum, Transition Year and Leaving Certificate programmes. St Joseph’s participates in the Junior Cycle Schools Programme and offers both Leaving Certificate Established and Leaving Certificate Applied.
Students complete the Junior Cycle in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Year after which they sit the State Junior Cycle Examinations. Transition Year takes place in 4th Year, and students enter into the Senior Cycle in 5th and 6th Year.
Classes are of one hour duration and the school offers a wide, modern and diverse suite of subjects and programmes that cater for the needs of the students and capitalise on the skills and qualifications of the staff. Subject timetabling allocations meet all curricular requirements.
Junior Cycle
For Junior Cycle, students study English, Irish, Maths, History, Geography, Physical Education, Science, Religion, CSPE, SPHE and one Modern Foreign Language. Modern Foreign Languages are core subjects in St Joseph’s from 1st to 4th Year. Students choose one of French, German or Spanish.
We offer a taster programme in 1st Year. When the incoming first year students arrive at St Joseph’s in September, they are given the opportunity to sample each of our Choice Subjects which include Art, Business Studies, Coding, Graphics, Home Economics, Music and Materials Technology Wood. After the sampling period, students will select two out of these seven subject options. Students will study this full suite of subjects for the three years of their Junior Cycle.
In St Joseph’s, we place a huge emphasis on student Wellbeing. In 1st Year, we have a specific Wellbeing programme where students will study lessons in Nutrition, Health Science, Bookworm, Challenge Maths & TA21 over the course of the year. Bookworm is a literacy class, Challenge Maths is designed to target their numeracy skills and TA21 is a class designed to equip students with the necessary technological skills that they need for being a student in St Joseph’s.
From the academic year 2025-2026, we will be including Spanish and French along the option lines, to facilitate students choosing more than one MFL for Junior Cycle if they wish, in line with the Department of Education’s Language Connect strategy.
Students study ten subjects for examination at Junior Cycle, in addition to the 400 hours of Wellbeing. In 1st Year, students complete six modules that rotate throughout the year, spread over two hours per week. They study each module for a block of 11 weeks.
The modules designed to improve student Wellbeing are: Reading for Pleasure, Numeracy, Nutrition, Science, Choir, Guidance. In 1st Year, they also study CSPE, SPHE and PE, each for one hour. In 2nd Year, Wellbeing is covered through the study of CSPE and SPHE for one hour each, and PE for two hours. In 3rd Year, students study one hour of CSPE, SPHE and PE under Wellbeing.
Wellbeing modules are being reviewed for the 2025-2026 academic year. The curriculum in St Joseph’s is kept under constant review to ensure that it meets the needs of the students.
Transition Year
Transition Year is optional in St Joseph’s Secondary School, however the vast majority of students complete TY before entering into Leaving Certificate. There are six classes in TY.
In order to support students and their parents and guardians in making an informed decision, there is an information evening about TY held every January. Engagement from the 3rd Year Year Head, Deputy Principals and wider Student Support Team assist students in making an informed choice.
Transition Year operates on a modular basis in St Joseph’s. Students rotate modules three times over the course of the year, exposing them to a wide and engaging variety of subjects, teachers and teaching styles.
Core subjects are the exception to this. English and MFL are run at Higher Level with teachers differentiating accordingly. Maths and Irish are offered at both Higher and Ordinary Level based on Junior Cert levels. Students stay with the same teacher for the duration of TY for English, Irish, Maths, SPHE, Community Care, Year Long Options and MFL.
TY Community Care modules include:
Every Wednesday, for two hours from 11:00 to 13:00, all TY students engage in a community based programme. They engage with this community initiative / project for the full year. Students can choose from the following programmes:
Prosper Fingal
Friendly Voices
Tidy Towns
Rush Nursing Home
Paired Reading programme with Rush National School and Gaelscoil Ros Eo
Young Social Innovators
Development Education and Sustainability
TY Year Long Modules:
Students complete two year long modules, which they select from a choice of seven. These modules typically are linked with an outside agency, where students work on a particular project or area of interest that is associated with a national competition. St Joseph’s offers the following:
BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition
Mini Company
EPAS (European Parliament Ambassador School Programme)
GAA Future Leaders
Junk Kouture
Speech and Drama
Sports Journalism
TY Work Experience: Students engage in 4 one-week blocks of Work Experience throughout the year. These take place in November, February and in May.
TY Musical: All students in TY work on the staging of a TY musical which runs from August until the end of November annually. The musical is staged over three nights during the last week of November/ first week of December. All students participate in the musical with roles ranging from leads, to dancers, singers, backstage crew, set design and tech support. Once the musical is finished, students complete two hours of modules which include School of Sanctuary, Podcasting and introduction to Ukulele.
Senior Cycle
St Joseph’s offers two options for Leaving Certificate - the Leaving Certificate Established programme and the Leaving Certificate Applied programme.
In order to support students and their parents and guardians in making informed decisions, there are a number of supports put in place:
-information evening for students, parents and guardians
-aptitude test which is completed during Transition Year
-subject showcase where 5th Year students present to those moving into Leaving Certificate Established about their experience of the different option subjects
-one-to-one guidance
Leaving Certificate Established:
In St Joseph’s Secondary School, the study of English, Irish, Maths, SPHE, Religion and PE are core for all students. In addition to this, students select four optional subjects from an offering of 18 subjects. They study these subjects then for the duration of their two year Leaving Certificate course.
Leaving Certificate Applied Programme:
St Joseph’s offers the Leaving Certificate Applied programme for students whose needs would not be met if they were to complete the Leaving Certificate Established programme.
Engagement between the Additional Needs Coordinator, Year Head, Guidance Counselors, Student Support Team, the student and their parents/ guardians takes place to ensure that the LCA programme is the most suitable option for the student in question.
Special Education Teaching & Team Teaching
Students with exemptions from the study of Irish / MFL receive SET support in small groups. This is overseen by the school’s Additional Educational Needs Coordinator. SET classes are grouped according to need and focus heavily on literacy and numeracy supports and interventions. SET teachers are built into the timetable alongside Irish in all year groups and MFL classes where they are core from 1st - 4th Year.
St Joseph’s has moved to a model of supporting students, in addition to SET classes, through the provision of team teaching. Team Teaching is in all Junior Cycle Maths classes to support the development of numeracy in an inclusive environment. Team teaching is also in other subjects and year groups based on the needs of students and this changes from year to year. Team teaching is also heavily invested in Leaving Certificate Applied to ensure better outcomes for students.
Academic After School Supports:
In order to support students in reaching their academic potential, the school offers Homework Club for 1st and 2nd Years, After School Study Support for 3rd Years and Silent Supervised Study for 5th and 6th Year students:
Formative & Summative Assessment
In addition to in-class assessments, CBAs and State Examination, students in St Joseph’s complete formal summative examinations in order to support the school curriculum and their academic progress.
Reporting and Parent-Teacher-Student Meetings:
Academic reporting to parents and guardians is a core practice in St Joseph’s to ensure their involvement in their child’s educational performance. Formal school reports are issued after the November Assessments, the Mock Examinations, the Summer Assessments, for CBAs and a report is issued three times over the year for students in TY after each module changeover. These reports are completed on TYRO and include both a grade (or credit in the case of TY students) and formative comments by teachers.
In St Joseph’s, students attend the Parent-Teacher-Student Meetings with their parents and guardians. Parent-Teacher-Student meetings take place once per year for all year groups, with the exception of TY students.
Subject Levels and Change of Levels:
If a student is moving from Higher to Ordinary level in any subject, students must complete a Change of Level form. This form is signed by the subject teacher, student, parent/guardian, Year Head, Guidance Counsellor and Deputy Principal to ensure that there is an in-depth discussion between all stakeholders to ensure that the move is the right decision for the child. 1st Year classes are of Mixed Ability. Classes are put together using CAT scores with involvement from the Year Head, AEN Coordinator and Incoming 1st Year Coordinator. Maths, Irish and English are taught at Higher Level in 1st Year, with all other subjects at Common Level. In 2nd Year, students are separated into Higher and Ordinary Level classes for Maths and Irish. If a student needs/wants to move from Higher Level to Ordinary Level in any of the core subjects, a Change of Level form must be completed before they can move. If a student changes their level in English from 2nd Year, they remain in the same class. In TY, English is taught at Higher Level and there are specific classes for Irish and Maths in Higher and Ordinary Level. Similarly for 5th and 6th Year, English, Irish and Maths classes are separated into Higher and Ordinary Levels. Option subjects are taught at Higher Level and differentiated accordingly for students studying a particular subject at Ordinary Level within the same class.
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