Junior Certificate School Programme (JCSP)
The Junior Certificate School Programme is run in conjunction with the Junior Certificate. The Junior Certificate School programme is a national programme sponsored by the Department of Education and Skills and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).
It is based on the concept that all young people are capable of achieving real success in school and that they can have a positive experience of education. The programme provides students with an opportunity for success in school and it rewards that success with an official record of their achievements, validated by the Department.
What is the purpose of JCSP?
The purpose of the programme is to enable students to:
- Achieve greater success in school.
- Develop a positive self image.
- Engage with the curriculum.
- Be more involved in their own learning.
- Become more confident learners.
- Enjoy learning.
- Stay in education for longer.
Subject Statements
Each subject offered at Junior Certificate level is broken down into statements and the students complete as many statements as possible in the 3 years before doing their Junior Certificate.
A statement describes an area of knowledge, a concept or a skill in a subject area. It states what the student knows, understands or can do. Students are awarded each statement when they are competent in at least 80% of the statement.
Profiling
Profiling is a process for gathering positive information about what the student has achieved. In Ard Scoil Chiarain Naofa Profile Meetings are held once or twice a term.
Subject teachers make available records of student’s progress in each statement to the JCSP core team who consider the awarding of the statement. Final profiling occurs towards the end of 3rd year. A decision is made on the total list of statements to be awarded to each student. The information is sent to the JCSP office.
Initiatives
The JCSP offers funding for initiatives in extra curricular activities and for promoting Literacy and Numeracy. The following initiatives have been successfully run over the last five years at Ard Scoil Chiarain Naofa:
- The Word Millionaire Reading Challenge.
- Paired Reading Project.
- Readalong Challenge.
- Storytelling.
- Flashmaster Maths.
- Field Trips.
- Christmas Celebration.
- Summer Celebration.
- Music Workshop.
JCSP Awards Ceremony
The Ard Scoil Chiarain Naofa JCSP Awards Ceremony is held in the school in May each year.
Students are presented with a profile from the Department of Education and Skills. This profile is an official record of their achievement over the course of the three years.
Contained within the profile are:
- Certificate of participation from the Department of Education and Skills.
- Reference from the school.
- Official list of statements successfully completed.
The Awards Ceremony is attended by 3rd Year JCSP students, parents, staff and special guests.
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