Summerhill College

Transition Year Programme (TY)

The Transition Year (TY) is a one-year programme that typically forms the first year of a three-year senior cycle in many schools. It is designed to act as a bridge between the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate programmes. Transition Year was established in 1984 and, since 1994, has been open to all second-level schools, of which approximately 75% currently offer the programme. In many schools Transition Year is optional for students.

Transition Year offers students an opportunity to mature and develop without the pressure of an examination. It also provides an opportunity for students to reflect on, and develop an appreciation of, the value of education and training in preparing them for the ever-changing demands of the adult world of work and relationships.

Aims
The programme has three main aims:
Education for maturity with emphasis on personal development, including social awareness and increased social competence.
The promotion of general, technical and academic skills with an emphasis on interdisciplinary and self-directed learning.
Education through experience of adult and working life as a basis for personal development and maturity.

Programme structure
Each school designs its own programme, within set guidelines, to suit the needs and interests of its students. In establishing its own distinctive programme content, the school takes into account the possibilities offered by the local community interests.

While not part of the Leaving Certificate programme, academic study in Transition Year is intended to lay a solid foundation for later studies, affording students an opportunity to experience subjects/ modules in advance of making their subject choice for Leaving Certificate.

Transition Year can be used to enable remediation where students have not made as much progress in the junior cycle as might have been expected. An interdisciplinary approach can help to create a unified perspective, that is often lacking in the traditional compartmentalised teaching and learning of individual subjects. Transition Year can provide orientation towards the world of work through actual Work Experience or through work simulation/work shadowing.

Assessment
There is no state examination at the end of Transition Year. Assessment is usually carried out on an ongoing basis and can include school-based assessment of projects or portfolios, oral, aural, practical and written activities. Evaluation of activities such as Work Experience, Community Service, etc. will often involve the providers/hosts of such activities. Some modules may have their own assessment arrangements. Since 2000, the Department of Education and Science has issued an official Transition Year certificate to participants, in addition to schools providing their own school-based certification.
In common with other programmes in the senior cycle, Transition Year is included in the major review of senior cycle that is currently taking place. New school devised 45 hour courses, called , are currently being developed by NCCA.