IN THIS SCHOOL YEAR about 24,000 students from 501 schools will gleefully bid farewell to the classroom and set forth for the great world of work to peer over shoulders in factories and offices, squint down microscopes in laboratories, watch electricians wire buildings or stare at bank officials counting notes.
The great escape from the classroom is not confined to a few week's work experience. These same students are also to be found outdoors, planting gardens, monitoring the environment, making videos, climbing rocks and paddling canoes.
All this... and no homework. It's no wonder so many parents were worried. However, the image of Transition Year as a "doss year" has, at last, been shaken off, according to Transition Year Coordinators. The value of activity based learning is being recognised.
And, yes, projects do count as homework. Mary Anne Halton, a member of the Transition Year core team, explains that, for instance, a student might interview an old person or assess a television programme and, while this is different to conventional homework, it's just as valid.
Many concerns about Transition Year programmes (and there is no set syllabus so each school designs its own programme) were answered in the Department of Education's evaluation, unromantically released on St Valentine's Day last year. The Department found that 89 per cent of schools were following the Transition Year guidelines satisfactorily and a number of recommendations were made including the need for improved assessment procedures.
Transition Year is supported by a 14 member team of teachers seconded by the Department of Education to form the Transition Year support team. Four core members are based in Dublin and there are 10 regional co ordinators. One year after the Department's review of the programme, we talked to five of these co ordinators to get a flavour of Transition Year around the country.
Ceide:
THE diagonal axis through the Ceide region runs from Belmullet, Co Mayo, to Ballymahon, Co Longford. It's here, among 40 schools in counties Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon and Longford that Patsy Sweeney plies her trade as a member of the Transition Year support team.
She is particularly concerned about small rural schools which have great difficulty in introducing Transition Year. "If you decide to go all out and make it compulsory for the first year, you run the risk of losing some students," says Sweeney. "Once it's up and running you can then offer students the choice of Transition Year or fifth year - a few schools have taken the risk and found it well worth while."
These small schools really want to give students the option, she explains. The students are already disadvantaged by their peripherality so they don't want to disadvantage them further.
As to selling the idea of Transition Year to parents, she says that the myth of the "doss year" has finally been blown. The benefits are becoming evident as students go into Leaving Cert. They have become skilled learners, project workers, self directed learners, researchers and they know the importance of timetables and deadlines.
Transition Year has acted as a catalyst for the whole development of schools - bringing in new methodologies and upskilling teachers. It's not just benefiting the Transition Year cohort, according to Sweeney. She pays tribute to the tremendous dedication of teachers in the region and to employers who have willingly provided students with work experience.
Shandon:
THE broad education provided by Transition Year is appreciated by more and more people, according to Bill Reidy, co ordinator for the Shandon region which stretches across Cork, Limerick and Tipperary. But, there is still a lot of work to be done with parents and employers, he says.
The Transition Year programme changes from year to year in any given school and that's a good sign in a programme, says Reidy. What is appropriate for one group may not be appropriate for another. Much work is being put in by teachers and parents appreciate this, he adds. Persuading parents of the value of the year is always an issue when Transition Year is being introduced to new schools but, once it's up an running, parents are generally very happy.
Teachers in the Shandon region have good experience of curricular development, due to their proximity to UCC and UL so they are very focused, he says. One of the more exciting projects Reidy identified is a hotel industry module designed, produced and piloted by Presentation Secondary School, Limerick, in association with the Irish Hotels Federation.
Reidy is very heartened by the enthusiasm of teachers who have turned out in droves to attend the various in service sessions. "Transition Year offers teachers a tremendous opportunity to develop programmes that they see as most appropriate to the needs of their pupils," adds Reidy.
Boyne:
"I just stopped in my tracks." When Rachel Keogh, regional co ordinator for the Boyne region walked into the foyer of Maryfield College, Drumcondra, Dublin, she says that she was stunned by the life size model of a Volkswagen made from recycled material.
This is just one of the exciting initiatives by Transition Year students in the Boyne region, which encompasses north Dublin and counties Meath and Louth. "I feel that Transition Year is most successful where the school has structures and planning and evaluation takes place on a regular basis, not just at the end of the year," says Keogh. "It's the only programme at post primary level which doesn't have a prescribed syllabus. Each school must look to its parent body and its student body and decide what to offer.
The willingness of teachers to share information is amazing, she says. For instance, the 75 Transition Year co ordinators in her region compiled a 30 page database giving the names and addresses of various speakers.
Local networking between schools is also increasing. The five schools in Finglas mixed their pupils for the purposes of forming mini companies. Teachers share ideas so it's a case of teachers selling to teachers, she says.
"This is where teachers get much of their enthusiasm and energy. No matter how much bumpf comes through the post, it doesn't generate that same energy.
Sliabh Bloom:
THE shadow of the Sliabh Bloom region reaches over Kildare, Laois, Offaly and Tipperary for the purposes of Transition Year co ordination. Regional co ordinator Bridie Corkery says that one of the most exciting ventures at the moment has been developed in conjunction with the National Foresters Society.
The society is organising walks in the Sliabh Blooms for the students with worksheets to explain the geography, history and science. Transition Year students will then prepare projects which will be displayed in Kinnity Castle, Co Offaly, in May as part of the forester's show.
Five Offaly schools are co operating to compile a Who's Who in the Arts in Offaly. This follows the success of the Brigidine secondary school in Mountrath, Co Laois, which produced a Who's Who for Laois last year.
Students in Post Primary School, Curragh, Co Kildare, are participating in some equestrian courses in cooperation with the Army, says Corkery, while students at St Mary's Secondary School in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, are busy making money by running their own bank.
Corkery says that parents who went through more traditional schooling need to be informed about the activity based learning in Transition Year. "When they were growing up, there was the idea that if learning didn't take place in the classroom it was not relevant."
Helvick:
ONE of the most striking things about the development of Transition Year is the amount of new material being designed, says Lynda O'Toole, regional coordinator for the Helvick region, which runs east of Cork city up to Waterford and Tipperary. In the Cork area, the Citizen's Information Centre has designed a teacher friendly civics programme. The 10 modules in the pack include citizenship, consumer issues, travel abroad, renting for the first time, finance, taxation, health and personal health.
A lot more is available for teachers considering moving into experimental areas, notes O'Toole.
The Commission on the Family and the Transition Year support team have joined forces to heighten awareness of the family. Two teachers, Maire Corkery and Heather Farris, have written a modular programme on the family and national projects, including sculpture, creative writing and social studies, have been well subscribed.
Cork Local Radio had a competition for schools and the winning packages were broadcast over Christmas. Many individual schools have initiated enterprising projects. For instance, St Anne's Post Primary School in Cappoquin, Co Waterford, has an interesting science project based on local produce and industry, says O'Toole.
She reports a very good take up by teachers of the various workshops on offer and, in some areas, follow on workshops have been requested. In particular, teachers seem to be interested in the use of video, European studies and maths which many teachers find problematic.
