Transition Year students are afforded the opportunity to choose and engage with new learning experiences through electives. Students choose two electives to participate in for the duration of the academic year, one elective from band 1 and one elective from band 2. When elective choices are due, parents will be informed via text and will receive a Microsoft Form to submit their choices. Students will be given their first choice in at least one of the two bands.
Band 1: Students choose one from the following FOUR electives
Young Social Innovators Programme
Through this exciting team-based action-focused programme, students are facilitated to explore social issues affecting them and the world around them and to develop and implement creative responses and solutions to social need. Thousands of teenagers throughout Ireland participate in this programme every year tackling issues as diverse as mental health, homelessness, climate change, sustainable living, inclusion and integration, sexual consent, crime, community facilities, gender equality and more.
Every team is invited to one of our exciting regional Speak Out events at which participants have the unique opportunity to present their innovations and ideas to other young innovators from their region, to YSI Panels and invited guests. #YSIWeek encourages teams to promote and celebrate their work locally and to contribute to the national celebration of youth-led social innovation. Teams can also choose to enter their project for consideration into the Young Social Innovators of the Year Awards where excellence is youth-led social innovation is celebrated at a national Awards event. More details can be found here https://www.youngsocialinnovators.ie/
Our students have won many awards in this very exciting elective!
Student Enterprise Programme
This mini-company module gives students the opportunity to set up and run their own business and find out what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur! Working in teams, students are involved in every stage of the business and get to do everything a real life entrepreneur would do, from coming up with the business idea, market research, production, finance as well as sales and marketing etc.
The teams take part in a regional competition in December and aim to win awards for their various categories. Regional winners will compete at the annual All-Ireland Student Enterprise finals and a number of mini-companies are invited to attend a bootcamp for student entrepreneurs in UCC each year.
This module enhances creativity, provides an opportunity to meet and learn from entrepreneurs in the local community and encourages students to work as part of a team. More details can be found here https://www.studententerprise.ie/
Since we introduced this elective, students have been successful and won awards every year!
Construction Studies
We are delighted to be introducing Construction Studies into our TY Programme this year. Students will gain an insight into this new Leaving Cert subject across the year. Please note that places will be limited while we wait on plans for our new €4 million extension to develop.
Sci Fest
Sci Fest is an exciting new elective in the TY programme. SciFest @ School is where a second-level school hosts their own in-house SciFest STEM fair. Students will work individually or as part of a group on a scientific project during the year. We will then host our very own Scifest at CCN which is externally judged. Students will display and present their projects to the panel of judges. After this, students can progress to Scifest @ College which is the regional level of the competition. This is usually held in MTU. Successful projects can progress to the national stage of the competition. More details can be found here https://scifest.ie/. Now is the time to start thinking about your project to be successful in this elective!
Band 2: Students choose one from the following three electives
Young Environmentalist Awards
ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA) is an all-Ireland environmental awards programme that recognises and rewards young people who raise environmental awareness and improve the environment.
Since 1999, ECO-UNESCO has run the YEA programme to honour the work of young people to protect, conserve and enhance the environment through local environmental projects, making a difference to their lives and the lives of others both locally and globally. Over 49,000 young people have taken part in the YEA since it began, bringing about lasting change to the environment, and reaching countless others with awareness-raising campaigns in schools and communities throughout Ireland.
The YEA programme is a fun and exciting way to empower young people to become better citizens, to build awareness of environmental issues in the community and promote local actions and lifestyle changes to the environment.
More details can be found here https://ecounesco.ie/young-environmentalist-awards/about/
2023 was the first year of running this elective. All students progressed to the semi-finals & 4 groups made it through to the national final at the Convention Centre in Dublin.
GAA Future Leaders
The ‘Future Leaders Transition Year Programme’ is a joint initiative from the GAA and the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST). It is a cross-curricular programme comprising of a series of modules designed to encourage maturity, initiative, responsibility and leadership skills in pupils. The Programme gives pupils the knowledge and skills to support all roles required in the effective staging of Gaelic Games. As part of the Programme students are challenged to organise and run both on-field and off-field events for other students and for the broader community and Gaelic games clubs.
Students will complete a variety of certified modules which may include event management, sports journalism, coaching, performance analysis, refereeing etc.
More information can be found here.
Art
Students will gain an insight into Leaving Cert Art with Ms Foley. In 2023, students worked with an external Art teacher funded through the Department of Education’s BLAST programme.
“I really enjoyed the electives. They helped me to become more confident & independent in my learning. It was also fun to compete against other schools in the competitions. ”