Towards a Better Future

Chapter Three: Curriculum
are very welcome. They focus on the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will be required by our
young people in the future as well as providing exciting and creative new opportunities for students
and teachers.
In June 2016, Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, confirmed that the implementation
plan agreed in May 2015 would go ahead as planned, and that the revised specification for English
(the first subject to be introduced) would be examined in 2017. In keeping with NCCA policy, the
new specification, available on www.curriculumonline.ie, is much less detailed than previous syllabi.
It is less than 20 pages long, including an introduction, rationale, and aims of the subject. An overview
of the course covers just three pages, and ‘Expectations for Students’ (i.e. learning outcomes) take
up four pages. Short assessment guidelines are also provided. A list of suggested texts is provided in
a separate document. However, as promised in the 2015 DES Framework document, additional
support material and resources are available on the JCT and DES websites and on
www.curriculumonline.ie. In April 2016, the state Examination Commission issued sample
examination papers for the 2017 examination (www.examinations.ie), which will no doubt be
carefully studied by teachers and pupils alike.
One small criticism – it is difficult when navigating the various websites to find out exactly what
curriculum and assessment changes are being introduced at Junior Cycle and how they are to be
implemented. Documents relating to the changed syllabi, their delivery and assessment are to be
found variously on the NCCA website (www.ncca.ie); on www.curriculumonline.ie; on the JCT
website (www.jct.ie); on the PDST website (www.pdst.ie); on the SEC website
(www.examinations.ie) and on the DES website (www.education.ie). Many of these documents are
undated and it is difficult for the average reader to know whether they relate to the old or the
revised syllabi. On its website, the NCCA’s national curriculum framework provides minimal
information and emphasises that teachers should customise the guidelines for their own particular
students. The PDST website continues to provide guidelines and support materials, and the SEC
website provides sample examination papers (which, unfortunately, may well be the sole determinant
for some teachers of what will be taught and learned in classrooms!). The website of the Department
of Education also includes further information on the proposed changes, including circulars to
schools setting out the administrative arrangements for the changes. While the new and
comprehensive JCT website (set up in March 2016) encapsulates all the information about the
revised Junior Cycle curriculum in a single co-ordinated site, some of the other websites do not
adequately emphasise the links to JCT. Nor is it always clear on some of the older websites whether
their resources relate to the new specification or to the old syllabus. In order to counter some of the
confusing misinformation about Junior Cycle reform that is currently being disseminated, this author
suggests that an information campaign, highlighting the JCT website, and accessible to parents and
students as well as to teachers, be mounted. The excellent online leaflet, entitled ‘Information for
Parents of Primary School Students’ should now be re-titled ‘Information for Parents of Post-Primary
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