Transition Year

What is Transition Year?

Transition Year or TY is a one-year programme designed as the first year of the three-year senior cycle course. It is designed as a way of bridging the gap between junior and senior cycle, while also allowing students to engage with a wider variety of skills and learning that are not offered during the traditional senior cycle course. This is an optional one-year school-based programme offered in school.

Aim of Transition Year

The aim of TY is to allow students to become mature young adults, to allow students to see their own value within society and to encourage independent learners who value and understand their own abilities and interests. Here at Dunamase College, we seek to do this through a wide variety of activities and subjects. The students also have the advantage of work experience one day a week.

During Transition Year, students study and participate in:

• Core Subjects
• Subject Sampling
• TY specific modules such as Journalism, Sustainability, Computer Science and Future
• Many educational trips and activities

Work Experience

“Everyone told me from the beginning of TY that I would only get out of it what I put in, and that was true. There were highlights for me throughout the year, the show is an obvious one, but another one was the Animators workshop. Now I know that’s what I want to do, I would advise anyone to do TY because you learn so much about yourself throughout the year.”

TY Trips and Events

An integral part of TY is the trips and workshops that students take part in. These are student-focused, and student voice plays a big role in what events students engage with each year. Our students have experienced a wide range of trips over the past few years, some of their favourites include:

• Foreign tour
• Carlingford Adventure Centre
• Shannon Aviation Centre
• Castlecomer Discovery Park
• Bogathon
• Emerald park
• Ploughing Championship

We also embed a wider range of skill development through different workshops. Our guest speakers join our students in school and provide them with hands-on skills and experiences that would not otherwise be experienced by our students. Some of the workshops our students have enjoyed include:

• Movie Magic
• LawEd
• Comedy and public
• Speaking
• Felting
• Driver Ed
• Forensic Fun