Beech Hill College, Monaghan
Beech Hill College, Monaghan, County Monaghan
Telephone: 047 - 81200 Fax: 047 - 84926
Email: admin@bhc.ie
Principal: Mr Frank McManus
Deputy Principal: Ms Martha Williamson-Hunter
http://www.bhc.ie
SENIOR OPTIONS
Senior students have a number of options available to them:-
- Transition Year
- The Established Leaving Certificate
- The Vocational Leaving Certificate
- The Applied Leaving Certificate
TRANSITION YEAR:
Transition year is a bridging year between the Junior and Leaving Certificate Cycles. It allows students to engage in many useful activities which are not examination related and which they would not have the opportunity to follow if they had begun the Leaving Certificate Programme immediately after the Junior Certificate. Modules such as computing, work experience, drama, music and debating are common features of many Transition Year programmes. These help to broaden the students' horizons as well as providing them with many worthwhile skills.
The principal advantages of the Transition Year programme are:
- It gives students an extra year at school. This means that students are more mature when they have the Leaving Certificate complete.
- It is a year relatively free from pressure.
- It allows students to pursue activities which they would not ordinarily have the opportunity to pursue if they had begun the Leaving Certificate programme immediately after the Junior Certificate.
Students who follow the Transition Year programme do better on average in the Leaving Certificate than those who study the normal five-year course.
THE ESTABLISHED LEAVING CERTIFICATE:
Those who opt for this programme will take 7 subjects: Irish, English and Maths are compulsory and the students themselves chose from the other four subjects. This is a two year programme and is suitable for those who wish to follow a third-level course in the future.
THE VOCATIONAL LEAVING CERTIFICATE:
This programme is very similar to the established Leaving Certificate curriculum. Students take 7 subjects, 3 being compulsory and 4 being optional. One of the optional subjects must be a foreign language. In addition, students study link modules on Enterprise Education, Preparation for Work and undergo a week's work experience in the locality. The universities and other third-level institutions award points for successful completion of these modules. The Vocational Leaving Certificate programme is suitable for those who wish to go on to third-level or enter the world of work after completing second level. In short, the Vocational Leaving Certificate programme is really the Established Leaving Certificate programme plus the link modules.
THE APPLIED LEAVING CERTIFICATE:
The Leaving Certificate Applied curriculum is a relatively new programme. It is geared to those who are principally interested in entering the world of work at the end of second level. Like the other Leaving Certificate programmes, it is a 2 year course. The emphasis, however, is focused on three special areas.
- Preparation for work
- General Education
- Vocation Education
Students are assessed continuously over two years and are awarded credits for the successful completion of modules and prescribed tasks. The final examination occurs at the end of two years and accounts for approximately one third of the total credits. Students who obtain 60%-69% of credits are awarded a pass; those who receive 70%-84% are given a merit, while those who receive 85%-100% are entitled to a distinction.