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Ty or fifth year?

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  • 29-08-2015 7:41pm
    #1
    Fangirl138
    Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭


    So I've started school and my year head and vice principal have told us to start having a little think of whether or not you'd like to skip fourth year. I have a feeling I will want to and most people I have talked to are skipping not all just people I know really well. My decision will not be based on my friends at all. The only things my school offer is a skating trip, some courses and a trip to an outdoor centre which we have already done in second year. If I do decide to skip I'll be 16 doing my leaving cert turning 17 in the summer afterwards. I want to go straight to college to do a business course. I don't care about going to clubs I'm not that kind of person. So is skipping a good idea and does it matter I'll be quite young doing my leaving cert and going to college? My guidance counsellor did say it doesn't matter what age you are doing the leaving cert. Thanks in advance.


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    #2
    Peg14
    Registered Users Posts: 271 ✭✭Peg14


    if TY isn't up to much then yeah I wouldn't bother with it. My TY was all right, it wasn't amazing but I'm glad I did it. I would have been just 17 if I hadn't and I definitely think I wouldn't have done as well if I hadn't done it because I guess I wouldn't have been mature enough. Not doing TY though does suit a lot of people, the kind that just want to keep going with their studies. Even after you've done your LC, you could take a year out, get work experience, a job, volunteer work etc which could do you very good. I personally wouldn't have been ready for college at 17 but if I had no other choice then I would have taken a year out. I think a break will do someone no harm. But of course everyone is different you know yourself.


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    #3
    carefulnowted
    Registered Users Posts: 261 ✭✭carefulnowted


    I decided to skip TY and I'm going straight into fifth year. I think you know yourself best and you know what'll suit yourself. If you don't think you'd enjoy/take part in the activities offered by your school's programme, then TY might not be very beneficial for you.

    You could try doing fifth year and seeing if you feel ready for LC at that stage. You could always repeat fifth year, or take a gap year after the LC before you go to college, you have a lot of options!

    I will say though that people do change their mind about doing/not doing TY constantly throughout the year, so make sure that your decision is one you feel will best benefit yourself, instead of following your friends' footsteps.


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    #4
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    You will need to consider what transition year would mean to you if you did it. And if there was anything to benefit from doing so.

    I found it useful to give me the opportunity to focus on what I wanted to do after secondary school and consider what I may need to do subject wise in my leaving cert to achieve it. I made some choices through out transition year I would have been completely ignorant of.

    I have a cousin who I only found out is going into it, who's doing so for the same reasons.


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    #5
    currooney
    Registered Users Posts: 50 ✭✭currooney


    I did TY and thought it was an enjoyable year. There's a fairly big jump from Junior Cert to Fifth year so the break in between to relax and do things you wouldn't normally get to do in school is really nice. In my experience, it pulled my year together and I was able to get to know people that I probably wouldn't have been friends with if it wasn't for TY. Work experience is also great if you're not too sure of what you want to do (even if you do!) I always thought I'd like to be a primary teacher but after work experience, not a chance!
    The biggest factor for me when deciding to do TY or continue into fifth year was my age. I'm doing my leaving cert next year and I'll be just gone 18, as opposed to being 17 if I skipped TY. I know myself, there's no way I would've been mature enough to put my head down in 5th year at the age of 15, but that's just me. Have a good think about it and discuss it with your parents, you still have ages to decide :)


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    #6
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,138 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    Like the LC, you get out of TY what you put in. Waiting for things to happen or for someone to do something it will be terrible. The point of it is that it is student driven which is part of why people generally feel it helped them mature. Teacher dominated TY classes don't tend to be effective.

    Statistically those who did TY do better at LC though this may just be because of being a year older.

    I always found it good for developing self confidence for things like interviews or public speaking which many young people are not good at - also for initiating voluntary and community work which are great for CVs.


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    #7
    Troxck
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭Troxck


    TY in my school isn't great, but I'm still glad I decided to do it. I was always the shy and quiet type in class, rarely talked in class or to people in my year. In TY I was forced to be social and I'm glad of that. I'm still a reserved person but meeting new people and public speeches don't bother me anymore.

    My career mindset changed drastically too in TY. In TY I found out I adored Science and that that was what I wanted to pursue (and will be this September). If it wasn't for TY I wouldn't have thought about LC Physics and here I am going off to college to study it.

    I think TY is great in the social aspect but that's up to the person involved. In some ways I regretted doing TY since my school had a rubbish programme but on the other hand, I grew as a person (so cliche I know).

    It's honestly up to you. You're very young too, I'd advise you to do it. I've known two people who sat their LC at your age and they both regretted it and either ended up repeating or dropping out


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    #8
    lalabear53
    Registered Users Posts: 33 ✭lalabear53


    I absolutely HATED TY like seriously going into school everyday did nothing for me, however looking back as I'm starting Leaving cert it was actually really beneficial!
    I ended up changing my mind completely on subject and career options and I was so much more prepared to work in 5th year after I was so sick of doing nothing! My friend didnt do TY is now too young to move away from home and is at a dead end for a year!


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    #9
    Hollister11
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,482 ✭✭✭Hollister11


    Your decision should really come down to how good your TY program is. Do you do plays, musicals, trips abroads, different modules throughout the year, guest speakers etc ?

    If your TY isn't up to much, then i wouldn't bother and I would skip to 5th year, otherwise do it.


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    #10
    Mr Rhode Island Red
    Registered Users Posts: 746 ✭✭✭Mr Rhode Island Red


    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057382473

    Wrote a post on the pros and cons of fifth year a while back which were compiled from older threads about TY vs 5th Year


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