Transition Year

GAAman

OK I know there is a TY forum but if you read it you will see why I started this here.

My 14 year old daughter is currently in third year and has said she wants to do TY next year. To say this is ringing alarm bells for me is a serious understatement and I'm worried.

A little background, I did TY and it was the biggest waste of time ever. Literally spent time in classroom doing nothing or watching videos. I actually went on the Mitch for over a month day after day staying at home and it was a month after that a letter came out about my absence.

I dropped out of school a few months into fifth year it was like my brain had forgotten how to work in a school environment.

I had to work almost ten years to get a university education (6 hour evening course, part time course, full time tec course, foundation degree, then finally degree) instead of the five it should have been and I blame it in a large way on TY.

So you can see why I'm worried. Is she going to be repeating my mistake? Is TY different now?

Thanks for reading

Shannon757

GAAman wrote: »

OK I know there is a TY forum but if you read it you will see why I started this here.

My 14 year old daughter is currently in third year and has said she wants to do TY next year. To say this is ringing alarm bells for me is a serious understatement and I'm worried.

A little background, I did TY and it was the biggest waste of time ever. Literally spent time in classroom doing nothing or watching videos. I actually went on the Mitch for over a month day after day staying at home and it was a month after that a letter came out about my absence.

I dropped out of school a few months into fifth year it was like my brain had forgotten how to work in a school environment.

I had to work almost ten years to get a university education (6 hour evening course, part time course, full time tec course, foundation degree, then finally degree) instead of the five it should have been and I blame it in a large way on TY.

So you can see why I'm worried. Is she going to be repeating my mistake? Is TY different now?

Thanks for reading

It's still a waste of time.

VG31

It really depends on the school.

In my school I found the TY programme excellent. We were kept busy most of the time with community work, trips etc. and kept focused with quarterly exams.

In one or two of my friends schools they did not do much so the best thing to do would be for your daughter to ask people who have done TY in her school what it was like and make a decision from that.

Don't make the mistake of dismissing TY as a doss just because of your experience. I throughly enjoyed TY and fond it very productive.

BeardySi

I guess you went to a sh*t school then...

I did it a long time ago and it was by far the best year of secondary school. We were encouraged to develop ourselves in ways beyond the national curriculum, to explore interests aside from school and learned to think for ourselves rather than just regurgitate what was needed to get the results that look good on the school's paperwork. Looking back now (20 years later) I gained so much as a person in terms of confidence and independence - I'm really only beginning to appreciate the difference it made to me as a person. It was a lot of fun and far from a doss - but we did have a leacher leading the course who was very enthusiastic and worked really hard to add value.
Yes there werea couple of wasters in the class who did nothing for the year and went nowhere afterwards, but it's really one of those things that, the more you invest personally in it, the more you'll gain in the long term. As for the impact on results - I got 540 points in the LC and my first uni choice, so I really didn't feel any loss there...

The long and the short of it is you need to see how it's run in her school, not any other. Talk to whoever is running it, talk to parents whose kids have done it, talk to students who've done it if you can. Talk to your daughter, find out her reasons for wanting it - is it for a year's doing feckall, or is it because she thinks she'll find the programme they're offering stimulating and rewarding? Maybe she feels that at 15 she'll not be ready to start the LC programme. An extra year's maturity can make a big difference when she gets shoved out into the real world at the end of school...

In short, don't write it off because you had a bad experience. Do your homework and help your daughter make the decision that's best for her.

echo beach

GAAman wrote: »

I had to work almost ten years to get a university education (6 hour evening course, part time course, full time tec course, foundation degree, then finally degree) instead of the five it should have been and I blame it in a large way on TY.

You may be correct that your lack of success in secondary school was down to TY but you don't know what would have happened if you had gone straight into Leaving Cert. There are huge changes at that age and many young people, especially boys, aren't ready at 15-17 to handle the 'one size fits all' nature of our education system.
It is possible that without TY you might have dropped out of school anyway and never had the motivation to back to college.

Your daughter is an individual. She may be like you at that age or she may be totally different. Base your decision on her, not you, but be careful of trying to change her mind unless you are sure it is for the best. She may resent you for it.

LegacyUser

Totally depends on the school. Mine was utter rubbish and after a month I asked to be moved to 5th year along with two other students. Was in a pain as I had to work my arse off to catch up but never regretted my choice. My brother went to a different school and his TY was amazing by all accounts, they had loads of different projects going on all year and never seemed to be sitting still.

Best option is to speak not just with the school but with students who've done the year recently. If you rely on the school they will up sell. I listened in on my schools sales pitch for TY for the year after Id dropped out and they claimed no one had dropped out even though nearly 10 students had.

ted1

Sounds like you went to a crap school. the program has changed greatly in the last decade.

Also 16 doing the leaving cert is to young.

LegacyUser

ted1 wrote: »

Also 16 doing the leaving cert is to young.

Depends on the person....I did mine at 16 after dropping out of TY, no bother.

Toots

I did TY and loved it. In our school we did loads of different modules, so we got to have a taste of all the subjects available for the leaving cert. That alone benefited me hugely because I was sure I was going to take Economics for one of my subjects, but when I did the module for a term I absolutely hated it, I would have lost the will to live if I'd had to study it for another 2 years! I took a liking to Biology so did that instead and got a really good result in my LC.

We did do a lot of 'fun' things in TY, like activity trips and community based stuff, but we also had Christmas and Summer exams, just like the rest of the school.

As others have already said, check out what your daughter's school's TY program is. A lot of it is what you make it, there were a couple in my year who didn't do a tap for the whole thing, but that was no different to how they carried on during any of the other years at school, so it wasn't unique to transition year. Those of us who put in the effort and participated fully in the program found it a very positive experience.

bp

I loved TY many years ago, it gave my brain a chance to relax and try new subjects. Also bear your child's age in mind. I had friends in college who were 17 for the entire 1st year who couldn't attend college functions as a college student card was the only acceptable form of ID so they missed balls, freshers week etc.

If they want to do TY make sure they attend class etc. It is a good year to mature

cbyrd

You first port of call should be the school and ask them what the curriculum for TY is. A lot of schools now do the ECDL, driving theory, hygiene courses,trips abroad, They still do the basic subjects, English, Irish, Maths, Home Economics or woodwork and will usually do a musical along with a TY ball in May. My 16 year old took TY last year.

TY is not the doss year it once was. Its a structured year although it is less strict and less study, I found with my girl's year it was expensive with weekly trips to museums and places of interest. 6 weeks of one day work experience per term (usually 3) is also the norm and has to be signed by the business that they do the work experience in.

Before you dismiss it out of hand go talk to the principle, also take into consideration that your daughter is 14, she could probably do with an extra year in secondary school as she would be leaving for college around the 16/17 mark which is very young.

You can't compare the school time from 20 years ago. Her attitude may be completely different to school and may have a lot of her school friends my be already confirmed taking the year.

I never did TY (didn't have it in my school) but I have 2 teens who have gone
through it in the last 2 years.

Best year ever IMO, but
1. Depends on the school (ours had a fantastic program)
2. Depends on the kid getting involved in as much as possible

Honestly, our school had so much on offer that my guys couldn't fit everything
into the year.

Really I am aghast at people who choose to skip TY. You will be a long, long time working
or studying after school. Its a great opportunity to take a step back and try other things you would
never have been involved with before (sporting, community work, public speaking etc)

seavill

The key to TY is participating, some schools are better than others, but if you sit back and do nothing you will hate TY, if you get involved in anything going you will enjoy it. (A teacher's perspective)

acon2119

My son is in TY now. He's a bright child who wants to do well in his exams, and dose do well, but it will be hard to get the momentum going with him in regard to school work when he has done almost nothing all year. I know it will have set him back when he goes into 5th year next September. They do almost nothing, just about keep up with core subjects.

They do ECDL which is useful, they are supposed to do Economics, but they have not had one economics class so far, the economics teacher walks into the classroom and proceeds to do other work (marking work etc) while they just sit waiting on class to be over.

They have four weeks work experience, probably mainly to get them out of the way for a few weeks, other schools seem to have two weeks. Four weeks is not practical in a small town where the children are struggling to get businesses to give them the W/E.

The main way it will benefit my son is that he wont be too young doing the leaving cert and then going to college.

I think TY is fantastic in the schools that make put the effort into making it a beneficial year for the students.

blackbird 49

I really can't give you any advise as my own children didn't do TY, A Cousin of mine who is a teacher told me that it really depends on the school , My niece is doing it if she gets a place, they had a meeting in the school about what the curriculum is going to be, At the end of the meeting the principle did say that at the end of TY year that some students will have really enjoyed it while others will say what a load of crap, your best bet is find out what the program for the year will be, good luck

enzo roco

I was told...
If youre mature enough, then you dont have to do it.
After the junior cert., in the September, you will be starting your leaving cert. course, and making adult decisions that can affect your life. You will decide what career you want to take...
I always thought that was good advise to give a child of 15.

Acciaccatura

TY helped me gain so much confidence and maturity, but that was really down to the school I was in, it was fantastic. But, it really does depend on the school, the TY programme was fairly crap in the neighbouring schools by comparison.
Do your homework before you make the decision. What opportunities are there for TY students? Do they do things like YSI (Young Social Innovators) where they come up with practical solutions to social problems in the area? What way will they teach core subjects like Maths, English, Irish and the third language? Are there any international trips or exchanges? Drama opportunities? Trip to the Gaeltacht?
Even if the programme doesn't sound great, it could still be a great opportunity to develop your daughter's interests. My boyfriend's TY programme was crap and he ended up with a lot of free time, during which time he grew interested in electronics and engineering, now he's studying product design and technology in UL. Your daughter could take up new hobbies or interests, like taking up a musical instrument or language, that could be so useful in the future, or more importantly, figure out what she wants to do or study after school.
In my personal opinion, I think kids need the time for their own personal development, I know it sounds wishy washy, but if your daughter's young for 5th year I think it's a good idea to do TY if the programme is any way good.

LegacyUser

It depends very much on the school and the pupil. I started TY but dropped out after 3 weeks as it just wasn't for me. The program that was sold to me going into it sounded good but when we got into the teachers just weren't putting the effort in. They were use to doing things in very set way with exams to aim for and were trying to run TY the same way and it just didn't work. I knew I'd get nothing out of the year so was quite happy to switch and make up the time but it was a fight to be allowed to move.

lazygal

I loved TY. We were told at the start of the year that whether it was a waste was up to us. I needed the year to build my confidence and I did lots, like the Young Scientist exhibition, projects on art, law, history and other subjects I'm still interested in today. We had to submit projects fairly often, which was a good training for college projects, and we had homework and some exams. I got a parttime job, did great work experience and grew up a lot. I was ready for getting the head down by the time fifth year came around. I was always quite academic anyway so I'd probably have been fine no matter what, but I still look back very fondly on that year as one of the most important of my teens.

tuisginideach

Child no. 1 just about to finish - once I got my head around the lack of homework I was able to appreciate it for the fantastic year it is - 2 superb co-ordinators thankfully.

3 X 1 week work experience, musical with a neighbouring school, Gaisce, (a smattering of) new languages, new responsibilities, exposure to new situations, even all the independence related to travelling from one venue to another to school etc - it has been superb ... and I can see from the subjects he has chosen for 5th year that he intends to study - I won't recognise him without a phone/XBox in his hand! And a very reasonable €300 for all that plus overnight stay & food cost for Gaisce and another €150 for an optional trip to an adventure centre. No overseas trip thanks be to God.

As an ex-teacher, I'd like to reiterate what was said above (i) it depends on the school and the co-ordinators within the school and (ii) what you put in, you get out ... a hundredfold.

Quimby2016

Ty was great craic, full of many different activities but it's not for everyone. I did it and regretted doing it once I got into 5th year. I wasn't able to put my head down and study after what was effectively a year off! It just made me really lazy and I didn't regain any of my will to study until I went to college 2 years later. I did construction management in college ( graduated 2 years ago) and I was lucky to walk straight into a job. If I didn't do Ty, I would have done a lot better in my leaving cert. Hindsight is a great thing though!

LegacyUser

Students won't let my son go to the end of year t.y ball they said there are no more tickets who can I complain to his the only one not going

BeardySi

Gina a wrote: »

Students won't let my son go to the end of year t.y ball they said there are no more tickets who can I complain to his the only one not going

Michael.... Complain to Michael.


Seriously, how is anyone supposed to be able to answer that? Surely the sensible thing to do would be to phone the school not post vague questions on the internet.

Sunny Dayz

Gina a wrote: »

Students won't let my son go to the end of year t.y ball they said there are no more tickets who can I complain to his the only one not going

Is your son in TY? If so he probably should have gotten first refusal to buy tickets. Also if he's in TY he's big enough to enquire into buying tickets himself. Normally these things are organised by the students for the students so he would have had some inkling of what was going on.

AidanadiA

My daughter is currently in TY, I didn't want her to do it. When I was in school I found it hard enough to get my head into a place that was healthy for school, my sister had crashed and burned after TY (She found TY amazing, she did loads, won awards was very involved. Then when it came to 5th and 6th she couldn't see the point.) so I decided that I'd go straight to 5th year. Best decision of my school career.

My Daughter finds School difficult like I did - (dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADD don't help), she works so hard and did brilliant in her JC but she wanted to do what her friends were doing. Schools just about over and she wishes she never did TY. The thoughts of 5th year have her in a panic, to the point that we are looking at summer courses to help her get back into study mode.

She has been involved in everything and has put her all into TY, she's done well. I'm just very concerned about how this is going to affect her now.