Transition Year - Waste of time, space and money?

Jess16 · 28-07-2011 12:01AM

Shane L wrote: »

they always bring in people who are the extreme cases

To appeal to human interest. Who would you rather hear about -Mary who won a tenner or the guy who hit the jackpot?

amacca · 28-07-2011 12:02AM

Shane L wrote: »

@amacca I agree totally with guest speakers not having an influence had so many come in and warn us about the dangers of drugs especially and alcoholism and I really don't think its made a blind bit of difference mainly because they always bring in people who are the extreme cases.

yup and (predictably I suppose) when the dangers etc were emphasized the group exposed to this tactic showed a higher propensity to experiment / try out more of the stuff you were trying to warn them about

bit like having a big red button with do not push written on it .....

SarahBeep! · 28-07-2011 12:09AM

Are people aware you're allowed do 20% of your LC course in TY?? Sure as hell makes 6th year easier! I think TY should be made mandatory. Means people woulf by a lot closer to 18 leaving school.

massdebater · 28-07-2011 12:20AM

I skipped it and done the Leaving twice instead. The Leaving's so much handier the second time round and it means I got to drop mandatory subjects that I hated such as English and Irish. I'd recommend it.

ChloeElla · 28-07-2011 12:20AM

I think it was brilliant, but it depends on the school. We did First Aid, Self Defence, a Safe Food For Life course, & the TYs in my school are given responsibility for organising things like sports day, or activities for first years. We did charity work and had normal classes too, even doing an Irish oral, starting the LC maths course, etc. But some people didn't enjoy it so it's probably a personal thing

Witchie · 28-07-2011 12:26AM

My school was one of the trial schools for it in 89 and i found it was very helpful in the format we did. We had most of our lc course completed by christmas of 6th yr and were revising and preparing from then on. We got to do loads of modules like horesriding, self defence, yoga etc that made me want to not miss a day.

My eldest did Ty 2 yrs ago and apart from some great work experience, got very little benefit but am glad he did it or he would have done his lc at 16 which is too young.

My younger lad has agreed to live abroad with me for 4th year instead and he will go to a school with the British system and do AS levels and if he feels settled he will do A levels instead of moving back home but if he hates it we will come back for him to do 5th & 6th yr here.

Naomi00 · 28-07-2011 12:28AM

About the money thing, in my school the only thing the government would have paid for was the teachers. We didn't do that many things you had to pay for and if we did we paid for them/organised them ourselves.

We were forever being made collect money for charity (as in outside w/ a bucket all day, in snow etc) which would have been fine except we never heard anything from most of them afterwards. A thankyou or even telling us the total we collected wouldn't have been so hard for them :rolleyes:

And we did tidy towns, and all that every week. Did 3 weeks of work experience which is basically working for free for someone else. So if it costs the state money to run TY, someone's making it back again off the free work $:\$

TY was ok, but not all what they make it out to be (it's different in every school) but I think some people are way too young to go straight into 5th year (some people were only 15 in TY, whereas most 5th years are 17/18) I think you should have the option though, because some people want to skip a year and that's ok. You need a break after the JC aswell.

sock puppet · 28-07-2011 12:32AM

amacca wrote: »

On average - the vast majority of students who completed the programme in my former school done significantly better than those that went straight from JC ...so that to me was the best advertisement for it

I think a lot of that can be explained by other factors. For instance in my school many of the guys and gals who skipped TY were the people who hated school the most.

I really enjoyed it though. I'd do it again every time. Even if it were absolutely **** it still would have given me a year to concentrate on sport and other hobbies.

amacca · 28-07-2011 12:53AM

sock puppet wrote: »

I think a lot of that can be explained by other factors. For instance in my school many of the guys and gals who skipped TY were the people who hated school the most.

Yeah fair point tbh...never even considered this but now that I look back on it the students that tended not to opt for it were the students that disliked school the most...

you learn something new everyday...cant believe I didn't really think of that, statistics can be blindingly seductive at times.

pragmatic1 · 28-07-2011 01:10AM

Waste of time. Finish school and take a year out for travel before going to college.

marxcoo · 28-07-2011 01:26AM

17 is too young to be finishing school and going to college. A year can make all the difference in terms of maturity when it comes to people that age.

Anita Blow · 28-07-2011 01:33AM

You get as much from the year as you put in. If you don't do anything and just dos then you'll hate it.
I loved it and think it's one of the great unique things of our education system.
Its a great chance to get some work experience done which in turn influences your subject choices and career for leaving cert and gives you the chance to try new things.

People went on exchanges in my school and there was always trips and stuff. You had a portfolio to complete by the end of the year so you actually had to work.
Great thing about it was that there was no specific course and no levels for Irish, English, Maths which meant we could actually learn the subjects. Actually spoke Irish instead of learning regurgitated notes about poems and our maths teacher spent weeks on maths chapters which would normally have to be done within days in 5th and 6th year just to make sure everybody understood it.
Same for English. We had to write about our favourite books, songs and poems and we analysed movies.
God forbid we get a year where we actually learn to think for ourselves.
The only people that complain about it are dossers and parents who don't actually know what transition year is like. They see it as a year where zero work is done.

Killer Pigeon · 28-07-2011 01:38AM

It's stupid.

IMO, transition year reeks havoc on ones work ethic.

I would have preferred just doing the 3 year Junior Cert course and then starting the 2 year Leaving Cert course straight afterwards. When I would have completed the Leaving Cert I would have taken a gap year where I'd decide what I'd like to do in college and with the rest of my life. This would mean that during my Leaving cert year I could have concentrated fully on the Leaving cert without having to figure out what I would have wanted to put on my CAO form at the same time.

G_R · 28-07-2011 01:41AM

I did it and have to say, it was without question the best year of my Secondary School Education.

It's very true that you get out of it what you put in. If you didn't put any effort in, then you didn't get much out of it. We did subjects like European Studies, Irish Culture, Communications, Mi-Co (Mini Company), Business Development, Equine Studies, Special Projects, Drama... A really varied mix.

Our Mini-Company was entered into a National Competition where we came 4th in the Country, and nearly quadrupled our investors money over the year. (We sold shares at €5 each, paid out €17 something at the end of the year).

I did work experience in Paris and Dublin, learned loads about horses, put on what we thought was a brilliant play, although looking back at the DVD it's cringe worthy

and the really pro-business element of the year is what made me want to do what I do now - I'm currently doing a B.Sc. in Business and Management in College.

The best thing about TY though, with out a doubt is the way gain so much confidence and make so many new friends. In 3rd year, I wouldn't say boo to a mouse. By the end of TY I was giving a business presentation for our Mi-Co to an auditorium of about 500 people (which really helped me for college) and took part in the TY Show in front of 300 people. If I was asked to do that in 2nd or 3rd year I wouldn't have had a chance. Our class was pretty small aswell, only 20, so we all became really good friends. Another big plus of TY is the way the teacher's treat you. We became friends, and were on a first name basis with most of them. That was really an asset in 5th and 6th year, being friends with the teachers really helped for the Leaving.

TL;DR: TY is Awesome. Do it.

Eoin Cunniffe 94 · 28-07-2011 01:48AM

Transition Year is a really valuable year if you actually bother to make an effort during it !! It helped me in so many ways and it really shaped me as a person and a student ! It gives you valuable time to grow up and see what the real world is like. It makes you stand on your own two feet for once. It really motivated me towards study and choosing a career because it allows you to think for yourself.
As for costing the government money I completely disagree we paid serious money to cover any costs and even organised events for fundraising . IMO Ty benefits everyone involved including
The government as it helps mature and motivate teenagers!

LimerickLad92 · 28-07-2011 01:48AM

I got alot of transition year "back in the day"

it focused me on what I wanted to do with my life, Introudced me to media e.g photoshop/video editing and got me into learning foreign languages.

It also meant I was 17, and not 16 doing my leaving cert

Compton · 28-07-2011 02:19AM

Delighted I skipped it, I hated school.

7Sins · 28-07-2011 12:34PM

There were 3 types of students when I was in school...

The Leaving Cert students including myself who saw school as a load of cock and couldn't wait to finish and either work or go to college. I myself have the biggest regret of not at least attempting to do the LC in one year as opposed to two. Seriously it's not hard like, I only studied for the final two months of 6th year and got the points I wanted and I was 17. Would've been much better to be 16 and take a year out to work before college or travel.

The Leaving Cert Applied students, generally a bit dimmer or just wanted a trade job when the times were good.

Transition Year students....oh jesus christ, bunch of irritating swatty mammy's boys and frigid girls. I can't phatom the logic of someone who wants to spend an extra year in school

Lord TSC · 28-07-2011 12:44PM

Not had a chance to read over the rest of the topic but here's my experience.

TY was probably the most important year of my life thus far. There's alot of my friends who, afterwards, said it was the biggest waste of time and damaged them, but for me, it helped me grow so much. I threw myself into a lot of projects and classes and found I developed so much. Thanks to TY, i got into debating which drastically increased my self-confidence. I shudder to think what I would be like had I not done that year.

The problem isn't with TY but with the percieved fact its a doss year. People go in wanting to do nothing and then complain at the end they did nothing. I went in wanting to do as much as possible and found it hugely rewarding and beneficial...

jester77 · 28-07-2011 12:45PM

It's worth skipping it and going straight into 4th year and heading to college earlier

Catari Jaguar · 28-07-2011 12:46PM

If the school provides a decent program with a variety of subjects it can be very beneficial.

In our (all girls) school, where the emphasis was on academic subjects, it was good to explore modules such as Interior Design, tech, dance, drama, self defence, other languages, running a small business, art etc.

The work experience is great and we also did an apptitude test and received career guidance. There were plenty of opportunities for boosting self esteem, socialising, team building, talk and discussion about your life in general etc.

It helps if you're not mature enough for the Leaving Cert stress or to knuckle down to study yet too.

Catari Jaguar · 28-07-2011 12:47PM

jester77 wrote: »

It's worth skipping it and going straight into 4th year and heading to college earlier

Why go to college at only 17?!

jester77 · 28-07-2011 12:52PM

cherub rock wrote: »

Why go to college at only 17?!

So you are finished at 21

Why go at 18

Swampy · 28-07-2011 01:08PM

Was brilliant. Went to Germany for 3 months on an exchange. Great craic.

7Sins · 28-07-2011 01:52PM

cherub rock wrote: »

Why go to college at only 17?!

Because no one should be an adult and still in school

Of course there's an exception and that's people who want or need 550+ pts in the LC then being a year older would help other than that for the rest of us average joe soaps there's no reason to be fannying around in school like a kid at 18

karaokeman · 28-07-2011 01:55PM

Its a complete doss and most students can't remember how to study when they come into 5th year, of course its a waste:p

MangoLime · 28-07-2011 02:58PM

I did Transition Year-biggest waste of a year in my opinion.

Before my Junior Cert I was sooo focused, did really well in every subject, never got anything below a B.

I did Transition Year and it was like somebody flicked a switch inside my head and my concentration shut down. Free classes every five minutes, airy fairy activities...........

5th and 6th year I was a different person entirely. I just couldn't concentrate. I was so used to not having to do anything. Therefore my marks suffered badly.

Pointless year......

Catari Jaguar · 28-07-2011 08:52PM

7Sins wrote: »

Because no one should be an adult and still in school

But no one should be a child in college. You can't even drink legally...

Personally speaking, I turned 19 the week after my LC ended and still feel I was immature for my particular college course. But 6th year, social life wise, was the biggest laugh ever, out getting wrecked every weekend, helped with the exam stress and all that. Still lived at home too, no responsibilities.

Mike 1972 · 28-07-2011 08:56PM

There was no transition year in my school however we had something called "7th class" in primary school. Biggest waste of time ever.

cherub rock wrote: »

But no one should be a child in college. You can't even drink legally...

:rolleyes:

miss no stars · 28-07-2011 09:13PM

My school forced us all to do it, which I think is as bad as not having the option at all.

I did all the projects, went on all the trips, got involved and had a blast.

In retrospect, it was the worst thing that happened to me. The projects were piss easy and I outgrew learning by rote at the end of 5th year, making 6th year very frustrating. Doesn't matter that the problem there lies with the LC requiring people to learn by rote and rewards regurgitation, all years of school should at the very least compliment the other years and not completely contradict them. It's like 3 years of "learn this off, learn this off, learn this off" followed by 1 year of "project! project!" followed by "learn more stuff off!!!" it just doesn't gel. Tbh there really is nothing wrong with a very well run TY (which mine was) it's just that it's completely at odds with the system it's plonked in the middle of and I found that the benefits were cancelled out (and then some) by the disbenefits of it.

It's good for some people but not for all. If anything, TY should be optional, and fee paying for those who don't have medical cards/wouldn't qualify for 3rd level local authority grants.

Transition Year - Waste of time, space and money?

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