Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Senior cycle redevelopment is an ambitious programme of work that aims to ensure students experience senior cycle in a way that reflects who they are and the world they live in now and in which they will live in the future. I acknowledge that with the introduction of curricular change, teachers and school leaders want support in order to give their students the best possible experience. As a former teacher and as Minister for Education, I certainly feel the same.

I welcome the continued interest in and engagement of the organisation referenced by the Deputy, the Irish Science Teachers Association, ISTA, with the ongoing subject development processes for chemistry, physics and biology. I am aware of the report on the draft specifications ISTA submitted as part of the recently concluded public consultation on those drafts, which was shared with my Department. The organisation has been directly involved in all stages of the development process over a number of years through the participation of its nominees, who are science teachers, in the three subject development groups established by the NCCA. The groups draw on a wide range of expertise, including that of subject teachers as well as other subject experts.

I recognise how important having the appropriate level of detail in a specification is for teachers. That is why I clearly requested the NCCA, in developing all new and revised subjects, to ensure that curriculums contain a higher level of detail than has sometimes been the case in the past. The NCCA has published a detailed research paper on the technical form of curriculum specifications that has informed its work. Ahead of the new specifications being introduced, comprehensive teacher professional learning supports will be provided by Oide, the integrated professional support service, during the next school year. The State Examinations Commission, SEC, is also committed to providing sample assessment materials to support the preparation of teachers.

The Deputy will be aware that a majority of leaving certificate subjects already have components beyond written examinations, with many of those other components weighted at, or, in some cases, above, 40%. In introducing additional components to all subjects, I am broadening the range of skills we can assess, recognising different types of learning and reducing the emphasis on terminal written examinations. The weighting will ensure that teaching and learning are not focused on a narrow set of competencies associated with written examinations and that students will be rewarded for developing and demonstrating different skills. For the new science curriculums, these components involve students completing a piece of work as evidence of their ability to conduct scientific research on a particular issue.

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