Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

105. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration has been given to a provision by which students would be able to complete junior cycle music with an approved tutor external to the school setting in view of the fact that it is not a subject offered in all schools. [29367/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Framework for Junior Cycle presents a dual approach to assessment that supports student learning over the three years of junior cycle and also measures achievement at the end of those three years. This dual approach reduces the focus on one externally assessed examination as a means of assessing students and increases the prominence given to classroom-based assessment and formative assessment, providing a more rounded assessment of the education of each young person. This change of emphasis arises from an acknowledgement that students learn best when teachers provide feedback that helps students to understand how their learning can be improved. As part of the phasing in of the new Framework for Junior Cycle the new Junior Cycle music specification will be introduced to schools from September 2018.

The Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA) is a school-based award issued by schools which draws upon and reports on achievement across all elements of assessment, including ongoing, formative assessment and Classroom-Based Assessments by teachers, as well as State Examinations marked by the State Examinations Commission. The assessment of a number of practical subjects including music for the purposes of the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA) will comprise two Classroom-Based Assessments undertaken in recognised schools, a practical examination and a written examination.

Where students take extra subjects outside of their school setting these subjects cannot satisfy the requirements for ongoing formative assessment and classroom based assessments by recognised schools and cannot, therefore, be included as part of the JCPA. Students who wish to study additional subjects, such as music, outside of their school have a number of other certification avenues open to them.