Q&A

Your education questions answered by Brian Mooney

My child has just started in primary school and at first glance the curriculum is very different to when I was at that stage of my education. Could you give me some help in understanding the changes that have taken place?

The primary curriculum was totally revised in 1999 and is being phased in at present. It is expected to be implemented in all schools by the end of 2005. The new curriculum is comprehensive, well thought-through and provides children with a very good basis for further education and for life itself.

It puts children at the heart of the entire process; the emphasis is on ensuring that the subject matter is always relevant to the child and on actively involving children in their own learning. A lot of importance is placed on the acquisition of skills, as well as knowledge and practical hands-on activity. Even the role of the teacher has changed somewhat - he or she is now seen more as facilitator rather than "the font of all knowledge" as was the case in our day.

The new curriculum contains 11 subjects but they are rarely treated separately. Each subject will overlap into another throughout each day and this allows the teacher and the children to develop knowledge and skills that are not bound by subject areas. The children also carry out a lot of project work, which will cross over many subjects.

There is a new subject grouping called SESE (Social, Environmental and Scientific Education) which combines history, geography and science. There is a new subject called SPHE, which stands for Social, Personal and Health Education.

A change that many parents are noticing is the methodology being used to teach addition and subtraction in maths. Terms like re-group and decomposition are coming up and there's no longer any "carrying the one" (or paying it back either!).

Another change that parents notice is the increasing amount of group work. Primary school children will do most of their work in pairs or threes. This encourages co-operation, social skills, sharing and responsibility. It allows the teacher to move around the groups, enabling him or her to identify the problems being encountered more readily. The children learn from each other too and they feel more involved at each level. Brian Gilsenan's book The Essential Parent's Guide to the Primary School Years is a very useful resource on this topic.

I have a question about the repeat procedure of a single subject in next year's Leaving Certificate. I received 415 points in this year's examination, which is enough to get an engineering place in the degree programme of my choice.

But I also got a D2 in higher-level maths and am therefore not able to enter. However, today my guidance counsellor told me that if I repeated that single subject, the points wouldn't be counted, even if I got a higher grade C. I am a bit confused now, because I wouldn't have the chance then to enter engineering, even by repeating maths?

Your guidance counsellor is correct. If you repeat a single subject, which is a minimum entry requirement for entry to a course, you cannot count those points. But you do not need extra points, as you already have enough points for your course. Once you meet the minimum entry requirement for your course - in your case a higher C grade in maths - you will be judged on the number of points you got this year, which in your case is 415. The only possible problem that might arise for you would be if the minimum entry points for your preferred course were to rise above 415 in 2005. Your points must be above the minimum entry requirements in the year you are actually taking up the place. You must apply to the CAO this year, listing as many courses as you wish, and putting your preferred course at the top of your list. You must also register for maths with the State Examination Commission.

[ bmooney@irish-times.ie ]