English course

Junior and Senior Cycle students are offered 5 classes a week. Transition Year students are offered 4 classes a week. 

English as a core subject is offered at:

·     Junior Cycle (higher and ordinary level)

·     Transition Year English

·     Leaving Certificate (higher and ordinary level)

·     LCA 

Junior Cycle English Learning Journey

Junior Cycle English has two Classroom-Based Assessments, (with an Assessment Task associated with one of these) and a Final Assessment. 

There are two Classroom-Based Assessments in English. They relate to specified learning outcomes (related to the student’s reading, writing, and oral work during that time) and are scheduled at particular times in the school calendar.  The first CBA is an oral communication and the second CBA is a collection of students’ work in their ‘Collection of Texts’.

Following the second of these assessments students will complete an Assessment Task (AT) which is sent to the State Examinations Commission for marking. 

Junior Cycle English has two Classroom-Based Assessments, (with an Assessment Task associated with one of these) and a Final Assessment. 

There are two Classroom-Based Assessments in English. They relate to specified learning outcomes (related to the student’s reading, writing, and oral work during that time) and are scheduled at particular times in the school calendar.  The first CBA is an oral communication and the second CBA is a collection of students’ work in their ‘Collection of Texts’.

Following the second of these assessments students will complete an Assessment Task (AT) which is sent to the State Examinations Commission for marking. 

The Final Assessment  – 90%

The Assessment Task (AT)– 10%

Classroom-Based Assessments Common Level

Activities to help the Development of English in KCS

The English Department partakes in many activities outside of the normal class contact time.

Theatre Productions

We attempt to take as many year groups as possible to view live theatre. Sometimes this can be done through cross-curricular planning when companies put on performances within the school relating to topics in others subjects. 

2017/2018:

·     Leaving Certificate students attended a production of ‘King Lear’ produced by the Gaiety Theatre company at the Firkin Crane Theatre in Cork

·     Third Year students will attend a production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ later in 2018

2016/2017

• TYs attended a Graffiti Theatre Production in November. History students also attended as the play based on the 1916 Rising. This is also part of our cross-curricular planning
• Leaving Certificate students attended a Promenade Theatre production by Kinsale Further Education of ‘Hamlet’ in Charlesfort on October 26th2016. They previously have seen a screened version of the Benedict Cumberbatch performance on the West End in 2015

Leaving Certificates and Second Years regularly attend a Shakespeare performance and workshop by Cyclone Rep

Leaving Certificate Seminar

Every year, an Advising Examiner for the SEC hosts a seminar for our students on the Leaving Certificate and exam technique. Students find his advice extremely useful.

DEBATING

The school encourages students to take part in debating competitions. We have taken part in the West Cork Credit Union Debating Competition, UCC Philosoph Debates and Concern Debates.

This academic year, 2017/2018 a number of Transition Year students were involved in the Concern Debates. These debates not only provide students with invaluable public speaking and debating skills, but they also highlight serious social and environmental issues. 

Public Speaking

The department actively encourages students to partake in public speaking competitions and has taken part in competitions organised by the Forum on Europe and the Mental Health Organisation.

MODEL UN

Our Transition Year and Fifth Year students take part in Model UN. Model United Nations continues to grow in KCS. In 2016/2017 our students represented at both Davis College MUN in January and Loreto Clonmel MUN in March. Such was the success last year that five fifth year students returned to DCMUN this year.  

In January 2017, KCS students came together with students from all over Ireland and Europe, to participate in Model United Nations (MUN) at Cork City Hall. MUN was an inspiring and exhilarating four-day event, where students had the opportunity to practice democracy and politics, while tackling major world problems such as, Universal Access to Education, Combating Human Trafficking on a Global Scale, Animal Rights, Media Censorship and Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea. 

Each student from KCS was assigned a delegation which they represented over the course of the conference in City Hall. Our diverse delegations included the Australia, Human Rights Watch, Vietnam, Interpol, Uruguay, Algeria, Eritrea, Macedonia, Papa New Guinea and Kyrgyzstan. 

The enthusiasm and commitment shown by the students prior to the commencement of MUN must be applauded; remaining in school researching and writing resolutions. Model United Nations was an experience that offered students endless benefits, both socially and academically, plus one which our students excelled in.

T.Ys: Abbie Egan, Leah Casey, Kate MacCarthy, Aoibheann Gray, Esha Helay Thow, Sarah Cotter, Aisling Power, Ella Funicane, Paul Wills, Robert Delahunty, Eve Casey, Lucy Kelleher, Daniel Graham, Cathy Hynes, Claire Bernard, Lauren White and Selena McCarthy.

5thYears: David Graham, Fiona Deasy, Lorcan O’ Brien, Hugh Ward and Jake Hyland. 

LCMUN 2017:

Four Transition Year students, Paul Wills, Lucy Kelleher, Cathy Hynes and Esha Healy Thow, also participated in Loreto College, Clonmel MUN in March. Our students travelled to Clonmel where they stayed with host families for the duration of the four day conference.   

They represented the delegations of Austria, Cameroon, Amnesty International and Zimbabwe. The agenda issues debated included the Regulation of the Sex Trade, the Legislating of Arms Ownership, Stem Cell Research and Cloning and the issue of the Boko Haram. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to once again tackle pressing world issues and work in collaboration with their peers to propose solutions. A great week was had by all, with new friends made along the way. 

Author Visits/ Workshops

Previous writers that have visited our school include local renowned author Louise O’Neill and teenage fiction writer, Dave Rudden. We were also honored to have Leaving Certificate poet Eileán Ni Chuilleanáin visit our students and discuss her poetry.

Kinsale Community School were privileged to welcome renowned Irish poet, Eileán Ní Chuilleanáin on 13th November 2017. Fifth and Sixth Year students had the unique opportunity to hear Ní Chuilleanáin, a  poet from their Leaving Certificate course recite and discuss a selection of her poetry.  Ní Chuilleanáin spoke to the students about the origins of many of her poems and they were fascinated to hear about particular experiences that inspired her writing. Students had a rare opportunity to delve into the mind of the poet and they really made the most of this in the questions and answers session! This was a truly insightful and enjoyable experience. 

M.S. Readathon

One member of the department takes on the roll of organiser for the M.S. Readathon. We encourage all students to take part, but in particular we target all First Year students to take part. We provide DEAR classes for them during the time frame of the Readathon.

Writing Competitions

Students are encouraged to participate in poetry and writing competitions. In the past our students have won prizes in Today FM competitions, Listowel Writers Week and the poetry competition organised by the Teaching English Magazine.

Cinema Visits

In conjunction with the 5th Year Meitheal team a visit to the cinema is organised for First Years, usually towards the end of the school year.

Creative Writing Workshops

The department has been involved in the organisation of Creative Writing Workshops where a guest author/poet spends some Wednesday afternoons with a selection of students, teaching them the finer techniques of creative writing.

Third Year English Students Fighting with Words!
A group of Third Year students had the opportunity to develop their creative writing skills when they visited the Fighting Words Workshop in Cork city on Monday 25th September 2017. Students began the morning by participating in a group writing activity. Using a scenario as a prompt, they created the opening of a dialogue. Following on from this, students completed their story, either in small groups or individually. Their stories ranged from the entertaining to the inspiring. The facilitators were very impressed with the many budding writers that emerged on the day. 

School Newsletter

A school newsletter is sent to each home twice a year. Students are encouraged to write articles and pieces for this newsletter.

English Department Website

In 2016/2017, Ms. Farrelly, along with TY students has undertaken to produce a website for the English Department and its students.

Cross Curricular Competition

The ‘Hard – Boiled History Competition’ required students to work with History, English and Art to create a historical figure from a hard-boiled egg. They also wrote a limerick to accompany  the egg.