Coláiste Ghobnatan offers an extensive curriculum both at Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle to cater for all students’ interests and every effort is made to help all of them in the pursuit of their chosen career. The College offers nineteen subjects in all and is equipped with the most up to date computer system.
Junior Cycle [top]
Students study all subjects in 1st year. In 2nd year, in preparation for the Junior Certificate, they study the following subjects:
Core
Subjects*:
They chose three subjects from the following list also:
Option
Subjects:
Senior
Cycle [top]
In fifth and sixth year students study the following subjects:
Core
Subjects*:
They also chose four subjects from the following list:
Option
Subjects:
Students also study the Leaving Certificate Vocational Program (LCVP) at Senior Cycle. This program involves studying the usual Leaving Cert subjects as well as three extra modules – Enterprise, Work Experience and Preparation for Work. Students prepare a portfolio of work which accounts for 60% of the marks for the program and a written exam which accounts for 40%.
If a students wishes he/she can count the LCVP grade as the sixth subject for points purposes. The LCVP Program was developed to cater for the ever changing needs not only in education but also in the work place and in the business world.
The
Subjects
Science
[top]
[junior]
 Every student studies science at Junior Cycle. Science is one of the core subjects on the school timetable and is seen as being important in the educational development of the student. There are many opportunities at the moment in the science and technology area and because of this the College offers four science subjects at Leaving Cert level.
In this subject the student researches the science of farming. The subject is very suitable for students who have an interest in pursuing a career in farming or in a related industry. This subject has been very successful in the College because the majority of students come from rural backgrounds and they have a great interest in the environment. The subject covers a wide range of topics from horticulture to agri-tourism and forestry.
Biology is the study of live things and often it is called the green science. In this subject indepth study is done on the environment, human physiology and anatomy as well as microbiology. This subject is of particular importance for those students who have an interest in medicine or the environment.
This branch of science studies matter, energy and the relationship between them. It can be said that it is a mathematical science associated with the laws of nature that surround us. Students are particularly interested in the practical work in this subject.
This is the branch of science which studies the substances in the composition of the world around us. Chemistry involves an indepth study of chemical properties and chemical activity. This subject is very much associated with the pharmaceutical industry and chemical engineering.
Computers
[top]
[junior*]
 First year students have two classes per week in computer studies, while second and third years have one class per week. Students study word processing, spreadsheets, database, file management, the Internet and e-mail etc. They also study web design and produce their own web pages. Senior Cycle students study Computers as part of the LCVP program. Connection to the internet is by way of an ISDN line, enabling all thirty students to be online simultaneously.
Materials
Technology (wood) [top]
[junior]
 The craft and technique of working with wood is being developed for thousands of years. The subject Materials Technology (Wood) gives an opportunity to the students to learn and improve their skills in design and manufacture, as well as gaining an understanding of the materials they use.
The design process is undertaken in a systematic way, that is, to investigate the task, decide on a solution, make the product and assess it’s efficiency. Students express their ideas through sketches and note taking - this is an essential part of the process as well as deciding on materials and resources.
samples....
Materials
Technology (metal) [top]
[junior] [senior]
The
new Metalwork and Engineering courses cover the following topics:
-
Metal
-
Plastic
and Wood
-
Safety
-
Marking
out and Measuring
-
General
Bench Work
-
Drilling
-
Fitting
and Assembly
-
Coldforming
of Metal
-
Heat
Treatment
-
Decorative
Finishes (of materials)
-
The
Centre Lathe and Lathework (Turning)
-
Design
-
Freehand
Drawing and Geometric Construction
-
Engineering
Calculations
-
The
CNC Lathe
There
are three parts to the exam:
-
Project
-
Practical
Exam
-
Written
Exam
samples...
Technical
Graphics/Technical Drawing
[top]
[junior] [senior]
 In Coláiste Ghobnatan every first year student takes Technical Graphics, it is a subject choice for Junior Certificate and students can continue with the subject Technical Drawing up to Leaving Cert level.
The main objective of the Technical Graphics/Technical Drawing courses is to develop the ability of the student, that is their ability to understand and express information in a graphical form. It also gives the student the ability to form an develop visual images.
In these courses the students get the knowledge that is necessary to communicate and solve problems through the means of drawing.
Construction
Studies [top]
[senior]
In Construction Studies students study all aspects of building a house from a green field site to completion. They learn about construction from the theoretical point and the practical point.
There are three sections in the Leaving Certificate exam:
-
Theory Paper
-
Practical Exam
-
Project of the student’s choice
samples....
Home
Economics [top]
[junior] [senior]
 This is a practical subject which prepares the young student for everyday life, by studying topics such as: Food, Health, Marriage and the household, Consumer and Society.
samples....
Junior
Certificate
The syllabus is divided into six parts:
-
Food – this section deals with the nutrients required for healthy living, the maintenance of a balanced diet, meal planning, food hygiene and storage and preparation of dishes relevant to the different areas of study.
-
Consumer Studies – rights and protection of the consumer, quality and standard marks, money management and shopping.
-
Social and Health Studies – maintenance of good health, adolescence, adulthood and parenthood. Health hazards – smoking, drinking, drug abuse.
-
Resource Management and Home Studies – running a home, design and room planning, household materials and appliances, gas, electric and water services, pollution, safety and first aid.
-
Textile Studies – Use of textiles in clothing and the home, properties and care of textiles, basic stitch craft and sewing techniques.
-
Production of finished craft item.
Leaving
Certificate
The syllabus contains elements of the Junior Certificate but in much greater detail e.g. the constituents of food, food nutrients, diets and dietary needs, the preparation and presentation of food.
-
Study of microbiology and physiology.
-
Acquiring a home including planning permission, construction and arranging finance, heating, lighting, ventilation, household water, drainage and hot water system.
-
Home – decor, household appliances, time management.
-
Marriage and family – relationships, human development and education, problems facing families and society.
-
Services and the Community – health services, fostering and adoption, elderly, disabled.
Work, unemployment, leisure, youth culture, media and advertising.
English
[top]
[junior*] [senior]
 The
English Department consists of two sections in itself: Senior and
Junior. The dawn of the new Leaving Certificate course has drawn these
two sections closer together. The overall aim is to develop the language
skills that will be required in later life.The Junior Certificate course
lays the basis for an assumed level of literacy at Leaving Certificate
level by approaching language on various levels. These include: Learning
how to comprehend a piece of text
from, for example, a newspaper opinion column.
Learning
how to approach essay writing
from a personal perspective.
Learning
how to view literature as a
reality in itself and appreciate it as another's experience of life. Developing
an already well-advanced viewpoint on the media
and its effect on the world.
Popular
authors in Junior Certificate English include: Betsy Byars, A. Holm,
John Steinbeck, J. R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl, Liam Ó
Flaherty,Margaret Mahy, Anne Fine, Rosemary Suthcliffe, Mildren Taylor,
Nina Bawden and many more. Shakespeare, Synge, Ó Casey, and
Cekov, amongst others, represent the playwrights. A wide range of poetry
is covered using the various anthologies of Puffin, Poolbeg, Cambridge
and Oxford presses.
The
new course at Leaving Certificate level approaches language development
on five levels:
The
informative: how information can be garnered from a piece of writing
The
argumentative: an appreciation of the skills of argument - selection of
evidence, thought structuring etc….
The
persuasive: primarily, the language of persuasion
The
narrative: structure in writing
The
aesthetic: appreciation of the craft of writing
The
potential of literature in the students` lives is explored in the
Comparative section, where film and literature are compared to one
another.
Popular
works at Leaving Certificate level include those of Jennifer Johnston,
W. H. Auden, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen,
Sophocles, Charlotte Brontë, Kevin Costner, Jim Sheridan, Brian
Keenan,
Emily Brontë, to name but a few.
Leaving
Certificate English demands a level of competency that many struggle to
achieve due to the constraints of our modern culture. Gone are the days
when reading was considered a useful and worthwhile pursuit. What now
looms is the birth of the abbreviated word, the monosyllabic utterance,
and the ever-decreasing attention span. The new English course at
Leaving Certificate level aims to restore language by seeking to develop
advanced reading and writing skills in students.
Information
Technology [top]
[junior*] [senior]
A new course in Information Technology is being offered at Senior Cycle this year. It is a two year course which leads to the qualification of Diploma in Computer Applications from City and Guilds Examining Institute. Students who take this course will have an excellent grounding in up-to-date Information technology skills. Details of the course are outlined below:
Diploma in Computer Applications
2001/03
Duration of course
-
2 years
-
5 classes per week
Who should do this course?
The course is suitable for all students:
-
Students undertaking further study in any discipline at third level
-
Students taking up an apprenticeship
-
Students going straight to the workplace
Course Content
-
Web Design
-
Computerised Accounts
-
Word Processing
-
Basic Concepts of Information Technology
-
Using Computers and Managing Files
-
Spreadsheets
-
Database
-
Presentation
-
Information and Communications
Exams
City and Guilds of London Institute
Qualifications
Waht are the advantages
of this course?
-
High level of up-to-date computer skills
-
Internationally recognised qualifications
-
Student is well equipped with IT skills for further education in any field or for the workplace
Is this course an easy
option?
NO! …………
Like any other subject the student who works hard will reap the benefits
Costs
Gaeilge
[top]
[junior *]
[senior*]
 Suite
mar atá i lár Gaeltacht Mhuscraí is í an Gaeilge meán teagaisc sa
Choláiste seo. Deineann gach dalta staideár uirthi mar ábhar scoile
chomh maith.
Trí bliana a chaitear
ag gabháil do chúrsa an Teastais Soisearaigh. Le linn na haimsire seo
foghlamaíonn siad céard na ceapadóireachta, cumann siad aistí agus
ailt do nuachtáin. Ina theannta san deintear staidéar ar dhánta
bheaga shimplí. Gné thabhachtach den chúrsa seo leis is ea an
léamhthuiscint agus cuirtear béim nach beag ar na scileanna atá
riachtanach chun tabhairt faoi cheisteanna cluastuisceanna a fhreagairt.
Tréimhse dhá bhlianta
atá leagtha síos le haghaidh cúrsa na hÁrdteistiméireachta. Tá
deis anseo ag an múinteoir cúrsa atá molta ag an Roinn Oideachais sa
phrós agus san bhfilíocht a leanúint nó a rogha cúrsa féin a
leanúint. Is é cúrsa na Roinne is minicí a roghnaítear sa scoil
seo. Cuid ana thábhachtach den chúrsa seo is ea labhairt na teanga
agus tuiscint na teanga labartha, dá bhrí sin cuirtear ana bhéim ní
hamháin ar ullmhú don scrudú cainte ach ar an gcluastuiscint chomh
maith. Deintear staidéar ar Stair na Teanga agus Stair na Litríochta
chomh maith.
Trí leibhéal
páipéirí scrúduithe atá ar fáil sa Ghaeilge mar atá Árd, Gnáth
agus Bonn. Is é an páipéar Árd Leibhéail a roghnaíonn furmhór na ndaltaí.
Mathematics
[top]
[junior*] [senior*]
Maths is considered one of the most important subjects in the College. The subject is available at three levels, foundation, lower and higher levels, at both Junior Cert and Leaving Cert level.
All students sit a maths test on entering the College. Classes in Remedial Education are available for students who have difficulty with this subject.
History
[top]
[junior][senior]
History is offered as a subject at both Junior Cert and Leaving Cert level. Aspects of Irish history, from the Stone Age to today, are studied for Junior Cert. There are also parts of the course that deal with The Renaissance, Revolutions, Travel and Discovery, World War II etc. There is also emphasis placed on Social History in the 20th Century.
There are two courses to choose from at Leaving Cert level. In the College at present students study Irish History from 1868 to 1966 and European History from 1870 to 1966. Events that occurred are studied and discussed in detail and the people who were active at that time in history in Ireland and in Europe are assessed.
Geography
[top]
[junior] [senior]
Geography is offered in the College at both Junior Cert and Leaving Cert levels. Geography is the study of people and their relationships with the environment. It id concerned with helping to develop as understanding of the physical, social and economic processes which shape the environment.
The education of young people today takes place against the background of a world with such characteristics of geographical concern as:
-
Increasingly multi-cultural societies
-
Sharp social and economic inequalities on a variety of scales
-
An increasing pace of socio-economic change
-
Growing concern over declining environmental quality in many regions
Geography can make an important contribution towards enabling young people to function more effectively as members of society. The syllabus is structured around a number of key geographical concepts; these same concepts are at the core of the existing Leaving Certificate syllabus in gepgraphy. There is therefore a clear continuity between Junior and Senior Cycles.
The syllabus is based on the belief that an adequate understanding of many of the issues with which geographers are concerned can be reached only with an appreciation of the human attitudes and values involved.
It recognises that the geography teacher is involved in a body of knowledge which has wide horizons, and in a methodology which contains may and varied techniques and skills.
This breadth and diversity are fundamental factors in the discipline’s motivational strength, and the syllabus aims to encourage and facilitate their full exploitation.
Business Studies
[top]
[junior] [senior]
 Business
Studies - Junior Cycle [top]
Business Studies is one of the subject choices at Junior Cert level. Business Studies can be described as that part of the curriculum that enables a student to make informed decisions in the business of living and it it also helps him/her to get a better understanding of the business world.
The whole course is integrated in the new syllabus. The syllabus is divided into four sections:
-
The Business of Living
-
Economics
-
Enterprise
-
Technology
In the first section the business of living is discussed and this includes management of personal finance. The economics section deals with basic economic concepts and the social environment in which we live.
The third section concerns enterprise. The business environment is discussed and the student is lead from the familiar personal/household situation to the less familiar commercial situation.
The final section is technology. This section is very important considering the impact of technology on life today.
This subject matter studied by the students brings together life outside school, in the home and in the work place.
Business and Accounting are offered at Leaving Cert level as a continuation of Business Studies.
Accounting is offered as a Leaving Cert subject. Students study financial accounting and management accounting to higher level in the Leaving Cert. The course covers concepts, rules and legislation – how they affect accounting in Ireland and in the European Union in general. The layout of Final Accounts for Private Limited Companies and Public Limited Companies is covered. Accounting for the Sole Trader is also studied as well as VAT and its inclusion in accounts.
This subject is concerned with the understanding of the environment in which business operates in Ireland and in the wider world. It also involves equipping the students with a positive view of enterprise and its applications in the business environment, in both the public and private sectors.
The syllabus is divided into three sections: Peole in Business, Enterprise and Environment.
People in Business – This section enables students to understand the relationship between the principal parties in business and their dynamic nature. Students study people and their relationships in business e.g. consumers, entrepreneurs and investors, producers, suppliers and services, employer, employee and trade union relationships. Students indentify the relevance of contract law in business and they discuss methods of resolving conflicts in relationships (both non-legislative and legislative).
Enterprise – The Enterprise section explains the importance of enterprise in business and the community. Some of the topics discussed in this section include: entrepreneurs and enterprise skills, managers and management skills, human resource management, the changing role of management and the stages involved in setting up a business enterprise.
Environment – This section deals with both the Domestic Environment and the International Environment. In the Domestic Environment students get an understanding of the interaction between business firms, the local community, the Government and the economy. Students study topics such as types of business organisation, community development, the impact of the economy on business and the social responsibilities of business. The International Environment enables students to understand the opportunities and challenges facing Irish business in the international environment. They study the significance of international trade for the Irish economy, trading blocs and agreements, the importance of the European Union, the purpose of the main European Union policies and directives and their impact on Irish business, the global marketing of products and services and the development and impact of transnational companies.
French
[top]
[junior*] [senior]
 French is the foreign language taught in Coláiste Ghobnatan. There is great emphasis placed on language skills e.g. oral, aural and written.
An oral exam is not compulsory at Junior Cert level, however, great importance is attached to oral work in the new syllabus. Students have to learn the sounds of the language at an early stage and this helps with fluency later on.
Students learn the usual things – vocabulary, structure and communication skills so that they will be able to deal with life in France. An example of such skills being learned is a lesson based on a visit to a train station in France and the french necessary to communicate there.
The Leaving Cert puts a big emphasis on oral work and it continues to develop the independence and confidence of the learner.
Students have to be able to comprehend two pieces of text and do some written work. There is also an oral exam and an aural exam to enable students to show, in a natural way, the progress they have made.
Nowadays European languages are very important. We, in Coláiste Ghobnatan, are placing a big emphasis on teaching and testing oral skills through aural tests and methods of assessment that are based on communication.
Art
[top]
[junior]
The
Art classes for first year students provide an introductory
course. Topics studied include life drawing, object drawing,
composition and design collage.
samples....
Review
of Progress [top]
A
written report summarising each student's progress is sent to parents at the
end of the Christmas and Summer terms. Progress can also be reviewed
at other times where this is considered necessary or desirable.
Parent/Teacher meetings are also held throughout the year.
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