The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme

Preamble

The Mission Statement of St Wolstan's Community School is:

To create a community of excellence in second level education where each person is given the opportunity to reach his or her own full potential.
We endeavour to enable all members of this community to:

• develop physically
• nurture healthy relationships
• achieve academically
• make informed moral choices
• and embrace the spiritual dimension of their lives.

Under this Mission, St Wolstan's Community School offers the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme to all students who have completed their 3rd Year of study.

LCVP is a Senior Cycle Programme of the Department of Education and Science, designed to give a strong vocational dimension to the Leaving Certificate (established). The programme combines the virtues of academic study with a focus on self-directed learning, enterprise, work and the community.
St Wolstan's Community School participates in this programme to give our students an opportunity to develop their interpersonal, vocational and technological skills. These skills are equally relevant to the needs of those preparing for further education, seeking employment or planning to start their own business.

Rationale and Mission

The aims of the LCVP offered in St Wolstan's Community School are:

• To prepare our students for adult life by ensuring that they are educated in the broadest sense, with an ability to cope and thrive in an environment of rapid change.
• To encourage students to develop skills and competencies fundamental to both academic and vocational success.

It is the objective of the LCVP to:

• Promote a mature attitude towards study by encouraging self-directed learning
• Provide opportunity to develop skills related to the world of work.
• Encourage communication skills by providing opportunities for team work

Throughout the programme students are encouraged to:

• Be innovative and enterprising
• Take responsibility for their own learning
• Adapt to changing circumstances
• Evaluate data and devise solutions to problems
• Communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively
• Work with others as part of a team
• Investigate and plan career options
• Use information and communications technologies
• Investigate local businesses and community enterprises
• Learn from their experiences
• These skills and qualities are equally relevant to the needs of those preparing for further education, seeking employment or planning to start their own business.
• The vocational focus of the LCVP is achieved by the provision of additional courses of study in work preparation and enterprise known as the Link Modules.

Admission Policy

St Wolstan's Community School has accommodation for an enrolment maximum of 750 students. The maximum class size allowed under Department of Education and Science regulations is thirty for general classes and twenty/twenty four for particular practical or skill based classes.

We aim to create a centre of excellence in St Wolstan's where each student is given the opportunity to reach her own academic, personal, social, spiritual and religious potential.

We endeavour to be fair and just and adopt a positive approach in our structures and behaviour, management strategies and consultative decision-making.

The Board of Management of St Wolstan's Community School has set out its admission policy to the school in accordance with the Education Act 1998. S.19 of the Education Welfare Act 2000, the Equal Status Act 2002 and the Deed of Trust.

The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme in St Wolstan's Community School is open to all students that have completed the 3rd Year Junior Certificate State examinations.

Applicants not having previously been a student at St Wolstan's Community School may be considered upon admission to St Wolstan's Community School. Procedures for enrolment are laid out in St Wolstan's Admission Policy.

Selection Criteria

• Students are informed of the LCVP programme through discussions with the Careers Counsellor and 5th Year Option meetings
• Parents/Guardians are informed of the programme at the 5th Year Option Parents evening and Transition Year Option Parent evening.
• Careers Counsellor discusses the student's suitability for the programme with individual students and their parents/guardians.
• Students must have the required Vocational Subject Groupings for admission to the programme. (Vocational Subject Groupings are those set out by the Dept of Education and Science)

Programme Requirements

Programme Requirements are met in that each student fulfills the following:

• At least five Leaving Certificate subjects, one of which must be Irish.
• Two of the above subjects must be selected from one of the designated Vocational Subject Groupings.
• Two Link Modules: Preparation for the World of Work and Enterprise Education.
• A recognised course in a Modern European Language other than Irish or English