Ireland’s big school secret: how a year off-curriculum changes teenage lives
There’s no curriculum for any part of TY, but core subjects – Irish, English, maths, PE – have to be covered in some form, for two hours a week. Work experience is recommended at two to four weeks a year; career guidance and social, personal and health education (SPHE) for an hour a week. Otherwise, schools decide for themselves what to do.
Hare canters through what’s going on in his TY for 2024-25: nine weeks each of Chinese, folklore and law; nine weeks of BodyRight, a consent, relationships and friendship workshop devised by Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. Then there’s everything from aviation to arts, coding to car maintenance, political engagement to boxing. There’s a young scientist programme, with two separate blocks of work experience. As part of a Stem module, two former police officers set up a crime scene and show kids how to run an investigation.
