At Edmund Rice College we pride ourselves on the brilliant Transition Year program which we provide to our students.
Since the school’s inception, the TY program has grown and improved year on year, with the addition of new trips, workshops, and events.
What is involved?
Transition year is a year which serves as a break from the traditional learning of the classroom and gives our students an opportunity to learn through various methods, such as attending in workshops, going on trips, performance, community involvement, and work experience to name but a few.
While students will still partake in traditional subjects like Irish, English, and maths, they will also have an opportunity to get a feel for some leaving cert subjects, take part in our musical module, our community care and social and cultural modules, and work experience.
Social and Cultural Module
Our Social and Cultural module runs throughout the year and takes place every Monday. During this module the TY students go on trips, take part in workshops, and take part in events that the TY team and teachers organise for them. Previous Social and Cultural trips and workshops have included:
- The Laughter Lounge
- Bray to Greystones
- Trinity College Tour
- Kylemore Karting
- Declan’s Drama Workshop
- Alex Walsh: Personal Safety
- Introduction to Driving
- JFK Assassination Workshop
- Swingyard
These trips add to the enjoyment of the TY program, while also allowing them a certain amount of independnace that they may not yet have experienced in this sort of setting.
Community Care Module
Every Friday our TY students take part in their Community Care module. This involves them going to local primary schools to help the teachers there with some teaching and tasks, while also giving them the opportunity to work with children younger than them and build relationships with both Staff and students at the school.
TYs also have the opportunity to work with local Tidy Towns organisations and help them to keep our local areas clean during this module.
Fundraising
Fundrasing has become a major part of TY in the last few years. In the past we have fundraised for Barretstown, Children's Health Ireland, the Irish Heart Foundation, and Focus Ireland.
Last year we took part in Focus Ireland’s Shine A Light Sleepout for the first time, raising an incredible €20,040, and we also fundraised for the Irish Heart Foundation throughout the year with various events such as a car wash, bake sale, and our TY musical.
Work Experience
Our Transition Year students do two weeks of work experience, one in December and one in February. For this they are encouraged to obtain their own placement and must submit their work experience details before the date given at the beginning of the year.
During the week of work experience they will not have lessons, but instead go straight to their work experience and are expected to follow whatever instructions that they have been given by their employer regarding start and finish time, dress code, and expectations.
Each student will be assigned to a teacher who will check in with their employer via phone call or email at some point during their placement.
TY Musical
For the last number of years our Transition Year students have performed a musical as one of the highlights of the years. Since our first production in 2022, the musical module has expanded to having six different classes (drama, music, art, PR, home ec, and woodwork), with every TY student getting involved in some way, whether it be on stage, back stage, in the wardrobe department, fundraising, or another role vital to the production. Since our first musical, Aladdin, in St Brigid’s Church in Blanchardstown, to our latest production, Sister Act, in 2025, the musical has become not just a highlight of Transition Year, but a highlight of the school year as a whole.
Overview
Transition Year at Edmund Rice College is something that we take great pride in as it really encourages students to come out of their shells and try new things. We constantly remind them that they get out of it what they put into it, and every year this proves to be the case.
From the Achill Island bonding trip at the beginning of the year, right the way through to their TY graduation in May, the impact that the program has on the students is hugely evident as they develop socially, academically, as well professionally.
With the help of our TY co-ordinator Ms McDonnell and the TY team, our aim is that our students come out of Transition Year better prepared for taking on the challenge of the Leaving Cert in 5th and 6th year having experienced this program.