Learning Support

St. Joseph of Cluny has a strong feeling of community where co-operation, justice of school life and respect are actively encouraged. We try to respond to the needs of all our pupils. There are students who may struggle with academic and sometimes social demands. They need extra assistance and the kind of assistance they receive has a positive effect on not only their academic progress but also their self-esteem and their whole attitude to school life. We strive to find the most effective way to achieve our aim of responding to the needs of all our pupils. The school does all it reasonably can to comply with the DES guidelines for individual students. Parents/Guardians who wish to avail of Learning Support resources must provide the necessary educational/psychological/medical reports as required by the DES. In the Learning Support Department we try to ensure that the students are provided with as much support as resources allow and are monitored and reviewed to establish their changing needs.

Organisation of Learning Support

• A dedicated Staff with expertise and experience
• Individual withdrawal
• Small group withdrawal
• Individual Educational Profile
• Classroom assistants
• Reduced Timetable (in certain cases)
• Two bright, modern Learning Support rooms
• Computers and appropriate software programmes
• Excellent Library facilities where the Librarian works with the Learning Support Department in sourcing suitable materials and helps to meet the students extra needs
• Close collaboration with subject teachers
• Special in-house exams if required.

Career Guidance

St Joseph of Cluny has a full time Guidance Counsellor whose role it is to assist students to make informed choices about their lives in the personal, educational and career areas. While much of the Guidance Programme is delivered through class contact time with students, individual counselling, which may include personal counselling, educational counselling, career counselling, or a combination of these, is a very important element of the programme. The objectives of the Guidance Programme are:

• To help students develop an awareness and acceptance of their strengths, talents and abilities
• To facilitate students in identifying and exploring opportunities
• To enable students to grow in independence and take responsibility for themselves
• To help students make informed choices about their lives and to follow through on these choices

We also offer several guidance activities that assist students to make choices and transitions, including the following:

• Induction Programme: Incoming First Years have an induction morning in August to help them in the transition into the Secondary School. The Senior Prefects play a major role in this morning. All First Years have an individual interview in the first term with the Guidance Counsellor.
• Counselling: Helping students to explore their thoughts and feelings, and the choices open to them; giving care and support to students learning to cope with the many aspects of growing up and at moments of personal crises.
• Assessment: Helping students to obtain a better self-understanding through the use of psychometric tests and other inventories. Differential Aptitude Tests are administered at the end of Transition Year as an aid to helping students choose subjects for Leaving Certificate. Interest Inventories are used in each year of the Senior Cycle. A general Reasoning Test is taken by all incoming First Year students.
• Careers Information: Providing students with objective and factual data on education and training opportunities, occupations, labour market information etc.Career Guidance
• Student Research: Independent student research is encouraged at every stage and full use is made of Guidance Software and Online resources. A careers library with books, college prospectuses and online access is available to all students.
• CAO/ College Application: Helping students prepare for application to Third Level institutions and Colleges of Further Education in Ireland is a major part of the work of the Guidance Counsellor. Students who wish to apply to UK Colleges through UCAS are given every assistance. Online application facilities are made available to all students.

Learning opportunities and guidance activities are varied and include:

• Job Seeking Skills and Work Experience in Transition Year
• ‘Be Real’ game in TY
• Research Projects in First, Second, TY and Fifth Years
• Careers Evening for Fifth and Sixth Years
• Mock Interviews, CV preparation etc for Sixth Years
• Visiting Speakers
• Attendance at College Open Days and Seminars

The Guidance Counsellor is part of the Pastoral Care team in the school. The Guidance Counsellor is Ms Cleo McFarland.

Library

Librarian - Caoimhe Ní Mhaicín

Opening hours:
8.30am – 12.20pm / 1.00pm – 4.30pm (Monday to Thursday)
8.30am – 12.20pm / 1.00pm - 3.30pm (Friday)

Email: clunylibrary@gmail.com

The Library’s role is to provide a wide range of resources in order to support teaching and learning, and to further a reading and information culture that promotes independent motivated readers and learners for life. As such it is be available to the whole school community during and outside the school day. There are many library resources:

• Books for loan – There is a range of fiction and information books for loan in the library.
• Journals/magazines – The library stocks a range of journals and magazines covering a variety of different topics.
• Reference library – Materials for consultation within the library.
• Careers library – Prospectuses from Irish & UK third level colleges, career guides, and internet access to careers portal with links to Qualifax, Career Directions, CAO, professional associations, etc.
• 4 PCs with broadband internet access and word processing facilities.
• The library has seating for 32 students and students can have classes in the library setting.
• The library is open at lunch time and after school hours.

Aims of the Library:

• Curriculum support - The librarian provides a range of services to support the curriculum. These range from selecting and acquiring suitable materials to developing subject guides for students.
• Development of information skills - The librarian will develop a range of Library & Information sessions to enable the students to become independent, resourceful and successful learners and researchers.
• Promotion of leisure reading - Leisure reading is promoted by the Librarian by providing reading lists for different year groups, and selecting and acquiring reading materials. You can find the booklists for all years here.