St. Nessan’s Community College, Moylish Park, Limerick.Phone: 061 - 452422Email: info@stnessans.com www.stnessans.com

St. Nessan’s Community College

JCSP Library Initiative

Meet the Team

Mr. Gale (Librarian)

Ms. Ayers Ms. O’Connor

Ms. Toomey (JCSP Coordinator)

Ms. Beaumont

Ms. Johnston Ms. Kelly Mr. Doody

Ms. Creedon Mr. O’Connor

Mr. O’Brien (Principal)

Parental Involvement

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela

A writer once remarked that, “children are made readers on the laps of their parents”. There is no doubt that parents have a huge role to play in helping their children with Literacy and Numeracy. As a parent you are the single most important influence on your children’s education. Helping your child to read,write and do maths does not require a degree or fancy educational toys. In fact, by spending just seven minutes a day reading with your child you can really give him/her a head start with the development of reading. The good news is that it is also great fun and a wonderful way to share in the joy of your child’s discovery of books. Here at St. Nessan’s parents are actively encouraged to get involved and we host various events to encourage parents to visit us and see our school in action - Parents Mornings, Open Night, JCSP Awards, Parent/Teacher Meetings, Library Visits, Quiz Night, and other extra curricular activities.

Ms Marie Toomey (JCSP Coordinator)

“Spend just seven minutes a day reading with your child and you will vastly improve their reading”.Therese McPhillips, Lecturer in Literacy Education,

“Jody got a certificate for reading, he was delighted”. Parent

“I didn’t like reading to other people before. I feel alright now. I feel more confident to read to other people”. 1st Year student

Layout and Design: Michael O’Connor (SMILE SCP)

JCSP was introduced to St. Nessan’s Community College over 10 years ago. The focus of JCSP has always been on a Whole School Approach to Literacy & Numeracy.

In 2011, the Minister for Education & Skills launched “The Na-tional Strategy to Improve Literacy & Numeracy – 2011-2020”.Also in 2011, St. Nessan’s Community College, decided to take a closer examination of our provision of Literacy & Numeracy, throughout the whole school. Following this examination, it was decided to focus on early intervention and we introduced the JCSP Library Initiative, for 1st Year students. I am delighted to report that due to the hard work and dedication of the JCSP Library Teachers and the JCSP Co-ordinator, Ms Marie Toomey, this initiative has been a great success.

We are now entering the 4th week of the initiative and already we can see the benefits of the programme and the positive effect that it is having on the students who are fortunate to be participating in this initiative. We will continue to evaluate the programme, over the next few months, with a view to rolling out all of the excellent aspects of this initiative, throughout the whole school.

Eugene O’BrienPrincipal

Station 1 Busy Bees

As our name suggests we are very busy on our station, we put everything we learn into written practice. Already we have completed Personal Reading Profiles and this week completed our first short story which we wrote ourselves. It was great fun we got to choose our own titles and characters, we let our imaginations run wild, we have stories about girly things like angels, teddies, rainbows while the boys took over with sports, guns and sci-fi!! What a mix we busy busy bees are!!!

Station 2 Vocabers

This is where word power really begins. Students build on their vocabulary day by day, building up a JCSP key word notebook bursting with new words and phrases. Dictionary work, keywords, key spellings and spelling challenges are an integral part of this station.“One forgets words as one forgets names. One’s vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die”

Station 3 Super Readers

We are currently reading “The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas “ at the moment. All groups are doing very well and we have already reached chapter five. As well as reading from the books we are now also using the kindles and the students really enjoying using these. On Friday the 14th of September, I awarded five certificates to the best readers so far and I am sure that many more students will be getting awards in the future.

Station 4 Cool Writings

At Station 4 we concentrate on grammar, punctuation and writing skills. At the moment we’re focusing on capital letters and full stops. We’re also practicing our writing so it will be neat and tidy and everyone will be able to read the work we do.

Literacy NumeracyStation 1: Numeracy

Station 1 is an interactive learning environment, catering for the different student learning styles. Formative assessment and summative assessment used to investigate students prior knowledge and understanding of new material. Self-directed learning, peer assessment and group work is used to facilitate student learning and confidence in the area of numeracy.

Understanding Stations

Station 2:

Students work individually on the topic of the day. Each student works on a set of differentiated questions, allowing each student to work at their own level. Assessment of student learning can be achieved through questioning, and observation of each students work. This station also sets and corrects the homework and will be responsible for setting end of unit assessments.

Station 4: Kinaesthetic hands on station.

This station approaches teaching and learning from a more practical perspective through a hands on approach to maths. This in turn fosters the new project maths course; here we explore the collaboration of the use of resources from worksheets to maths games. Here the pupils will explore more practical leaning styles and in doing so they will develop their knowledge and skills and self-confidence in the particular area.

Station 3

My station is station number 3 - Computer based self-directed learning. There are a total of 5 targets to be completed on each maths topic, with various different tasks of different levels of difficulty. Students also undergo “time trials” and can check their answers as they work

The use of ICT plays a major role in the library initiative.Students are rewarded throughout the year.

Students move from one station to another every 30 minutes. The layout of the library ensures that each station has its own separate learning environment.

Welcome to the JCSP Library Initiative.

This brochure will hopefully give you an insight into and a flavour of the workings of the Literacy and Numeracy Programme for 1st Years timetabled in the Library which supports the syllabi of the Junior Certificate.The students take part in extensive Literacy and Numeracy Classes every morning from 9 - 11am. They work in four groups of 8 students at four different stations and receive extra support/resources in teaching and learning. The groups move from station to station at thirty minute intervals. Topics are presented employing a number of learning/teaching methodologies and students benefit greatly from the intensive focused presentation of topics. When this initiative has been employed in other schools, the Junior Certificate Results have improved on previous years and Library usage statistics have also improved.

Students use JCSP Reading Profile Folders and JCSP Student Portfolio Folders to record and keep all their classwork. Students are assigned homework and both students and parents are updated on a regular basis regarding progress and achievements. Achievement is acknowledged and rewarded at each stage. Every opportunity is taken to send positive feedback home- JCSP awards morning, JCSP Library Open Morning, JCSP Postcards, Newsletter, GoodNotes in Journal, monthly exam/assessment results.This Programme continues for the year. Literacy is timetabled for Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Numeracy is timetabled for Tuesday and Thursday mornings.Best regards for the year ahead,

Ms. Marie Toomey, JCSP Coordinator.

TIMES PER STATIONStation 1 : 9:00-9:30 Station 2: 9:30-10:00Station 3 : 10:00-10:30 Station 4: 10:30-11:00