While almost all second-level schools now offer transition year, for 25 years, students at St Aidan’s Community School in Tallaght could not avail of the programme. It was paused while the school focused on reducing the number of early school leavers in its community.
“The reason it didn’t survive for so many years was to do with worry that it would affect people’s ability to complete school,” says principal Kevin Shortall.
Students at the school now have the option of taking transition year, a year that has been reported to have many advantages for students ranging from an increase in self-confidence and management skills to highlighting the connection between schoolwork and its real-life applications.
However, with the reintroduction of transition year at St Aidan’s, a quarter of a century on, Shortall was faced with a new set of worries. “How do we compete?” asks Shortall. “How do we make sure that we give our students the same experiences that they’re going to get in another school?”
Shortall says an individual school’s ability to rely on parental contributions makes it difficult for all schools provide the same experiences during transition year.
“I’m always conscious as school principal of trying to give our students the same experience that they get in other schools, but knowing that we can’t, because other schools have more means,” says Shortall. “They’re starting off from a hugely different position because of voluntary contributions.”
In an effort to bridge these financial gaps and provide the students with a meaningful transition year experience, Shortall has had to shift focus.
“It’s more the commitment, camaraderie and the partnership that we’re going for,” says Shortall. The co-ordinators have placed an emphasis on engaging with educational experiences that are free and are using Leap cards to avail of public transport, where possible. The students have visited museums, gone on hikes and are currently participating in a film-making project.
“We haven’t had to rely on the money side of things to do stuff,” says Shortall. “The best lessons in life don’t need to be expensive. The reason we’re doing transition year is to help them grow and bond as a group, and hopefully, ultimately, get a life benefit.”
Ombudsman for Children Niall Muldoon says there are many benefits associated with transition year and all children should have equal access to it.
“It is really important there are no financial impediments to a child taking part in transition year, as we know that costs can vary according to the school and whether the students go on trips or excursions throughout the year,” says Muldoon. “The [Ombudsman for Children’s Office] is aware of parents having to take out loans to pay for transition year and of some children not being able to take part in transition year because their parents can’t afford it.”
If they feel that their transition year is second best, they’re not achieving anything and they don’t measure up to everyone else, then we’ve a problem there
While St Aidan’s Community School is endeavouring to keep the financial burdens associated with transition year to a minimum, they have also decided to include a trip abroad.
“Will there be more of a financial strain on those families than on families from middle class or higher socio-economic areas? There will be, but I want them to have that experience,” says Shortall. “So, we’ll do whatever we can. I’ll borrow. We will fundraise. We’ll do whatever we can to make sure they go on that trip.”
“If they feel that their transition year is second best, they’re not achieving anything and they don’t measure up to everyone else, then we’ve a problem there.”
The financial burdens associated with transition year are just one of the issues raised by parents in a report published by the ombudsman. The report highlights that there is a “significant disparity in costs to access transition year, which means some children are excluded across schools simply because their families cannot afford it”.
Another report by Aidan Clerkin for the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, published in 2019, found that in school communities with a designated Deis status – typically based in disadvantaged areas – the financial costs associated with transition year were often the deciding factor in a student’s decision to abstain from the programme.
It highlights the need for more targeted financial and educational supports in Deis schools as “the pattern of regarding transition year as a worthy but unviable option occurs with greater relative frequency in schools with more disadvantaged student populations.”
The report also states that students in Deis schools were “less likely to think that transition year in their own school would be a good experience”.
Another way in which disadvantage is felt on the transition year programme is in the area of access to work experience. “If you come from a more affluent school and your immediate environment and family has higher levels of employment, you’re going to have better opportunities,” says Shortall.
He would like to see the introduction of a portal managed by the Department of Children or by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to counteract the inequalities that exist around access to work experience.
“Students could sign up on the portal, register and be placed somewhere,” says Shortall. “Make it a more streamlined process so that the same experience happens for students across the country and there’s less inequality. That would be a really positive thing.”
The report from the Ombudsman for Children also raised concerns about equality of access to transition year for children with additional needs. “Some children presenting with a diagnosis and or specific need appear to have been disproportionately impacted,” it states.
Kyle Boylan-Forrester is enrolled in transition year at St Aidan’s and believes the exclusion of students with additional needs is unacceptable. “As a neurodivergent person myself, it feels like extreme bias. No person should have to be denied further access to their education simply because of their developmental abilities.”
The ombudsman’s office says children with additional needs should have equal access to transition year and all that is on offer. “Children who have not excelled in junior cycle or those who may find the traditional classroom setting difficult should also have the opportunity to take part in transition year,” says Muldoon. “Transition year can be the year that students, who may not thrive in the ‘traditional’ school setting and subjects, become engaged and more confident about their ability to perform well in the senior cycle.”
Boylan-Forrester appreciates that some students with additional needs may find the shift in routine challenging but says schools have the ability to support students through these challenges.
“I know the feeling. I’ve known the nervousness, first hand and how it feels when your routine is thrown out of whack,” he says. “St Aidan’s does its best to make mainstream school as comfortable as possible for students with additional needs.”
Despite those challenges, he feels transition year can have a hugely beneficial impact on students with additional needs as it gives them the space for emotional and personal growth.
“When you’re denying a student the option to access resources for their emotional growth, simply based on developmental and special needs, it sets us 50 years back. It’s like you’re stuck in the past when everyone else is yearning for the future.”
Shortall says the onus is very much on the school to create a transition year programme that caters for the needs of all its students. “If there is a school where transition year is inaccessible for someone with additional needs, then shame on them.”
With almost 80 per cent of students now choosing transition year, it’s clear the educational experience on offer appeals to the latest generation of schoolgoers. In fact, Shortall says all years should take a leaf from the transition year book.
“There’s a new frontier in education, information is not where education is at, it hasn’t been for a long time,” he says. “Every school needs to embrace what transition year is supposed to do, because I think that’s what education is going to be about in the future.”
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