The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) is designed to enhance the vocational aspect of the Leaving Certificate. It is a two year programme offered to incoming fifth years and aims to prepare young people for adult life by encouraging them to develop skills and competencies which can be used for both academic and vocational success. The programme is divided into two Link Modules, namely, Enterprise Education and Preparation for the World of Work. Students who study the LCVP typically take seven subjects plus the two Link Modules.
The course has been successfully run in St. Mary’s since the late 90’s with over 90% of students attaining at least a Merit or Distinction. For points purposes a Merit is worth 46 points while a Distinction is worth 66 points. Research of student’s results in St. Mary’s has shown that in the vast majority of cases the points achieved in the Link Modules has counted when adding up the best six subjects for CAO.
Annual activities that take place as part of LCVP
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Trips out to visit local enterprises, e.g. Butlers Chocolate Factory
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Visitors to school to speak to students about their field of work or enterprise
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Enterprise activities such as Talent Shows, Fun Days and Fashion Shows to develop students enterprise skills. These activites usually involve some fundraising for charity.
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Visits out to Third Level Institutions as part of the students Career Investigation Projects, e.g. DkIT
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Work experience placement to get a feel for the world of work and possible future careers.
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Research using ICT to write up their portfolios, e.g. CV, Reports, Diary of Work Experience, Enterprise Plans etc.
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Students make presentations to the rest of their class on various activities as part of their evaluation using ICT to assist in this.