Literary Excellence
English is a core subject at junior and senior cycle, with state exams at the end of each cycle. The English department in Scoil Iósaif is focused on allowing our students to achieve academic excellence while exploring the written word and developing their own skills as writers. With a strong focus on literacy and maintaining cross-curricular links, the curriculum is delivered enthusiastically and with expertise by teachers who are passionate about their subject.
There is a rich and varied Transition Year programme, giving students the opportunity to study aspects of literature and film that are not covered in Junior or Senior cycle – The Outsiders novel and film, poetry in rap music, writing workshops, and much more.
The English department also oversees the delivery of English and Communications in the Leaving Cert Applied programme.
Leaving Certificate English invites students into rich experiences with language so that they become fluent and thoughtful users of it and more aware of its significance in their lives. It develops a range of literacy and oral skills in a variety of areas, personal, social, and cultural. Students develop a wide range of skills and concepts. These will allow them to interpret and enjoy a range of material so that they become independent learners who can operate independently in the world beyond the school. During their senior cycle students will study a Shakespearean play at higher level, films, dramas and novels for the comparative study, a wide range of poetry as well as honing writing skills.