The Special class comprises three class groups (1,2 and 3L) catering for students with Mild General Learning needs over a possible six years of education. Students are prepared for the Junior Certificate Schools Programme and L2LP Programme.

The Junior Certificate School Programme is based on the concept that all young people are capable of real success in school and that they can have a positive experience of school if the conditions are favorable. The Programme is a national Department of Education and Science Programme within the Junior Certificate aimed at students who may leave school early.

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The Junior Certificate School Programme has been designed to ensure that these young people can benefit from their time in school and enjoy the experience of improvement and success. It sets out to ensure that each individual student in the Programme experiences success and progression and to make the experience of school relevant and accessible to those young people who find it difficult to cope with the school system. It does this by providing a curriculum framework which will assist schools and individual teachers in adopting a student-centered approach to the Junior Certificate specifically aimed at those young people who show signs of school failure or early leaving. It aims to ensure that all participating students sit the same Junior Certificate examination as their peers in as many subjects as they can succeed in.

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In conjunction with the JCSP some students will complete the L2LP programme. The L2LP programme explicitly identifies and develops the key areas of learning needed for adult living. L2LP purposely focuses on development and learning in such areas as: elementary literacy and numeracy, language and communication, mobility and leisure skills, motor co- ordination and social and personal development.

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These areas are set out as five Priority Learning Units (PLUs).

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• Communication & Literacy

• Numeracy

• Personal Care

• Living in a Community

• Preparing for Work

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Students undertaking a L2LP are those with disabilities categorised as being in the lower mild to higher moderate range of general learning disabilities. Students will be identified through Psychological assessments or through the WRAT V assessment. Those students’ with standardised scores of between 50 -70 will complete the L2LP Programme.

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These students will benefit from an L2LP as it purposely focuses on development and learning in such areas as: elementary literacy and numeracy, language and communication, mobility and leisure skills, motor co- ordination and social and personal development.

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