Aims of Course
Competences is a new curriculum aimed at developing students’ learning skills which can be used across all subject areas. There are five main categories in the study of Competences:

1. Learning
Learning to think, enjoy their learning, handling and processing information, developing their literacy, spatial and numeracy skills and understanding their own preferred learning styles.

2. Citizenship
Learning about ethics and values, society, government and businesses, different communities, impact of technology and how we manage our lives.

3. Relating to People
Looking at how to get things done, learning the value of team work, using their skills to help develop other people, managing personal and emotional relationships, managing stress and conflicts.

4. Managing Situations
Learning how to manage their time and how to adapt to change; dealing with success and disappointment, using entrepreneurial and initiative skills, learning about risk and uncertainty.

5. Managing Information
Being able to access information, evaluate, analyse and apply information effectively, learning how to reflect and to critically judge their own and others’ work.

Organisation
Programmes of study cover the five areas and inevitably there is an overlap. Students will learn these competences through individual, paired and group work undertaking a wide range of activities. Knowledge is addressed through the activities alongside formal teaching and project work.

Homework/Independent Study
Homework will be set occasionally where it will support the learning taking place in lesson time. These tasks will vary depending on the activity they will be working on in class.

Assessment
Students will also demonstrate the varying competences through their individual, paired and group work over the academic year.

How Parents/Carers can help

• checking through the tasks or by looking at their learning passport and discussing their progress.
  

Contact: Subject Leader – Mrs A McGuinness