December News
Career Guidance
6th years are being met by the DSGC for their Career Guidance Interviews. Many students are compiling supporting documents for their HEAR, DARE and Access applications. Online HEAR & DARE applications must be completed by March 1st, 2019, one week after midterm. Supporting documentation must be with CAO by 01-04-2019 which falls during the week of the LC orals. It is recommended that students applying via these access routes do so early to avoid missing the deadlines. Many scholarship applications such as UCD’s Ad Astra are open now for applications until January 31st, 2019. Students should keep an eye on the Guidance notice boards for careers information in the following months.
The KTCS annual Colleges Speed Dating Event took place on December 20th. A total of 32 past pupils returned to the school to speak with 6th year students about their college experiences. After a cup of tea and cakes with teachers, the students adjourned to the Guidance suite for the event. Their photos were taken for the all of Fame and they were each given a box of chocolates to thank them for sharing their time and experiences with the students. A sincere thank you from the staff and leaving certificate students of KTCS to our past pupils.
Educational Guidance
3rd year students sat their CAT4 tests in the school IT rooms in December. These tests help students when choosing their subjects and ultimately their careers. Parents reports are available at a cost of €5 per report. After completing the tests, the students completed an interest inventory which gave them a further indication of careers that would sit them based on their interests in a variety of areas. Students were directed to websites that provide information on subjects, courses, colleges and careers. Each student received a copy of the KTCS updated subject choice booklet which details the content of each optional subject at senior cycle, how it is examined and relevant careers and courses for each subject. The KTCS subject choice procedure was explained to each group and each student was given a subject choice ranking sheet which has to be returned to the Principal before January 25th 2019.
Each student will be met by the GC before this during the week of January 21st for a 10 minutes subject choice interview. At this interview, they will be given their CAT4 test results ranked 1-4, 1 being their highest ability and 4 their lowest. A list of subjects and courses matching each ability will be given to each student. As leaving certificate subjects each require a great deal of work to score highly in the leaving certificate, it is vital that each student engages with the process and chooses subjects that match their individual course requirements, abilities and interests.
Personal Guidance
The KTCS bake off took place on December 18th and 19th in the Home economics kitchen in aid of Pieta House. A total of €714 was raised for Pieta House and Samaritans Newbridge. The two day event was a great success with teachers and students uniting together to produce show stopping cakes. The winning teams were presented with chocolates from our resident Santa Clause in a fabulous celebratory assembly. Well done to all involved.
Information on any of the above can be found on the KTCs website, the Careers twitter page @Careersktcs and in the school Guidance lobby.
Any questions contact Ms Urell at careersktcs@eircom.net