Offaly school to participate in rollout of new Leaving Certificate subject

St Mary’s Secondary School in Edenderry will be among the first schools to offer the Leaving Certificate subject of Climate Action and Sustainable Development from the start of the 2025/26 school year.

Minister for Education Norma Foley TD made the announcement today (Monday, September 16) that the school is one of 43 participating in phase one of the roll-out of the subject.

Another 57 post-primary schools have been selected to introduce Leaving Certificate Drama, Film and Theatre Studies from the start of the 2025/26 school year.

The announcement marks an important moment in the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Programme, first set out by the minister in 2022 as part of her vision of a Senior Cycle that provides young people opportunities to study a range of subjects that align with their talents and passions.

Minister Foley said: “It was fantastic to see a strong level of interest from schools of all types in Offaly and across the country in taking part in this first phase of delivering the new Leaving Certificate subjects of Drama, Film and Theatre Studies and Climate Action and Sustainable Development.

“These subjects are being introduced to provide greater choice for students to better reflect their range of interests and support the development of a wider range of talents and skills.

“I am pleased to announce that St. Mary’s Secondary School, Edenderry, will be among the first to offer the new Leaving Certificate subject of Climate Action and Sustainable Development in 2025/26.

“The applications received demonstrated the extraordinary talent, qualifications, experience, and commitment by teachers in schools across Ireland interested in introducing these two new subjects to their students.

“The level and variety of current subject provision in the selected schools and the enthusiasm shown by their school leaders, teachers, students and school communities was nothing short of exemplary and I have every confidence that the rollout of both subjects will be a success.

I am most pleased for the students in the 100 post-primary schools across the country who will experience either Drama, Film and Theatre Studies or Climate Action and Sustainable Development at Senior Cycle in this initial phase and who will have the opportunity to develop their interests, strengths and talents in these areas,” Minister Foley concluded.

Teachers in the selected schools will begin working with Oide, the teacher support service, this school year, a year in advance of teaching the subject.

All selected Phase One schools will be provided with the necessary resources to establish new subject departments in their schools and to support the teaching and learning of the subject from the start of the 2025/26 school year

Climate Action and Sustainable Development will develop students’ capacity for informed and meaningful action for a just and sustainable world as they engage with key sustainability challenges including the climate crisis.

Students will be empowered to build their understanding of a number of interconnected core concepts and principles related to climate action and sustainable development.

Each of these new and revised subject specifications will incorporate additional assessment components that are not a traditional written examination, which will be worth a minimum of 40% of the available marks and will be externally assessed by the State Examinations Commission (SEC).

The two new subjects will be introduced in schools on a phased basis from the start of the 2025/26 school year. The phasing builds on the previous experience of introducing other new Leaving Certificate subjects, such as Computer Science and Physical Education.