News and Events
Latest News
Post Date: 11 January 2023
Our forthcoming webinar will take place on Wednesday 25th of January next at 7.15 pm, focusing on providing teachers of RE with an overview of CBA2: The Human Search for Meaning.
This CBA is designed to support students in exploring artistic, architectural, or archaeological evidence that shows ways people have engaged in the human search for meaning and purpose in life. It aims to develop their curiosity and understanding about the many ways that humans have expressed the search for meaning – a quest that transcends cultural and generational boundaries (Assessment Guidelines for Religious Education, pg. 23).
This webinar will explore what is involved in the process of conducting CBA 2 within the RE classroom in addition to directing teachers to resources developed to support students in their engagement with CBA2.
Post Date: 14 September 2022
The NCCA have recently published the Revised Arrangements for the Completion of Classroom Based Assessments for the school year 2022/23. Click here to access this document
Post Date: 04 April 2022
Our Spring Online Learning Event (SOLE) entitled CBA 2 – Exploring Samples of Student Work takes place this Wednesday 6th April from 5 to 6.30pm. To register, please follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/3aank3db. For a short introduction to our event, click SOLE Webinar
Post Date: 28 March 2022
An exciting workshop for Junior Cycle RE teachers happening this Thursday.
Booking details via Waterford Education Centre below:
Post Date: 15 March 2022
To support teachers in assessing students’ Classroom-Based Assessments, Junior Cycle for Teachers - in conjunction with Monaghan Education Centre - will hold a series of elective CPD webinars for teachers facilitating or participating in SLAR meetings on March 22nd, 23rd and 24th next. For full details, see accompanying posters below. To register for one of these webinars, follow this link.
Post Date: 11 March 2022
On Tuesday 15th March next at 8pm, Dylan Wiliam will join @JCforTeachers to talk about assessment strategies and techniques to support learning for the JC classroom. Register here to join us next Tuesday at https://buff.ly/3rYuzdQ #JCRE. This CPD seminar will be accompanied by a follow-up webinar by Prof. William on April 5th.
Post Date: 10 December 2021
Check out this video capturing some of the highlights from the National Forum Seminar on Valuing Teaching and Learning about Sacred Artefacts from the Worlds’ Major Religions. Hosted by Chester Beatty Library Dublin, with MIC Limerick, Dublin City Interfaith Forum, Junior Cycle for Teachers.
Post Date: 01 November 2021
The State Examinations Commission have provided a sample paper for Junior Cycle RE. A copy will be sent to all schools and is available to download now:
Post Date: 21 October 2021
The recording of our webinar from Monday 18th October is now available online. It has been edited into three parts and we have uploaded a supporting document with links to the resources mentioned on the night:
Post Date: 13 October 2021
As part of the JCT Autumn 2021 Online Learning Event, we will be hosting an RE webinar entitled: The Human Search for Meaning: Preparing for CBA 2 Date on Monday 18th October 2021 Time: 5pm Register here: Webinar Registration - Zoom
Post Date: 05 October 2021
JCT in collaboration with ECSI are providing elective CPD workshops on the SLAR process.
These online CPD workshops are aimed at all teachers of Junior Cycle and are taking place between 4th and 14th October 2021. Click on the workshops linked below for further details.
• Effective Facilitation of the SLAR Process
• Effective Participation in the SLAR Process
Post Date: 17 September 2021
The NCCA have prepared some sample assessment questions to support teachers in their approaches to assessment of the Junior Cycle Religious Education specification at a common level.
Please see the following link:
https://curriculumonline.ie/Junior-cycle/Junior-Cycle-Subjects/Religious-Education/
The items included should be read as examples of assessment questions that can be used to guide classroom assessment. They are not representative of the wide range of assessment methods that may be used. They do not attempt to show the types of questions that will appear on the examination paper or how the examination paper might be laid out. The State Examinations Commission (SEC) will issue sample examination material later this term.
Post Date: 01 September 2021
The Junior Cycle Religious Education Guidelines for the Classroom-Based Assessments have been revised.
The NCCA have taken on board feedback from teachers who completed CBA1 and the other education stakeholders to provide greater clarity and focus for the CBA process in Religious Education.
The revised guidelines are now available online here:
Please note the revised edition is dated July 2021 and has a green cover. Please discard the previous edition.
Post Date: 11 November 2021
Post Date: 01 September 2021
The NCCA have published the CBA windows for the 2021/2022 academic year. Please note arrangements for :
- 3rd Years in relation to CBA 1 on page 2
- 3rd Years in relation to CBA 2 on page 3
- 2nd Years in relation to CBA 1 on page 4
https://ncca.ie/media/5144/cba-revised-arrangements_06092021_en.pdf
https://ncca.ie/media/5145/cba-revised-arrangements_06092021_ga.pdf
Post Date: 12 April 2021
The NCCA have published some samples of CBA1 on www.curriculumonline.ie.
The direct link to the RE CBA1 samples is here:
Post Date: 22 March 2021
We are excited to be part of the JCT Spring Online Learning Event. Join the RE team on Wednesday 21st April at 7pm as we discuss what we can learn from the CBA process with a panel of RE teachers. This is a live interactive Zoom meeting as opposed to a webinar so this event will not be recorded.
Registration here: https://jct-ie.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEkce6qqjgjE9MxwiScISAx2fmFapwrowXH
Post Date: 15 December 2020
If you're wondering what your RE cluster day will look like online in the New Year, this short video will give you an idea of what to expect: Click here
Post Date: 26 November 2020
The JCT RE webinar, Preparing for Classroom Based Assessment 1, will take place on Wednesday 2nd December at 7pm. It is a great opportunity to recap on the CBA process and ask questions before embarking on the first RE CBA.
Register here to join us live and to receive a link to the recording of the webinar:
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4422933268300244749
Post Date: 13 November 2020
SLAR Facilitator Training begins next week.
Please sign up via your local education centre if you have not facilitated a SLAR before and would like training for this year or future years.
Further details below:
Post Date: 09 November 2020
Post Date: 04 November 2020
We are delighted to announce an exciting new resource 'Between Land and Sea' designed by the JCT RE and English teams in conjunction with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and RTE. Access the resource and a recording of the webinar held to launch this resource here
Post Date: 02 November 2020
We are holding a webinar as part of the JCT Online Learning Event on Monday November 2nd 2020 from 6:30 – 7:15pm. It is a collaboration with the JCT English team. The focus of the webinar will be the launch of Between Land and Sea, an exciting new resource in collaboration with RTE and BAI. You can use this link to register for the event- https://jct.ie/home/webinars
Post Date: 14 September 2020
Dates for completing Classroom-Based Assessments for second-years are now live.
This applies to CBA1 for the 2020/21 school year.
See page 3 for further details: here
https://ncca.ie/en/resources/revised-arrangements-for-the-completion-of-classroom-based-assessments-for-the-cohort-of-students-2018-2021
Post Date: 25 March 2020
We are holding a Webinar as part of the JCT WOW events on Thursday 23rd April 2020. The focus of the webinar will be the The Research Rich Classroom. You can use this link to register for the event-
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6569840765953114380
Post Date: 13 March 2020
The first collaboration between the JCT Religious Education team and the Chester Beatty Library took place on March 11th in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. The active workshop entitled “Sacred Texts and Sacred Objects” explicated the ways in which teachers can create inter-faith resources in the classroom using sacred texts.
The evening’s facilitators Jenny Siung and Justyna Chmielewska of the Chester Beatty Library examined texts and artefacts using a tactile / kinaesthetic approach and also hosted a museum visit for the participating teachers from a variety of subject spaces. A thoroughly memorable evening ensued of insightful conversations and collaboration between all present, examining the use of sacred texts from how they were made to the variety of worldwide religions and cultures that constructed them.
Creating resource boxes for enquiry and explorative based learning was a highlight of the night enabling teachers to engage with the 3 new elements from the RE specification. We look forward to hosting many more evenings of this nature in the future.
Post Date: 07 March 2020
The JCT Religious Education team were delighted to attend and present a workshop at the Religion Teachers’ Association of Ireland National Conference in the Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone on Saturday 7th March. The active workshops focused on research in the Junior Cycle Religious Education Specification.
A thoroughly memorable day ensued of insightful collaborative conversations between all present sharing how research is organically coming to life in classrooms around the country. We extend our gratitude to the RTAI for their warm welcome and invitation to present at this event and as a team we look forward to engaging with them again in the future.
Post Date: 12 February 2020
The first RE Junior Cycle Arts collaboration takes place in March. We have worked with the Chester Beatty Library Education team to develop a workshop called ‘Sacred Texts and Sacred Objects’. The workshop will be held in the Chester Beatty Library on Wednesday March 11th from 5-7pm and repeated in Athlone Education Centre on Wednesday March 25th from 5pm - 7pm. Registration is now open and places are filling fast and strictly limited. Registration details vary depending on the venue, please see the poster attached for details.
For regular update and information sign up here to the Arts in Junior Cycle Mailing List.
Post Date: 28 January 2020
The JCT Religious Education team attended the ‘Holocaust Memorial Day’ ceremony in the Mansion House, Dublin on the evening of Sunday, January 26th which also closely marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27th, 1945. Organised by the Holocaust Education Trust Ireland, the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins gave a captivating, yet cautionary speech noting the importance of our country’s solidarity with the oppressed and the marginalised. The Chair of Holocaust Education Trust Ireland, Eibhlin Byrne, spoke of the importance “to educate generations now living, and those to come, about the inhumanity which man can inflict on man when all that is decent and all that is good is lost.'' The holocaust memorial exemplifies the importance of Religious Education within our schools in educating and fostering inclusivity among our students in a pluralist world.
Post Date: 23 October 2019
The JCT RE Team attended the European Forum for Teachers of Religious Education (EFTRE) Conference in DCU from August 28th- 31st. The conference was entitled ‘Reconciling Realities in Religious Education’ with approximately 60 delegates from 22 countries attending the event. As well as keynote speakers and workshop presentations the event included visits to the Chester Beatty Library, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, two Romanian Orthodox parishes in Dublin, the Hugh Lane Gallery, The Sanctuary, the Jesuit Centre for Justice and Peace and the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin.
It was a unique opportunity for interbelief and ecumenical dialogue. Muslim educator Dr. Abdullah Trevathan gave one of the keynotes addresses to which the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Ireland Diarmuid Martin spoke afterwards. JCT RE team leader Dr. Ailís Travers spent an afternoon with delegates from a variety of countries in a Romanian Orthodox Church in Dublin which was followed by an address by Church of Ireland Archbishop Michael Jackson and conference dinner in Christchurch Cathedral.
The conference was a wonderful opportunity for the JCT team to reflect on a wealth of information and ideas that link to the Junior Cycle RE learning outcomes and explore possibilities for embedding the insights gained with teachers at future JCT RE days.
Post Date: 10 April 2019
Recently we hosted the Junior Cycle RE symposium in the Irish Centre for Religious Education.
To see the highlights click here
Post Date: 01 April 2019
On the 28th of March we held our first live webinar. It main focus was on planning.
To view a recording of it click here
Post Date: 01 January 2019
The Religious Education section of the JCT.ie website gives you access to all the up to date information related to our subject including:
You can also view the specification and will find a link to the assessment guidelines in the Key Documents section of our website once they become available.
As more Religious Education subject resources are created, they will be uploaded to each section of the website.
Please keep up to date with all Religious Education developments by following our Twitter handle: @jct_re
Post Date: 01 February 2019
New EU rules surrounding Data Protection (GDPR) came into effect on the 25th May 2018. Because of this, Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT) are required to ensure that all data held must be fairly obtained and processed. To this end we are now requesting that if you have not already joined our mailing list and wish to receive all updates pertaining to Junior Cycle Religious Education, you will need to re-subscribe to the mailing list using this link. We would like to reassure you that your details will be securely stored by JCT and will be used only for Junior Cycle activities and supports.
