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3 Draft Leaving Certificate specifications consultations

3 Draft Leaving Certificate specifications consultations

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Overview: Course

The artistic performance specification is positioned as a framework document that allows for flexibility of implementation and interpretation to match the array of artistic disciplines that may form the focus of this short course. This focus might be

  • the staging of a school play or a musical
  • an art or photography exhibition centred on a particular theme
  • the scripting, editing and filming of a screenplay
  • the organisation and production of a musical concert
  • other arts-based activities that lead to a performance.

The specification is structured around three strands: Experiencing the arts, Planning and preparing and Participation and performance

This strand is designed to give the students actual experiences of the arts, so that they can begin to talk about and evaluate artistic performances. Through this experience, students can gain an insight into what the art form is communicating, how it is communicated, and to consider their potential role in the final group performance.

In this strand, students will move on to plan and prepare for the performance that they are going to be involved in. To do this, they will first need to consider their own strengths and those of others in order to make decisions on the performing/non-performing roles that they will undertake. Students will then engage in activities on an individual and collaborative basis, to develop the skills that are necessary to be successful in their particular role. This can be done through research, further observations and experiences as outlined in strand 1, use of outside or in-school expertise, and regular attending and practising at rehearsals.

This strand brings the experiences of the arts as an observer and a participant together in the final group performance. The performance should demonstrate the skills learnt in the chosen discipline and communicate this with the audience.

Within any artistic discipline, there are specific arts literacies (verbal and non-verbal), conventions and skills to be developed: this framework is designed so that students can engage with and participate in arts activities that are of a high quality and lead to the development and improvement of their own artistic skills and then communicate these newly-acquired skills to an audience. While fostering the development of these art-specific skills, a range of transferable skills are also developed that may apply to other collective endeavours. 

The Classroom-Based Assessment reflects the learning students undertake in this NCCA short course. Schools have the flexibility to adapt any NCCA short course to suit their particular needs and school context. If adapting the course, schools may also need to adapt the Classroom-Based Assessment, so that it reflects the learning their students undertook. Schools may also develop their own short course(s) and related Classroom-Based Assessment. Guidelines for schools who wish to develop their own short course(s) are available. 

The learning outcomes of this course are aligned with the Level Indicators for Level 3 of the National Framework of Qualifications (Appendix 1).

The course has been designed for approximately 100 hours of student engagement.

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