LCA Help

Amoureux

We are currently considering revamping how we run LCA in our school, in the last couple of years poor attendance and complete withdrawal from the course have become common elements of the course. At the moment students doing LCA seem disheartened with the whole process and are expressing regret at having chosen the programme, and we feel ourselves that things have become a bit stale and that many teachers are just going through the motions. It is the coordinators fears that if there aren't changes the school may decide to scrap the programme altogether, for some students LCA is a lifeline and is the only reason they are still in school.
So essentially what i'm looking for here is some ideas about best practise, what works really well in your school for LCA? Class based room versus students moving? alternative uniform? etc. All suggestions are welcome, ideally we want to formulate a plan of action and implement certain elements this year but generally have a complete revamp of how we structure the course in September.
Thanks in advance for your help.

solerina

Amoureux wrote: »

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We have an excellent LCA programme, the students stay in a base room and the teachers go to them (except for specialist subjects rooms). I think the success lies in the teaching...LCA is highly thought of and is treated as being as important as the traditional LC in my school, the students respond to this and act accordingly !!

Amoureux

Thanks Solerina, yes I do think that a base classroom would work well, perhaps with individual workstations. I imagine it gives them a sense of place and belonging as well as the trust and responsibility to maintain order in that room.
I think one of the main problem we have is entrance to the programme, some students who have lots of ability but may have behaviour issues are entering LCA as they see it as a doss. Then when the realisation of 90% attendance, key assignment and task deadlines kicks in we get discipline issues which have a negative impact on those students who are in the programme for genuine reasons.
Do other schools have certain entrance requirements?

GalwayGirl26

A school I worked in previously had "interviews" for LCA- not to see who got a place, but more to ensure the students knew what they were signing up to, could discuss their plans for the future, understood the course etc. If they had behaviour issues, this was the time to address them and get the student to sign a contract of conduct.
LCA worked very well in that school because the students were given a lot of responsibility- not only for their projects and tasks etc, but things like keys for the printing room, one was made a prefect etc. I think they felt very 'important' in the school, much like the Leaving Certs.

gaeilgebeo

We did a survey and interview-based research with both LCA parents and students on what was working for them and what wasn't working. This was a few years ago, when the programme wasn't as successful as it had been.

Their major issues /concerns were :

> not being included with the rest of their year-group for things like school assembly, student prefects, debs committee.
> being treated differently by teachers from day one by being judged as immediately "trouble".
> feeling that teachers did not like them/want to teach them.
> being seen as "stupid" by the the school community.
> Not being trusted in the same way as traditional students, with practicals,library, computer room etc..., not being allowed to work independently or use printers, go to the library etc...
> not being included in end of year graduation/awards ceremony.
> not being included in school matters such as surveys about uniform/student council initiatives.
> being the prime suspects in any "crime" within the school.
> doing subjects they are not interested in.
> not being photographed for the school newsletter.
> hard to stay motivated when absenteeism becomes an issue in the class.


As you can see from the above, a lot of concerns were around inclusiveness. I would be reluctant to introduce a specialised classroom and especially a different uniform.

I think it's vitally important for LCAs to be a part of the school community, follow the same code of behaviour and be treated like any other student(within reason obviously).

Creating a class that is a separate entity to the rest of the school community, will lead to discipline issues and other issues.

Entry to our LCA programme is now based on an interview with parents, students, management and the LCA co-ordinator.
3rd year teachers have a say/input too.
It is not a "sin-bin" or a dumping-ground for students with discipline problems or students looking for a "doss".
Students have the same code of behaviour as everyone else.
They must adhere to the rules on uniform, the same as everyone else.
They must present and keep a journal in every class, just like everyone else.
They have an opportunity to be on the dens committe/student coucil/peer ministry.
They are in the running for achievement and attendance awards for their graduation night.
The subjects can vary depending on the students.
This year, we have a larger number of girls doing the programme so childcare/hair and beauty is offered. This is just one example.

I am aware that the students in LCA can present with their own problems/issues and are not always the perfect class, but the above has worked really well in my school.
There are obviously things that don't work as much as we'd like, but for the most part, things are good!

spurious

We used to beef up the key assignments considerably. They badly need a re-vamp.

Amoureux

I'm wondering would some sort of visual aid help with their attendance, i.e. a calender on the wall with names marked in. We find they just miss so many days without realising it and then lose out on credits. They're always surprised when they're told the number of days they've been absent. Has anyone else tried something like this?

spurious

It's worth a try. Terrible sickener to have an assignment done and collected and then to find out some of them have below the 90% attendance.