Subject Content
The syllabus consists of Core Areas, Practical Coursework and Electives.
The Core Areas
1. Food Studies - 45%
2. Resource Management and Consumer Studies - 25%
3. Social Studies - 10%
Practical Coursework
Along with the Core Areas, a mandatory section of Practical Coursework must be completed during the two years and will be sent to the Department of Education and Science for inspection.
This is 20% of the final examination marks. The advantage of this element is that it is mainly completed in 5th year and submitted in November of 6th year, in booklet form…months before other subject coursework, which gives the Home Economics class an advantage of having 20% work completely done well before mocks, oral exams etc. begin.
Electives
- Home Design and Management
- Textiles, Fashion and Design
- Social Studies
Students opt for one Elective area only. Those choosing the Textiles, Fashion and Design elective must produce a garment which will be inspected and graded.
The Elective areas are extensions of the content contained in the Core Areas and provide students with the opportunity to study certain topics in more depth.
Here in the College, we concentrate on the Social Elective as students tend to be interested in this area and have a natural knowledge on the topics already from social media and life experience. Topics covered include Education, Employment, Leisure and Poverty.
Exam Structure
The Leaving Certificate Home Economics (Social and Scientific) revised syllabus is examined as follows:
Written Exam paper – 80%
The written examination consists of three sections:
Section A
12 short questions – Students answer 10. These deal mainly with all the Core Areas of practice. (60 marks allocated)
Section B
5 questions - Students are to answer Question 1 (Food Science and Nutrition) and any other 2 questions (from the other Core Areas). (180 marks allocated)
Section C
3 questions - Students are to answer one Elective question, based on the Elective Social Studies, which we choose to do as already stated. (80 marks allocated)
Practical Coursework - 20%
This is worth 20% of the final mark – this is submitted in booklet form earlier in the Leaving Certificate year.
Comment
It would be advisable for students opting for Leaving Certificate Home Economics to have completed the Junior Cycle course, but it is not essential. Some of the areas covered on the Junior Cycle Home Economics course are continued at Leaving Certificate level.
Those students who opt for Transition Year will be introduced to the Food Science and Nutrition section – an overall view of the Junior Cycle Food Section is mainly covered.
Much of the course is theory based – students are often under the illusion that “it’s all cooking” and find it quite a shock when they realise even the Practical Section has to be written up and presented – because there is no Practical Examination as at Junior Certificate Level.
It is a wide course, covering many life skills. I find students enjoy the subject, but they must be willing to learn and to undertake quite a substantial theoretical subject.
There is both an Honours and Ordinary level within the subject. Students’ can opt to take the written exam at Higher or Ordinary level, however the Coursework Journal is at a general level and is corrected as such.
There is also a link with some other subjects, namely Business Studies, Biology and even Religion – again, this cross-curricular advantage is helpful when choosing subjects.