6th Year Weekly Grinds

Biology

Course Overview

The practical aspects of the course are examined in great detail and the reasons for various procedures are explained. Students are encouraged to participate actively in class by asking questions and taking notes. If a student cannot attend a particular class they have the option of taking that class at an alternative time of their choosing. All notes are made available to students with genuine reasons for absences.

Topics from:

• The Cell
• Osmosis
• Cell Division
• Scientific Method
• Flowering Plants
• Germination
• Food and Nutrition
• Blood
• Photosynthesis
• Water Transport
• Respiration
• Excretion
• Nervous System
• Eye and Ear
• Hormones
• Reproduction
• Meiosis and DNA
• Genetics
• Evolution
• Ecology
• Microbiology
• Skeleton

Business

Course Outline

These classes prepare students for success in the Leaving Certificate Higher Level Business exam.

The course is divided into the following seven sections:

Unit 1 – Business Laws:

People in Business

• Relationships between key stakeholders (investors & entrepreneurs or employers & employees).
  The Law of Contract.

Consumer Laws

• The Consumer Protection Act 2007
• The Sale of Goods and the Supply of Services Act 1980
• The relationship between retailers & consumers.

Industrial Relations

• Employer & employee relationships.
• Trade unions & industrial disputes.
• The LRC/WRC & the Labour Court.
• Unfair dismissal & discrimination.

Unit 2 – Enterprise:

Enterprise

• Characteristics & skills of entrepreneurs characteristics. The notion of intrapreneurship.

Unit 3 – Management:

Introduction to Management

• Characteristics of a manager
• How managers and entrepreneurs differ

Management Skills 1

• The skills of Leadership and Motivation
• Delegation

Management Skills 2

• The skill of Communications
• Business documents
• Information Communication Technology

Management Activities

• Planning
• Organising
• Controlling

Unit 4 – Management in Action:

Human Resource Management

• Six functions of a HR manager

Change

• Modern business techniques and systems
• Modern facilitating mangers
• Strategies to introduce change into a business

Taxation

• Tax calculations
• Taxes a business must pay

Insurance

• The principles of insurance & risk management
• Types of insurance a business can use to financially protect itself

Finance

• Types of short, medium & long term finances available to a business
• Cash Flow Forecast analysis & calculations

Ratios

• Calculation of six major accounting ratios
• How to interpret the results

Unit 5 – Marketing:

Identifying Opportunities

• Methods to generate new business ideas

Marketing

• Market research
• Market segmentation
• Target markets
• Marketing strategies
• The marketing concept

Product and Price

• First two elements of the marketing mix – Product and Price

Place and Promotion

• Next two elements of the marketing mix – Promotion and Place

Break Even Charts

• How to do break even calculations
• How to draft a break even chart

Expansion

• Why a firm will expand
• Organic & inorganic methods of expansion

Getting Started

• How to get money to set up your firm
• Production options (job, batch and mass production)
• Formulating a Business Plan

Unit 6 – The Domestic Scene:

Business Scene

• Primary, secondary & tertiary sectors of the economy

Business Organisation

• Focus on nine organisational structures

Ethics

• Business ethics
• Business social responsibility

Government and the Economy

• Government role in the economy
• The six economic variables

Community Development

• Developing urban & rural disadvantaged areas

Unit 7 – The International Scene:

International Trade

• Trade
• Balance of payments
• Trading blocs
• Opportunities and challenges firms face in international trade

Globalisation

• The impact of globalisation on Irish firms
• Global adaptions to the marketing mix
• Transnational companies & their impact on economies

European Union

• The benefits and challenges of the EU to Irish firms
• EU institutions and decision making process of the EU
• The Common Policies of the EU

Chemistry

Course Outline

This course focuses on all aspects of the Leaving Certificate Chemistry syllabus, with particular emphases on exam technique and past papers. Chemistry practicals are also discussed in detail.

Topics from:

• Atomic Theory: History, electronic configuration, orbitals ionisation energies, trends in the periodic table, shapes of molecules, and radioactivity.
• Stoichiometry: Calculations involving moles, molecules, grams, and volume of chemicals, limiting calculations, and Gas Laws.
• Bonding: intramolecular bonds and intermolecular bonds.
• Acids and Bases: Definitions, strengths, amphoteric, conjugate pairs, and salt and anion tests.
• Volumetric Analysis/ Titrations: Acid and base titrations.
• Volumetric Analysis/ Titrations: Redox titrations.
• Rates of Reaction: Conditions, definitions, catalysts, and graphs.
• Equilibrium: Factors that affect equilibrium, and calculations.
• pH: Calculations, indicators, and graphs.
• Organic Chemistry: Experiments, reactions, and fuels.

Please bring periodic table and calculator.

Economics

Course Outline

Our 6th Year Economics grinds help students to develop the knowledge and critically, the flexibility, needed be successful at Higher Level by assisting them in developing a deep understanding of all aspects of the Economics course. Having a broad knowledge across the entire course is an absolute pre-requisite for success and our exam focussed classes assist students to develop that breadth of knowledge. Students will learn how to apply that knowledge to exam style questions and will become familiar with the attention to detail consistent with H1 standards. Furthermore, students are encouraged to understand and evaluate real world economic events as this is another essential component for success in both the written examination and the research project.

In addition to expert guidance on the completion of the research project, the following topics are covered:

Strand 1: What is Economics About?

• Economics as a way of thinking
• The economic concepts of scarcity and choice
• Economic, social and environmental sustainability

Strand 2: How Are Economic Decisions Made?

• The market economy
• The consumer
• The firm
• Government intervention in the market

Strand 3: What Can Marketers Do?

• Market structures
• The labour market
• Market failure

Strand 4: What Is The Relationship Between Policy and Economic Performance?

• National income
• Fiscal policy and the budget framework
• Employment and unemployment
• Monetary policy and the price level
• Financial sector

Strand 5: How Is The Economy Influenced By International Economics?

• Economic growth and development
• Globalisation
• International trade and competitiveness

English

David Loughrey’s 5pm 6th Year English Weekly Grinds course will focus on:

• Unseen Poetry
• Comprehension
• Othello
• Essay Paper 1
• Text Q. B
• Studied Poetry

French

Course Outline

This course covers all the four competencies necessary for success in the Leaving Certificate Higher level French exam – Aural, Oral, Reading and writing. While the content is similar to the 5th year course, the complexity of material covered is designed to reflect the demands of the Leaving Certificate.

Topics from:

• Letter writing
• Diary entries
• Abstract topics
• Response pieces
• Comprehensions (method and content)
• Listening comprehensions
• Oral French

Geography

German

Course Outline

This course helps students achieve their maximum potential in their Leaving Certificate Higher Level German exam. The classes are exam focused and homework is given throughout the year.

Topics from:

Oral Exam

• Exam format
• General questions
• Role play
• Picture sequence / project work
• Option to discuss a film or novel in the oral will be covered

Aural Comprehension

• Practice using CDs and authentic listening material
• Focus on listening skills required for the test
• Reading comprehension
• Introduction to journalistic and literary styles of texts

Writing

• Answering skills and techniques for the written exam
• Letter writing
• Short essay
• Opinion of issue practice

Grammar

• Techniques needed for the examination
• Formal grammar

History

Course Outline

This course is designed to help students prioritise their work that needs to be done in preparation for the Leaving Certificate Higher Level History exam in June 2025. In the first term of Sixth Year, each of the four course modules will receive attention. Students will be provided with useful exam advice and study aids to facilitate learning. Many of the online class sessions will also feature short video clips to add to the learning experience, encourage student engagement and invite questions and discussion. In April 2025, students will receive an additional study pack of sample essay answers from each of the course modules. These answers will serve as a useful study aid as well as demonstrate to students how to manage and structure course content to create effective and high scoring essays.

The four Leaving Cert History course modules that feature are:

• Politics and Society in Northern Ireland, 1949-1993
• Sovereignty and Partition, 1912-1949
• The United States and the World, 1945-1989
• Dictatorship and Democracy, 1920-1945

Over the course of the year, students will also be coached in how to address and answer the DBQ section of the exam paper. They will also have the marking scheme for this section of the exam paper explained to them.

Sample answers will also be provided to aid the students in their study and understanding of the Documents section of the exam.

Topics from Irish and European History

Irish History

Module 1: Politics and Society in Northern Ireland, 1949-1993

Topics that will feature form the Northern Ireland course module will include:

• Lord Brookeborough and the emergence of the welfare state in Northern Ireland, 1943-1963.
• Cultural identity and symbolism in Northern Ireland.
• Case Study: The Apprentice Boys of Derry.
• The O’Neill era, 1963-1969.
• Case Study: The Coleraine University controversy.
• The Civil Rights Movement, 1967-1969.
• The outbreak of the Troubles, the collapse of Stormont and Direct Rule, 1969-1972.
• Case Study: The Sunningdale Agreement 1973.
• Impact of the Troubles on Northern Ireland and political efforts that tried to establish peace.
• The contributions of Bernadette Devlin, John Hume, Margaret Thatcher, Ian Paisley, and Seamus Heaney to Northern Irish affairs.
• The contribution of Capt. Terence O’Neil to Northern Ireland.
• The contribution of Brian Faulkner to Northern Ireland.
• How the Troubles impacted on music, sport, and the arts.

Key personalities, core course content and material outside the syllabus will be analysed to give the student extra insight and understanding of these modules to aim for the higher grades in the state exams.

Throughout the year, students will gain access to data, content and personalities that often do not feature in mainstream textbooks. The students will have a stronger grasp of each course topic and a greater range of content with which to answer any exam question.

Students will also be introduced to the several core-course themes that run through each of the modules. These themes influence the frame-working of exam questions. Knowledge of these themes and how they feature throughout the various course topics will help students achieve a deeper understanding of the subject and ensure they are better prepared for the state examination.

Module 2: Sovereignty and Partition, 1920-1949

During parts of Term 1 and most of Term 2 core course material will be revised from the Sovereignty and Partition module; the topics that will get most emphasis from this module will be taught as intended targets for the 2022 state exam paper as well as being designed to allow students gain insight into the key events and personalities from this era.

• Unionist resistance to Home Rule, 1912-1914.
• The 1916 Rising.
• The rise of new Sinn Féin, 1916-1918.
• The War of Independence.
• Case Study: The Treaty Negotiations.
• The contribution of Countess Markievicz, Padraig Pearse, Arthur Griffith, and Michael Collins to Irish affairs.
• Socio-economic developments in the Irish Free State.
• Case Study: The 1932 Eucharistic Congress.
• Social morality in the Irish Free State.
• Law and Order in the Irish Free State.
• Steps to assert Irish sovereignty, 1922-1949.
• Anglo-Irish relations, 1922-1949.
• The path to partition, 1912-1949.
• The role of education, the Irish language and religion in the Irish Free State.
• The contribution of Cosgrave and de Valera to Irish affairs.
• Case Study: The Belfast bombings, 1941 and a comparative analysis with the war experience in Dublin.

European History

Module 1: The United States and the World, 1945-1989

Topics that will feature from the USA module include:

• The growth of the US economy after World War II.
• How economic growth changed the way people lived.
• The changing role of women in the USA.
• Urban crime and poverty.
• Background to racial conflict and tension in the United States.
• Case Study: The Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955-1956.
• The contribution of Martin Luther King to US affairs and key Civil Rights legislation.
• Black militancy, urban riots and blaxploitation.
• Overview of US foreign policy, 1945-1961.
• The Age of Consensus.
• Case Study: Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War.
• US military tactics in the Vietnam War and the impact on society.
• The collapse of the Age of Consensus.
• The contribution of Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson to US affairs.
• Case Study: The Moon Landing, 1969.
• The era of détente, 1969-1979.
• Advances in military and information technology.
• The Reagan era and the end of the Cold War, 1980-1989.

Throughout the year, students will gain access to data, content and personalities that often do not feature in mainstream textbooks. The students will have a stronger grasp of each course topic and a greater range of content with which to answer any exam question.

Students will also be introduced to the several core-course themes that run through each of the modules. These themes influence the frame-working of exam questions. Knowledge of these themes and how they feature throughout the various course topics will help students achieve a deeper understanding of the subject and ensure they are better prepared for the state examination.

Information and tips regarding managing content, effective writing and essay structure will be referred to throughout the year.

Students will be instructed how to address and effectively answer the compulsory documents section of the exam paper.

Module 2: Dictatorship and Democracy, 1920-1945 (Compulsory Documents Case Study Section for the 2024 Leaving Certificate exam)

Emphasis will be given to the three document case studies. Other areas of the course will also feature to enable the student to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of events that influenced each of the case study topics.

• The Rise of Hitler, his totalitarian regime, and life in Nazi Germany.
• Nazi Propaganda.
• Case Study: The Nuremberg Rallies.
• The characteristics of fascism.
• Britain between the Wars.
• Case Study: The Jarrow March
• Stalin’s Russia – ‘Fear and Transformation’.
• Case Study: Stalin’s Show Trials.
• Propaganda in Stalin’s Russia.

Information and tips regarding managing content, effective writing and essay structure will be referred to throughout the year.

Students will be instructed how to address and effectively answer the compulsory documents section of the exam paper.

Irish

Course Outline

These classes cover all areas of the Leaving Certificate Higher level Irish exam.

Students receive sample answers in all areas of Poetry and Prose, with significant emphasis on exam technique. Weekly emphasis on the Oral and Aural sections, which cover 50% of the entire exam, is also included.

Topics from:

• Aiste Díosóireacht Scéal Oráid
• Gramadach
• Léamhthuiscint
• Filíocht
• Prós
• An Triail
• Filíocht bhreise
• Cluastuiscint

Maths

Course Outline

The course covers all the essential methods, formulae and procedures required for success in the Leaving Certificate Higher Level Maths papers. Comprehensive notes are provided on a weekly basis, with fully worked solutions.

Topics from:

• Numbers and Algebra
• Algebra
• Algebra and Functions
• Algebra and Graphs
• Algebra: Powers and Logs
• Geometry
• Geometry: Constructions
• Trigonometry
• Co-ordinate Geometry
• Probability
• Differentiation
• Sequences and Series
• Financial Maths
• Complex Numbers
• Integration
• Statistics
• Inferential Statistics

Please bring log tables and calculator

Physics

Course Outline

These classes cover all material on the Leaving Certificate Higher Level Physics syllabus. Strong emphasis is placed on the exam and past paper questions. Classes are taught in a friendly, relaxed and structured manner that is conducive to understanding the principles of physics. Detailed, accessible notes are provided on all topics, and fully worded solutions are provided for all past paper questions dating back to 2002, the first year that the present syllabus was examined.

Topics from:

Mechanics 1

• Linear motion
• Newton’s laws

Mechanics 2

• Moments
• Circular motion
• Planetary motion
• S.H.M.

Sound and Waves

• Doppler Effect
• Standing waves
• Sound intensity

Light

• Reflection
• Refraction
• Diffraction

Electricity 1

• Nature of charge
• Coulomb’s law
• Capacitance

Electricity 2

• Resistivity
• Resistance
• Conductivity
• Semiconductors

Heat and temperature

• Thermometers
• S.H.C.
• Latent heat

Electromagnetism

• Magnets
• Electromagnetic induction

Modern Physics

• Photoelectric effect
• X-rays
• Radioactivity
• Nuclear energy

Particle Physics

• Cockcroft and Walton
• Mass-energy
• Quarks.

Exam Focus

• How to study physics
• How to prepare for the exam
• How to correctly read exam questions
• How to “answer what is asked”

Please bring log tables, past papers and calculator.

Spanish

Course Outline

This course prepares students for success in the Leaving Certificate Higher Level Spanish exam. Initial emphasis is placed on developing grammar skills. Once this important foundation has been established, students then practice with past papers and learn strategies to maximize their marks in the Oral, Aural, Reading and Written sections.

Topics from:

• General overview of the exam paper
• Key grammar points
  • Verbs: present, future, conditional, 3 past tenses, subjunctive, imperative and gerund
  • Some special verbs: gustar, ser and estar
  • Pronouns
• Reading Comprehension
  • Exam techniques and vocabulary from past papers
• Writing
  • Opinion piece (Structure, topics, vocabulary, idiomatic expressions…)
  • Writing techniques for Diary entries and Notes
  • Sentence building. Work on common errors
• Listening comprehension
  • Vocabulary from past papers
  • Vocabulary for the weather report
  • Strategies to maximise marks
• Oral
  • Understanding the oral exam
  • Interview. Expanding on common topics.
  • Sample answers
  • Role-plays