Guidance Department St. Paul’s Secondary School:

Tips on things to do during this unprecedented event: It is really important that you stay in a routine while not at school. You should try to get up at the same time every morning and have a set routine for the day.

Online studying: Log onto your email and google classroom and keep up with work that has been given by teachers.

Fill your home with music: Whether you choose to play that instrument you haven’t practiced in years, sing karaoke-style, or even just blast your Spotify playlist, music can be just the thing to lift your spirits.

Watch your favorite shows: Take a break from study or jobs in the house and watch your favourite TV show on Netflix ect.

Try an at-home exercise routine: There are so many different ways to break a sweat at home. Find videos online that show how to work out with minimal equipment. There are also video games that will burn calories by getting you off the couch. Games like Just Dance and Wii Sports will get that blood pumping while entertaining you! There is plenty of time to try different forms of exercise. Plus, there is the added bonus of not being judged while working out at a gym. It gets even better because you can easily shower right after the workout in the comfort of your own home!

Don’t become a couch potato. Make actual potatoes: Cooking can really make the time go by. More importantly, it can help expand your knowledge of how to make certain foods! You can bake cookies, cakes, brownies, macaroons and so many other delectable treats. There is no pressure if you mess up because you can try again and potentially create your own special recipe!

Redesign your room: After you change your appearance, why not redecorate your room? There are many creative design tutorials to try and replicate. You can paint the walls a different color, clean out old junk or add lights, posters and photos. Try moving furniture around to give the room a new vibe. This is a chance to be completely creative with how you want your room to look.

Clean your house:Social distancing means you have more time at home. If you wonder what things to do to pass the time, then it’s probably the right time to clean your house or your bedroom.

Interact on social media: There are many different social media apps, and they all offer different ways to connect with people you care about (and some you don’t). You can also draw ideas from others’ posts and see how they are dealing with social distancing and what they do to keep themselves entertained. Even if we cannot physically be with our friends right now, Snapchat, TikTok and countless other social media sites can keep us close.

Play With Your Pets:To pass the time and keep yourself sane during social distancing is play with your pets. It is also the time to pay more attention to them or simply train them for new stuff.

Meditation/Mindfulness: You could start practising the techniques of meditation and mindfulness. There are loads of free videos on youtube. I have included some below. I have also included some mindfulness colouring sheets for you to print off.

Get Proper Sleep: It is the right time for you to catch some sleep. With less activity outside, you will have more time to sleep, at least take the 8-hours sleep a day. You can also take a much-needed nap during your work-from-home break with less guilt.

Here are some useful websites that might help:

Yoga for Beginners

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7AYKMP6rOE

 

Walk At Home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SSYX8sIOmM

 

Headspace:

https://www.headspace.com/

 

Mindfulness colouring sheet

https://www.twinkl.ie/resource/t-c-1551-mindfulness-colouring-sheets-bumper-pack

 

 

Useful Helplines:

 

https://jigsawonline.ie/

This website offers practical and helpful information for young people and their parents and guardians on mental health and wellbeing. Advice and tips from fully-trained Jigsaw Clinicians who work with young people everyday

 

Advice for Young People during these challenging times. We all need to know that this will pass. The best thing to do is keep connected with friends (through technology), family and teachers (digital learning platforms)

 

Some services provided by mental health and suicide prevention partners could be disrupted during COVID-19. Below is a summary of key nationally-available supports

Samaritans

• Freephone 116 123 any time, day or night
• Email jo@samaritans.ie

Pieta House

• Freephone 1800 247 247 any time, day or night
• Text HELP to 51444 (standard message rates apply)
• Telephone appointments will be provided to replace face to face appointments – contact your local Pieta House for details

MyMind

• Counselling and psychotherapy available nationally, online
• Visit mymind.org or email hq@mymind.org

Turn2Me

• Visit turn2me.org for peer support online, online support groups and counselling online

Aware

• Freephone Support Line 1800 80 48 48 from 10am to 10pm every day
• Support and self-care groups nationwide, are cancelled until further notice
• Life Skills Online Programme continuing as normal
• Email supportmail@aware.ie for services information and support

Crisis Text Line Ireland

• Text TALK to 086 1800 280 any time, day or night

Shine

• Email phil@shine.ie for counselling support
• While face to face services are suspended, Shine staff will be available to offer remote support and an outreach service to people who use Shine services by phone and email.

BeLonGTo

• While face to face services are closed, information, referral and advice will be provided digitally, by email, SMS, phone call or video conference.
• Contact BeLonGTo for more information.

LGBT Ireland

• LGBT Helpline 1890 929 539
• Gender Identity Family Support Line 01 907 3707
• Email info@lgbt.ie for support or information while face to face services are closed

Jigsaw

• Visit Jigsaw Online while Jigsaw centres are closed – for mental health information for young people, their parents and guardians, and those who work with young people

Mental Health Ireland

• Information line (01) 284 1166 available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm
• Email info@mentalhealthireland.ie

Bodywhys

• Email alex@bodywhys.ie for information or support, while all face to face and helpline services are currently suspended. Online support groups continue as normal.

Childline (under 18s)

• Freephone 1800 666 666 any time, day or night
• Text 50101 from 10am to 4pm every day
• Chat online at childline.ie from 10am to 4pm every day

 

 

 

Leaving Certificate Resources

This is a compilation of resources that any Leaving Certificate students or teachers may find useful. If you have any other suggestions, questions, or comments, please send these to adamkelly2201@gmail.com.

 

This is a mixture of both free and paid resources, and I’ve included a description of each item along with my personal opinion (if I have one) and a rating.

Available at  bit.ly/lc-resource-list

• Studyclix.ie ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free/paid)

An essential exam-focused tool. Past exam questions are broken down by topic, mock papers, exam papers, maths video solutions. Various free and premium options available, highly recommended for all students.

Discount code: HOMESTUDY for €10 off

• 625points.com ⭐️⭐️⭐ (free/paid)

A website with free resources (study plans, predictions, high-quality sample answers) along with paid notes that cover the whole course. All great content, well worth looking at, and samples are available before purchasing.[1]

• iRevise.com ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free/paid)

A general purpose tool for helping with revision, including past papers, video tutorials, sample answers, multiple choice quizzes. They also have been providing free honours maths grinds every morning at 9:30. A free trial is available so it’s worth giving a try.

Discount code: STUDYCENTRE for a free month of premium

• HomeSchool.ie ⭐️⭐️ (paid)

Online grinds substitute featuring videos covering the entire subject syllabus for Junior and Leaving certificate subjects. Each subject costs money but can be a cost-effective solution for revision courses and long term guides.

Discount code: STAYSAFE for €20 off any course (reducing price to €80 per subject)

• Jump-a-grade ⭐️⭐️ (paid)

A modern online grinds/personal tutoring service. Students are assigned tutors, are assigned work weekly and then personalized feedback videos are given. Starts at €25 per week, with discounts for additional subjects. They are also beginning to offer remote revision courses.

• Khanacademy ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)

An absolutely amazing free resource with thousands of lessons on many subjects. The website isn’t targeted at leaving certificate students but you can find the course content among the videos. Make sure to check this one out.

• Edco EBooks ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)

For any students that use Edco books (or may have left them in lockers…) Edco is currently offering access to Junior and Leaving Certificate books for free.

Account Details – Username: jcedcobooks or lcedcobooks, Password: edco2020

• Quizlet ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free/paid)

An easy to use platform for flashcards. Using flashcards can help avoid the inefficiency of needlessly writing notes. Popular amongst students and many card decks are easily available. While a premium version is available, the free version suits most people.

• Dublin Academy of Education YouTube ⭐️⭐️ (free)

This YouTube channel features videos on many topics. Recently, they have began to post even more course content, so there is likely something you will find useful on this channel. There’s also videos with general study tips, podcasts etc. Worth checking out.

• Shmoop ⭐️⭐️ (free/paid)

With study guides for many subjects and topics, including both leaving cert and further learning and other resources for college preparation, there is likely to be something you find worthwhile.

• Crash Course ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)

This youtube channel is not Leaving Certificate focused, but has great videos that cover broad areas of various subjects in an intuitive way. Watching these videos is a great way to become familiar with courses at a high level, before getting into the specifics with notes, textbooks or exam paper questions (particularly for physics and chemistry).

• Surviving The LC ⭐️⭐️ (free)

This blog is a collection of past student’s study notes in subjects such as Spanish, English, Geography, Biology, Economics, Maths and other general exam advice.

• Dundalk Study Academy Instagram ⭐️⭐️ (free)

Hosting a wide range of study techniques, subjects specific advice, and tips for how to keep your motivation going, this account is worth a look especially if you are finding it hard to keep yourself focused and organised during this disruption.

Subject Resources

• ie – Past papers & questions by topic. (€)

Mathematics

• UCD Leaving Certificate Maths Videos ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)

UCD has created videos covering the entire Leaving Certificate higher and ordinary level mathematics course, and they are freely available. These videos are high quality, and are a great alternative to other paid resources

• ie ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (mostly paid)

An online platform for Leaving Certificate mathematics including videos, automatically graded exercises, and worked past paper solutions which covers the entire course. This website is primarily a paid service with some free resources.

Discount: currently there is 50% off full membership.

• ie ⭐️ (paid)

A website with cheat sheets for the Leaving Certificate Maths and Applied Maths course. Also includes solutions to past exam paper questions, and free resources for the proofs and constructions.

• ExamLearn ⭐️⭐️ (free/paid)

A Studyclix alternative that has some good quality videos on the Leaving Certificate Maths course, which are freely available on their Youtube.

• Miss Keegan’s Math Videos ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)

Another YouTube channel featuring free videos about a wide range of Leaving Cert Maths questions. Make sure to look at the playlists to find videos grouped by topic.

• ie Activities ⭐️ (free)

A set of resources and activities for the project maths course, most likely more suitable for teachers, but you may find something of use if stuck.

• Molloy Maths ⭐️ (free)

A website with a variety of resources for Leaving Cert Maths, most useful are the past paper solutions and some of the video lessons. A lot of the resources from projectmaths.ie are uploaded here also.

• eMaths ⭐️⭐️ (free)

A variety of resources including notes, flashcards, questions, videos and more. The website design/interface is a little hard to use but there is some good quality content regardless.

Biology

• The Conical Flask (Biology) ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)

A website covering the entire Biology course, featuring slideshows, notes and task sheets with questions and solutions. I highly recommend this resource for both students and teachers.

• Mr C Biology ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)
  Another incredibly comprehensive website containing notes, videos, mind maps, short questions, quizzes, mind maps, experiment videos and more. Make sure to have a look at this resource.
• net ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

Covering the whole Leaving Certificate Biology course, this website has high quality notes for every topic in the syllabus, along with interactive revision questions.

• Biology Bugbears ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)

This YouTube channel is aimed at Leaving Certificate students and covers the whole course. This is a popular resource, and has lots of great videos.

• Complete Leaving Cert Biology Definitions Quizlet ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)
• com ⭐️⭐️ (free)

A new website with really good quality biology and chemistry videos, along with quizzes. (This was released only days ago, so some content is missing). Mainly aimed at A-Level students but there is a lot of overlap.

• Mandatory Practicals ⭐️⭐️ (free)

An illustrated set of notes for all mandatory practicals on the biology course, created by Declan Cathcart.

• Leaving Cert Biology Study Notes ⭐️ (free)

A complete set of notes for the Biology course. The full document is only 55 pages, so the text and wording is very condensed. You might be able to get some useful information from it.

• Short Questions by Topic ⭐️⭐️ (free)

This is a Google Drive folder containing short questions on almost all topics and it contains hundreds of questions per topic. Great for doing active revision of a topic after reading notes/watching videos.

Applied Maths

• Applied Maths Exam Solutions ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)

Solutions to every Applied Maths exam all the way back to 1980. To do well in Applied Maths, you have to do loads of exam questions, and this resource will help you become unstuck.

• Differential Equations Notes by Alaiwe ⭐️⭐️ (free)

A nice set of notes which goes through all of the mathematics needed to answer Q10 on the applied maths paper, with a focus on covering logs and integration, which you may have not done in maths.

• Hydrostatics Notes by Alaiwe ⭐️⭐️ (free)
  Hydrostatics is a commonly avoided topic, but knowing the basics can get you quite far. This short document goes through all of the theory needed quickly so you can get started on exam questions.
• Differential Equation Notes by Me ⭐️⭐️ (free)
  Another set of differential equation notes, this time focusing on students that have already covered logs and integration in their class. This includes a short guide to all types of differential equations that can come up, along with some original problems.
• com ⭐️⭐️ (free)
  An interesting website with some early exam papers and (most importantly) a difficulty rating of all past paper questions, which is great for targeting your revision to your skill level, along with a one sentence description of each question.
• com ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)
  A really cool website where you can run interactive simulations of the Applied Maths questions, so you can actually look at what’s happening. Includes simulations for connected particles, projectiles, relative velocity and impacts and collisions.

Geography

• The Geography Page ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)

This website has some very high quality sample essays and notes and is an essential resource for geography

• Eoin Hughes’ Geography Videos ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

Great videos about leaving certificate physical geography showing formation of features and processes involved. Also contains videos about the Investigation coursework project

• Eoin Hughes’ Geography Drive ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free)

This is a geography teacher’s personal drive that they have shared containing all of their teaching notes. Some content is teaching focused but it is a good resource all the same.

• Precision Revision ⭐️⭐️⭐️(paid)

This is a great resource for students looking for an alternative and exam focused approach to Leaving Certificate Geography. They have a comprehensive field work guide, sample answers for past paper questions and guides on exam technique. They also have freely available podcasts which can be found on popular podcast apps.

• ie 2010 – 2014 Paper Solutions ⭐️⭐️(free)

Some sample questions to past papers with essays of a moderate standard. Good for trying to find where to begin when writing an essay

• Rochestown College – Sample Answers from Students ⭐️(free)

Here is a selection of essays written by students, they are quite mixed in terms of quality but are worth a look through all the same

• SRPs Model Answer Book ⭐️⭐️(free)

This book contains some lists of SRPs for various essays which can help you when you are writing an essay you haven’t done before

• Eoin Hughes’ Geography Videos ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

Great videos about leaving certificate physical geography showing formation of features and processes involved. Also contains videos about the Investigation coursework project

• Eoin Hughes’ Geography Drive ⭐️⭐️(free)

This is a geography teacher’s personal drive that they have shared containing all of their teaching notes. Some content is teaching focused but it is a good resource

History

• net ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

A pretty comprehensive website for Leaving Certificate History. Contains notes, information about the research project, revision guides and more. NOTE: at the time of writing, this website was down so I have linked to an archived version.

• History Matters 365 ⭐️(free)

Another decent resource but more of a coalition of other resources from around the internet. Might be more useful as an accompaniment to other exam preparation materials.

Chemistry

• The Conical Flask ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

Probably the best resource on the internet for Leaving Certificate chemistry. Every topic on the syllabus is covered in detail with videos and slideshows, along with high quality notes and questions with solutions. I’d highly recommend this website to every Leaving Cert chemistry student.

• Chemistry Teachers Reference Handbook ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

While not suitable for everyone, for a student who wants more information about a topic or a teacher who is preparing material, this document is a comprehensive (600 page) guide to every single little bit of the chemistry course. Great if you want to dive deep into the subject whilst staying focused on the Leaving Certificate level content.

• Mandatory Experiment Videos ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)
  This YouTube channel contains every mandatory experiment on the chemistry course, and was created to accompany the ‘Chemistry Live’ textbook. The explanations are clear and the videos are a good resource for studying for Q1 to 3 in the exam.

Irish

• 2020 Sraith Pictiúr Notes by Studyclix ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

Comprehensive notes for the Sraith Pictiúr created by Studyclix. These notes are at a H1 standard and are very clear, great for preparing for the oral

• Gaelport Eolas ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

A YouTube channel best known for it’s high quality videos of the poems on the Irish course, which you have to read in the oral. Watching these videos can help you get a handle on the pronunciation, so you can get full marks in this part of the exam.

• com ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

Resources on all aspects of the Leaving (and Junior) Cert Irish course, suitable for both higher and ordinary level. Everything from poetry to prose to phrases is on this website, definitely worth a look.

• AN TRIAIL le Máiréad Ní Ghráda ⭐⭐️(free)

An amature production of An Triail in video format, available on YouTube, created by a group of fifth years. Some may enjoy and some may dislike the style, so your mileage may vary.

 

English

• LitCharts ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

Large poster-style documents containing almost every comparative and single text on the syllabus and is a good resource for getting information on themes, issues, some scenes and characters.

• Connemara Community Radio English Podcast ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

A little known yet valuable resource, this is a series of podcasts covering a large amount of the material on the Leaving Certificate english course including poets, the single text and guidance on the essays. The podcasts feature teachers from the Institute of Education, and is an exam focused resource.

• Hamlet: No Fear Translation ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

A ‘modern translation’ of Hamlet, with a study guide that includes summaries, quotes, character descriptions and an analysis of the play. The ‘translation’ explains the more complex Shakespearean phrasing in an easy to understand way.

• Gill Critical Poetry Notes ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

An incredibly comprehensive set of notes on all aspects of the Leaving Certificate poetry course. Each poet is given a background, a general summary, and aspects of style etc. Each poem is also examined in detail, including style and various interpretations of the poem. A great resource for both students and teachers.

• net ⭐️⭐️⭐️(free)

While this blog is no longer active, there is a very large number of articles which serve as a great guide to all aspects of the Leaving Certificate course. If you’re looking for tips, advice, notes or answers to you questions, you’ll probably find them on this website.

• McArdle English ⭐️⭐️(free)

Another comprehensive blog, there is some decent content on this website, including notes on the poetry, single text, and comparative. Some of the poetry resources are particularly detailed.

• Thinking Quilt Language Styles ⭐️⭐️(free)
  The syllabus, exam papers, chief examiner’s reports and marking schemes all make frequent reference to language styles. This document contains examples of the language styles needed for all parts of paper 1.
• Mr Tobin Leaving Cert English ⭐️⭐️(free)

This YouTube channel is only a few days old but contains good notes on Wordsworth, and I expect that videos will continue to be added. Keep an eye on this one. NOTE: the ‘two stars’ reflects the small amount of content, this may be changed as more is added.

• ie Exam Solutions 2016 – 2009 ⭐️⭐️(free)

These exam solutions (if there exists such a thing for English) are written by Aoife from aoifesnotes.com. They serve as sample answers that can show you the types of things you need to be looking out for in the exam.

• How to Memorise a Poem ⭐️⭐️(free)

Nice resource with memorisation techniques for poetry if that is something that you struggle with.

Accounting

• The Business Guys Accounting ⭐️⭐️(free/paid)

Accounting resources with notes, past paper solutions, questions grouped by type. There are also worked video tutorials available for €55, but there’s plenty of great great content.

• EGS Accounting ⭐️(free)

This website contains past paper questions broken down by topic from 2019 to 1991. all past questions broken down. Notably, this contains more papers than studyclix, and so is a useful resource.

• My Study Mate Accounting ⭐️(free/paid)

A series of videos covering various aspects of the Accounting course. The videos focus on showing the completion of exam questions.

Technology/Engineering

• com ⭐⭐️(free)

Exercises and notes for Engineering and Technology students, the website design is a bit off putting but there is some really nice content here if there is something on the course that you don’t understand.

Wood Technology

• com ⭐⭐⭐️(free/paid)

A series of free topic presentations for students of Wood Technology. Great for study and revision.

• MTW & Beyond ⭐⭐⭐️(free)

A website with free resources such as links to exam papers and marking schemes, short answer exam questions and solutions, introduction to board drawing, Orthographic Projection questions and solutions, cutting list questions and a guide to JC coursework.

Construction Studies Technology

• com ⭐⭐⭐️(free/paid)

A series of free presentations of all 21 Building Details for students of Construction Studies. Great for study and revision.

Business

• The Business Guys ⭐⭐⭐️(free/paid)

An exam focused website with notes, exam help (with tips, timing, answering questions etc) along with solutions to many questions. While most content is free (and there is a lot of it), there is some paid content available.

• SGC Business ⭐⭐⭐️ (free)

A popular resource featuring a large collection of well made and freely available notes and powerpoints on the entire course.

DCG

• The DCGist ⭐⭐⭐️ (free)

An amazing resource for the DCG project, showing you exactly what you need to do in order to get high marks. It also includes some nice videos on how to effectively study DCG, and a 12 week study guide for the exam.

• GMIT Technical Graphics ⭐⭐⭐️ (free)

A playlist of high quality videos covering different aspects of the DCG course. Most of the ‘harder’ parts of the questions (the parts at the end of the drawing questions) are explained in a straightforward way, so that you actually understand the steps in the solution.

• DCG Revision Notes ⭐⭐ (free)

This is a 150 slide revision guide created by Joe Lyster. The notes are focused on exam questions (as your revision should be) and is a good way to make sure you cover every topic within your revision.

• Colmcille’s DCG Website ⭐ (free)

This website has a range of content, of varying quality. There is good information about the DCG project, along with a large number of examples, along with some notes on the DCG course.

• t4 DCG Resources ⭐⭐ (free)

A variety of resources including worksheets, presentations, solidworks models of exam questions and more. These resources are primarily aimed at teachers, but they can be just as useful to students.