Welcome to LC Geography: Running the Applied Geography Project. This short course has six lessons of about 25 minutes. You know your geography; this course is about running the project with a whole fifth-year class for the first time, from the brief to the signed Authentication Form P.2.
In this first lesson you rate your confidence, see how the project runs and what its brief will settle, and study a class planner for an invented fifth-year class. Then you note what your class will do before the brief. Your survey, reflections and plan across the six lessons compile into a downloadable Professional Learning Portfolio when you finish.
Before the presentation, rate your confidence on the five areas this course develops. There are no right answers. You will rate the same five statements at the end of the course, so you can compare each rating with your first.
Watch this presentation on the Applied Geography Project: the two assessment components, the brief and what it will settle, the SEC's sample brief, the seven stages and their indicative times, and what your class can do before the brief.
Study this class planner, filled in for an invented fifth-year class from now, before the brief, through the seven stages. Read the notes on each choice.
Download the blank planner to use with your own class: Class planner (Word).
Use the planner you have just studied to start a plan for your own class. Download the blank template if you want the full planner beside you: Class planner (Word). On screen, answer one question. It saves to your Professional Learning Portfolio as My Class Before the Brief.
In this lesson you set a confidence baseline and mapped how the Applied Geography Project runs.
| Key idea | Why it matters for your teaching | Classroom application |
|---|---|---|
| The brief: a common brief from the SEC in term 2 of year 1 | It sets the theme, the completion date and the report's requirements; the SEC expects to issue the live briefs by Quarter 1 2027 | Use the time before it for practice inquiries, and the SEC's sample brief |
| Seven stages, up to 20 hours | The guidelines give an indicative time for each stage, and the stages need not run in one continuous block | Plan the stages from the brief's release, with the dates left open until the brief gives them |
| The report is assessed | Assessment is based solely on the report; the inquiry log is the student's own record, not submitted | Our suggestion: start the inquiry log habit now; the Class planner (Word) has a line for it |
Students completing the project through Irish: the SEC's FAQ says bonus marks are being extended to additional assessment components where appropriate, from the 2027 Leaving Certificate, awarded at subject level; SEC Circular S10/2026 gives the criteria for each subject.
Next: Stage 1 and Stage 2, considering the brief and formulating the inquiry question.
Enrol to take the whole course. Your work is saved as you go, and you get a certificate when you finish.