Welcome to this four-lesson course on running the Junior Cycle Science Classroom-Based Assessments. You know your science. What is hard to run is three weeks of investigation for a whole class, each student or group on work of their own, keeping that work theirs while you help, judging it on balance, and getting through SLAR.
This first lesson starts with a short confidence baseline, then sets out the current arrangements and this year's dates, meets both investigations at a glance, and shows how to plan the weeks back from the SLAR meeting. Your survey answers, reflections and judged sample across the course compile into a downloadable Professional Learning Portfolio when you finish.
Complete this short confidence audit before the arrangements presentation. Rate yourself honestly on the five areas this course develops. You will take the same five statements again at the end of the course so you can see how far you have come. Your ratings save into your Professional Learning Portfolio.
Watch this presentation for the current arrangements, this year's dates, both investigations at a glance, and the planning rule that keeps SLAR inside a month of completion.
Study this filled planner for an invented second-year class running the Extended Experimental Investigation. It uses week numbers, not calendar dates, because real dates depend on your school's calendar and holidays. The same reverse-plan shape works for a third-year SSI, with less judging time: if it is completed on the latest date, Friday 9 April 2027, provisional descriptors are due by 16 April 2027 and SLAR by Friday 23 April 2027. Easter Sunday is 28 March 2027, so either finish the SSI before your school's Easter break or plan one judging week, not two. Read each annotation for the choice behind the week. Download the blank template to adapt for your own class: CBA 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 week map beside you: CBA class planner (Word). On screen, answer one question. It saves to your Professional Learning Portfolio as My Class's CBA Dates.
Three moves to take into your planning:
| Framework / Principle | Why it matters for your teaching | Classroom application |
|---|---|---|
| Current arrangement: for students in third year in 2026/27, a minimum of one CBA, the school chooses one or two, and there is no Assessment Task | The 2018 guidelines still describe two CBAs plus an Assessment Task; planning against that older design mis-sets your calendar and your students' workload | Confirm with your department which investigation each class runs this year: second years have the window for the EEI, and third years can complete only the SSI, as their CBA 1 closed in May 2026. Then build the class calendar against this year's dates |
| Two three-week investigations: EEI tests a hypothesis with primary data; SSI researches a socio-scientific issue and weighs sources | Both take three weeks and both end in work judged against Features of Quality and taken to SLAR, so the classroom load is real either way | On the downloaded CBA class planner, flag holiday and mock clashes against the three-week block before you write daily detail |
| Plan back from SLAR: fix the SLAR meeting first; it should fall no more than a month after completion | The guidelines name the SLAR meeting as the key date to establish at the outset; forward planning often pushes that meeting outside the month | Book the SLAR slot in the next science department meeting, then lock judging and the three-week block back from that date |
Next you will walk a class through the four areas of activity in the Extended Experimental Investigation and the questions you ask before you approve an Investigation Plan.
Enrol to take the whole course. Your work is saved as you go, and you get a certificate when you finish.