Poems for the Junior Certificate

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Seamus Heaney was chosen as the subject of this project for many reasons.

• He is a very popular poet, not only with the general public but also with students in school. His poems are regularly answered on the state examinations.

• Although there is no set course for the Junior Certificate examination, his poetry features regularly in all the anthologies and work books prepared for those examinations.

• His poetry appeals to students as much of it deals with issues of childhood in a manner that is mature and accessible.

• He is, arguably, Ireland's finest living poet.

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The poems used in the project were chosen by the students. A group of Heaney poems were presented to them without notes, commentary or recommendations. They were asked to pick their favourite poem and give reasons for their choice. From the ensuing responses, the most popular six poems were selected for further detailed study. The poems presented were from the full range of Heaney's career. They include "Digging", the first poem in his first book (1965) and "A Clip", a poem from his latest collection, District and Circle, (2006) which won numerous awards. Also included is "Mid-Term Break", a poem which was judged his most popular poem by readers of the Irish Times and which is also the most frequently answered by students in the state examinations. "Requiem for the Croppies" and the 3rd sonnet from "Clearances" have been included in many school anthologies. "Markings" is a mid-career poem whose evocation of childhood games of football proved particularly appealing to the students doing the project.

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As well as studying the poems, three of the students participated in a recording session where they read the poems, sometimes individually and sometimes together. These recordings took place in a controlled and soundproofed room after many rehearsals.

When the readings were edited, they were combined with snippets of music from the Estonian composer of classical music, Arvo Pärt. The aim was to create a soundscape for the poems which involved the sound of the student voices - many of these poems deal with childhood memories - and the mood created by music.

Some recordings by Seamus Heaney himself were also included on the site.

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There are questions on poetry at all levels of the Junior Certificate state examinations. Students are obliged to answer on poetry on the Higher level paper. Poetry is sometimes optional on the Ordinary level and the Foundation level papers. There are questions on individual poems chosen by the students themselves.

Sample answers both from the Department of Education Chief Examiner's reports and from the students doing the project are available on the site.

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The Seamus Heaney project was designed to take eight weeks. Six weeks were devoted to detailed work on each of the six chosen Seamus Heaney poems in the manner outlined in the table below. The class had one 40 minute period each day of the school week.

At the end of the six week study of the individual poems students spent two weeks responding to the poems formally by addressing examination questions from former Junior Certificate papers at both higher and ordinary level. These responses were corrected in the traditional manner and a selection of the best of these responses were printed and uploaded on the site on the examination pages for the higher and ordinary level examinations. There are also links to these examination answers on the Responses pages that accompany each of the six poems.

During this final two week period, photographs used on the site were taken, the biography, bibliography and links pages were prepared and the readings of the six poems were recorded.

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This project was undertaken with a 2nd Year Higher Level English class preparing for their Junior Certificate examination in a boy's secondary school, Moyle Park College, in Clondalkin, County Dublin. After an initial explanation and invitation, all twenty three students agreed to take part with the approval of their parents. (See Permission below.)

The contribution of these students is explained and acknowledged not only on individual pages on the site but also on the class credits page.

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Although all students had signed an Acceptable Usage Policy as part of their computer studies programme, a separate permission letter was drafted and given to all students involved in the Seamus Heaney project. This letter was signed by both students and parents. While there were some understandable and genuine reservations expressed, particularly with regard to the relation between pictures and contact details, all parents signed the permission letters.

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