On this ‘Lá Bealtaine’, May Day, we welcome the beginning of summer and take the opportunity to thank all of those workers who continue to tirelessly support and help everyone in our community.
It is greatly appreciated by everyone!
JUNIOR CYCLE ANNOUNCEMENT
The Minister for Education brought some clarity to our 3rd year Junior Cycle students and their parents/guardians on Wednesday and we have been working to put into action the guidelines produced by the Department of Education and Skills since then. I have no doubt that some will feel our plan is too ambitious for our 3rd years and some will feel it does not go far enough. These guidelines are explicit in their direction and have informed our decision making in order to meet the needs of students and parents in a fair and balanced way.
In 2020, the Junior Cycle learning achievement of students will be recognised through a specific form of certification designed to meet the current, exceptional circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. For each student, certification will involve two elements:
- A State Certificate of completion of Junior Cycle from the Department of Education and Skills. Students should receive a State Certification that they have completed three years of Junior Cycle education in a number of subjects. This certification will be provided by the Department of Education and Skills.
- A School Report setting out the learning achievements of students in Junior Cycle. Students will receive a written report on the broad range of learning that they have achieved in each subject at the end of Junior Cycle. This assessment of their learning will be provided by their teachers.
Schools have been given autonomy in how this assessment is to be arrived at and the format in which the report is to be provided. We will be reporting on completed Class Based Assessments (CBAs), a Grade in each subject and a Qualitative Comment from each of a students’s teacher. The structure for reporting, in the School Report, on each of these three areas is as follows;
Class Based Assessments.
Where a student has completed his class based assessment (throughout 2nd & 3rd year) we will include the ‘descriptor’ on his performance in that CBA on the School Report. The descriptor for the CBA can vary from;
Qualitative Comment from his teacher in each subject.
A comment from the teacher regarding student engagement, attitude to work and academic development in each subject. This may also include reference to ongoing project work or CBAs that are started but unavoidably incomplete or not moderated in a SLAR meeting due to our school closure.
Grade
The following criteria will be used to calculate the Grade that will appear on the School Report. Effectively, 75% of the marks will be weighted towards work completed before the March 12th shutdown of schools with 25% allocated through a form of assessment to be completed between now and May 29th.
Subjects will be graded in the following bands (percentage range),depending on whether or not a students subject is being assessed under the old Junior Certificate Model or under the new Junior Cycle model, with the relevant grade appearing on the School Report.
The key message for current 3rd years is that work/assessments prescribed between now and May 29th will count towards 25% of their grade. Individual subject teachers will advise their students in this regard.
Well done once again to everyone on all of their work over the past week. A real concerted effort is being made to engage with teaching and learning. Our 6th years continue their preparation for the Leaving Certificate, beginning on July 29th – we advise them to down tools for the weekend and take a well earned break.
We will be in touch with 1st, 2nd and 5th years soon regarding summer assessments as highlighted previously, while our Transition Years have received their five part assessment presentation task for completion.
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us. Stay safe and remember to follow HSE guidelines. Enjoy your bank holiday weekend and we will be back to work on Tuesday next.
kind regards
