Skibbereen Community School
Guidelines for the final term 2019-20
Dear Parent/Guardian
I hope this mail finds you and your families well as we enter the final term of the 2019-20 school year. These are indeed strange times for us all. I am sure that like the school staff many of you must be finding the current situation and the lack of certainty frustrating.
However, these are extraordinary and exceptional times which require all of us in the school community, students, teachers and parents to do all we can to continue to make the best of the situation by engaging with the educational resources available to us.
We are continuing to engage with our students using their Microsoft school e-mail and the TEAMS app. This work began on March 16th and started again on Monday last April 20th and will continue for the remainder of the school term. Staff members are following the normal school timetable and are using these times to provide a combination of posting work, setting assignments, using class notebook, one to one sessions and live classes to ensure that all students have the best opportunity to access the educational material being made available to them.
We are asking you as parents/guardians to encourage your son/daughter to engage fully with these resources and the work being provided. At present we have no idea when we might be in a position to return to normal schooling. It is therefore more important than ever that students make every effort to engage with the work being provided.
We fully accept that this is not a perfect solution and that some students have considerable issues regarding access to devices, broadband and the ability to access work during the school day. In this circumstance it would be helpful if you could inform your teachers of any difficulties they may be experiencing.
It has also come to our attention that some parents would like information about the work being assigned by teachers to their son/daughter so that they can assist and encourage better engagement.
To address these issues we will from this week be placing a summary of the work being completed and any assignments due on the school website so that they are easily accessible to both parents and students. The full detail of the work and assignments will continue to be provided using your son/daughters Microsoft 365 account and the associated TEAMS app and this should therefore be the first port of call for all students where possible.
Throughout this crisis the staff of Skibbereen Community School have been engaging in regular online meetings to continually plan and update our approaches on how best to educate our students at this time. Our most recent meetings were designed to plan for the remainder of this school year
and end of year assessments. Below you will find the detail on what the expectations are of each year group during this final term.
Please note that all of these plans are completely contingent on advice from the Department of Education and Skills which is currently very much subject to change at short notice.
6th year students
This is without doubt a very difficult time for our Leaving Cert students. The current lack of certainty is very frustrating for them and makes it difficult for them to plan and remain focused on study. Unfortunately, we are as much in the dark as the students themselves and are awaiting more detailed plans from the State Examinations Commission and the Department of Education and Skills.
However, Minister McHugh mentioned last night as part of an online question and answer session with Spunout that he hopes the exams will begin on July 29th and we are expecting an official announcement over the next few days.
What is important at the moment is that both parents and teachers continue to support and encourage our students in every way possible. It is important that we ask them to focus on where they currently are and on what they can control. It is important to pace themselves and focus on the preparation rather than placing all their energies into worrying about the date and the end product;
In this regard the school staff will be continuing with the following steps designed to support the students in the best way possible:
· Teachers will continue to follow the school timetable and work with students using their 365 accounts and TEAMS. A weekly summary of this work will now be placed on the school website for you as parents to access and support your son/daughter.
· A summary of this work will be placed on the school website for parents to access.
· Regular updates and notifications are being provided to students using the class of 2020 group e-mail and the 6th year students support Microsoft Team.
· The school guidance staff are in regular contact with students using the group e-mail, TEAMS and one to one calls where necessary. In this regard students with any concerns should mail their assigned Guidance Counsellor who will provide the necessary support and reassurance.
· The school SEN co-ordinator and SEN team are continuing to make contact with and provide classes and support for SEN students.
Some questions have arisen about the payment of fees and supplying the school with the necessary evidence. The advice is that you should continue to pay online, then print and e-mail a confirmation to the school. Students who are unable to print a confirmation should send a screenshot or transaction ID instead.
1st, 2nd and 5th year Students
It is really important that students continue to engage with their education over the coming weeks.
· Teachers will continue to follow the school timetable to work with students using their 365 accounts and TEAMS. A weekly summary of this work will now be placed on the school website for you as parents to access and support your son/daughter.
· A summary of this work will be placed on the school website for parents to access.
· Each week for the next four weeks each subject teacher will assign a piece of work for completion. This piece of work will be graded and account for 10% of the end of year assessment.
· The final two school weeks will be set aside for end of assessments. Each subject area will set an online assessment worth 60%. We are currently investigating the best software to use for this.
· We will give further details including an assessment timetable well in advance of these two weeks.
· The school SEN co-ordinator and SEN team are continuing to make contact with and provide classes and support for SEN students.
3rd year Students
There is currently a lot of confusion for third year students and whether or not they will sit a State Exam. The current official State Examinations position is that the examinations in June will not go ahead and will be replaced by some type of a school based exam in the autumn, either September or October.
There is a lack of clarity regarding how this autumn exam might take place and whether or not it will be State certified or school certified. The Department of Education and Skills along with the State Examinations Commission are coming under a lot of pressure to clarify the situation and it is hoped that definitive guidance will be provided this week or early next week.
Bearing all of this in mind we in Skibbereen Community School feel that it would be very difficult for students to return to complete exams in the autumn and may be detrimental to their wellbeing. We have therefore decided that we will treat third year students the same as the students in first, second and fifth year.
If it then becomes a requirement to give students a school based exam we will be using this end of year assessment for this purpose. If on the other hand the Department of Education & Skills insist on an autumn State certified exam we will put the necessary provisions in place for this at that time. Either way we are led to believe that we will know the answer to the question at the latest next week. We will be in contact with you once we know more.
Hence, the following arrangements will apply to third year students for the remainder of the year:
· Teachers will continue to follow the school timetable to work with students using their 365 accounts and TEAMS. A weekly summary of this work will now be placed on the school website for you as parents to access and support your son/daughter.
· A summary of this work will be placed on the school website for parents to access.
· Each week for the next four weeks each subject teacher will assign a piece of work for completion. This piece of work will be graded and account for 10% of the end of year assessment.
· The final two school weeks will be set aside for end of assessments. Each subject area will set an online assessment worth 60%. We are currently investigating the best software to use for this.
· We will give further details including an assessment timetable well in advance of these two weeks.
· The school SEN co-ordinator and SEN team are continuing to make contact with and provide classes and support for SEN students.
TY Students
In the case of transition year students the following will apply:
· Each module and subject teacher will set one piece of project type work for their students to be completed over the next 3 weeks.
· We are asking all parents to ensure that students complete these assignments as they will be graded with the grade being reported to you on the end of term report.
I hope all of this helps to clarify our current plans for the remaining weeks of the 2019-20 school year. I wish to thank each of you for your support in these far from normal times and ask each of you as parents to continue to encourage your son/daughter to engage with their educational program over the coming weeks. Working together as a school community we can ensure that our students are given the best available opportunities
We will continue to keep you informed of developments as they arise.
Take care and stay safe
Anton O Mahony
Principal
Skibbereen Community School
