GUIDE FOR DOING ONLINE ASSESSMENTS
Make sure your computer/device is fully charged and not about to apply updates.
Find a quiet space to work.
Turn off the wifi in other devices in the home if possible.
Have a pen and paper to hand.
Read exam instructions and each question carefully.
Watch your time as many exams will shut you out after the exam deadline.
Leave enough time to photograph your written answers and upload them if required.
Double check and triple check your answers before clicking the submit button. You cannot resubmit!
Photograph the questions or screen shot the questions if your device starts to freeze you out. If you cannot upload your answers, photograph them and email them to your teacher within an acceptable time of the exam finishing.
Do not leave the exam page during the assessment as you may lose all your work.
For 1st, 2nd and 3rd years, if reading the question is a challenge for you, click on the immersive reader icon beside each question and the question will be read to you.
Reading assistance is provided for some 5th year students via the Speech Synthesis icon. These students have been informed re this facility.
Contact your teacher immediately by email if you encounter a problem and send them a screen shot of the issue if you can.
Make sure you attempt all questions independently. We advise that you do not refer to your notes during the course of the examination.
Best of luck!
08-05-2020
Dear Leaving Certificate Student
As you are by now aware the Minister of Education today announced changes to the way student grades will be calculated for the Leaving Certificate class of 2020.
We understand that this announcement is going to bring mixed emotions, confusion and many questions for each of you. The following Department of Education and Skills link may be of use in answering any questions that you may have regarding this new method of grade calculation. https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/2f07eb-leaving-cert-2020-information/
The school are currently awaiting more detailed information on how this grade calculation is to be implemented. Rest assured that the school will strictly follow any such guidelines and will submit the required information to the Department of Education and Skills in an accurate and fair manner.
There is little doubt but that the last number of months have been difficult for you. While accepting that each of you have many questions and concerns about how this new calculation will work, we are hopeful that today’s announcement will relieve some of the stress and pressure that has been hanging over you.
We congratulate each of you on reaching the conclusion of your senior cycle which has now come to an abrupt end. We commend you for your engagement and commitment to your studies during your senior cycle and in particular over the last number of months in what were difficult and unprecedented times.
As a school we are very proud of each of you and your achievements to date. We hope that in the future we will get an opportunity to meet again as a group when it is safe to do so to mark and celebrate the ending of your second level education.
We wish all of you continued success into what we believe will be very bright futures ahead.
Members of the school’s guidance team and other support services continue to be available to you over the coming weeks should you require them.
We will keep you informed of updates in the process as we receive them.
Take care and keep safe
Anton O Mahony
Principal
Skibbereen Community School
06th, May 2020
Dear 3rd Year Student and your Parents/Guardians
I hope this mail finds you and your families safe and well.
In our e-mail of last week, we informed you of the Department of Education and Skills guidance regarding the Junior Cycle examinations.
Since then we have undertaken a planning and consultation process on how to best reflect your achievements in a manner that is fair and equitable to each of you while also meeting the requirements of the DES guidelines.
The following points were taken on board in attempting to ensure fairness to all:
· It was universally accepted that students had worked hard and completed very good work prior to the closure which needed to be recorded fairly and accurately.
· It was also accepted that most students would have improved on these results in the months between the pre and the actual exam. This also needs to be recognised.
· Any final grades or achievements should not be diminished by a student’s inability to engage with learning after March 12th through lack of broadband or devices.
· In addition, there has been much valuable work completed since the March 12th closure. Those of you who are engaging in this work need to be highly commended, acknowledged and rewarded for your efforts also.
Taking all these considerations into account we have agreed on the following solution which has been approved by the school’s Board of Management:
· Students will receive a dossier of reports reflecting their effort and achievements across their Junior Cycle.
· This dossier will include separate reports on work completed prior to March 12th, work completed since March 12th, CBA grades and a State completion certificate.
· The work completed before March 12th will be reported by using the grade each student achieved in the pre-exam held in February of this year.
· Where relevant grades for project and portfolio work will be added to the theory result achieved in the pre-exam.
· Grades across all subjects will be increased by 10 percentage points to reflect the potential improvements in work that might normally occur between the pre-exam and the end of year.
· The work completed since March 12th will be assessed and reported on using the method outlined in our last mail, that is 10% for one assignment per week over the four weeks since Easter and 60% for an assessment to be held during the final two weeks. Guidelines on the format of these final assessments including a timetable will issue at the beginning of next week.
· CBA’s already completed will be reported using the Junior Cycle descriptors designed for these pieces of work.
· The Department of Education and Skills will issue a completion certificate which will identify the subjects and levels that each student had intended to sit in the Junior Cycle State examinations.
While accepting that there is no perfect solution, we feel that the plan as outlined above fairly reflects the achievements of each student at this challenging time. We strongly encourage each of you to engage with the remaining assessments and finish this year on a positive note knowing that you will now be able to enjoy a well-earned break over the summer months without the worries of autumn exams hanging over you.
We wish to commend all of you for your efforts throughout the junior cycle and say how proud we are of you. We congratulate each of you on reaching this milestone in your lives and look forward to welcoming you into senior cycle and better times ahead.
Best Regards – Keep safe
Anton O Mahony
Principal
Skibbereen Community School
We would like to introduce you to the STEPS Engineering Your Future @ Home video series. This initiative will run from May 6th to 29th 2020.
The STEPS Engineering Your Future Programme (STEPS EYF) is designed to inspire Transition Year students to study engineering. STEPS EYF is an engineering experience programme that gives Transition Year students a hands-on, fun and practical insight into engineering at third-level and as a career. STEPS EYF is coordinated by the Engineers Ireland STEPS programme and is hosted by third level institutes and industry around Ireland.
A total of 18 programmes were planned for the period March -May 2020. Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 crisis only 5 of these took place in early March. In total over 1100 students have applied to participate in STEPS EYF for 2020 and the STEPS Team would like to offer a taste of STEPS Engineering Your Future @ Home.
While it is impossible to recreate the hands-on experience of STEPS EYF completely, we have come up with three video presentations and three challenges aimed at Transition Year students who are interested in a potential career in Engineering. Of course, these videos are open to all students and their families to view.
Three videos are developed and delivered by Mark Langtry, Physicist and Head of Science and Sport at Explorium.
The STEPS Engineering Your Future @ Home series comprises three videos
Video 1- “Electrical Engineering- Home Communications Challenge”
Release date Wednesday 6th May 2020
Challenge deadline date Friday 15th May 2020.
Video 2- “Sports Engineering -The Home Gym”
Release date Monday 11th May 2020
Challenge deadline date Friday 22th May 2020.
Video 3- “Product design- The Ultimate Alarm Clock”
Release date Wednesday 13th May 2020
Challenge deadline date Friday 29th May 2020.
Each video will introduce a topic, discuss it and deliver a relevant challenge.
All content will be shared on our website
https://www.engineersireland.ie/Schools/Get-involved/Engineering-Your-Future
Videos open to all. Entries only valid from students currently in Transition Year in Ireland.
All entries for challenges can be sent to steps@engineersireland.ie
Entries can be in any format e.g. video, photograph, drawing, text etc. We will ask all participants if we have their permission to post their entries on social media.
Everyone who sends in an entry by email will receive a certificate of participation. Prizes are wireless speakers or headphones.
Social media hashtags : #STEPS #EngineeringYourFuture @ Home
Please feel free to share the video content with anyone you think you would be interested.
Kind regards
STEPS Team
Dear Parent/Guardian – Junior Cycle Student
Earlier today the Department of Education and Skills issued long awaited guidance on Junior Cycle assessment for this year. We in Skibbereen Community School very much welcome this announcement and the clarity it now brings for our students.
In short, the guidelines are as follows:
· There will be no State examination this year either in June or in the autumn.
· Schools will be expected to assess their own students in a manner that best suits each school and their student population. This assessment will be concluded before the end of this school year on May 29th.
· Each student will receive two certificates designed to recognise their learning achievements throughout their Junior Cycle.
· One certificate will issue from the Department of Education and Skills stating that they completed three years of Junior Cycle and the subjects and levels they undertook.
· The second certificate will issue from the school in the form of a report on the students work. This report will consider work completed prior to the March 12th closure including completed CBA’s, short courses etc and work completed since the closure took effect.
Taking these guidelines into account, Skibbereen Community School now intends to continue with the plan issued to you on the 22nd of April. In this plan students were informed that they would be receiving 10% for an assignment completed in each subject area for the four weeks up until May 16th. In the two weeks following this date assessments worth 60 % will be set in each of their subject areas.
We will be providing you with further detail on these reports and assessments including timelines early next week once we have completed our internal consultation and planning processes.
It is of the utmost importance that students now continue to engage and complete assignments and assessments for the remaining weeks even within the constraints placed upon us by this crisis.
We thank you for your ongoing support in encouraging your son/daughter to engage with their education in circumstances that are far from ideal.
Take care
Anton O Mahony
Principal - Skibbereen Community School
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) will host a number of Question and Answer video sessions online on Instagram Live for prospective CAO students over the coming weeks, starting on Monday 27th April 2020 and will cover areas such as Business, Engineering, Science, Humanities, Computer Science, Art, Music & Maritime. These sessions will be particularly beneficial for students availing of the CAO Change of Mind facility.
Each session will last 30 minutes and will be based on a particular department’s courses and disciplinary area, covering topics such as course content, work placement and future job prospects. Sessions for CIT support services such as Access & Disabilities, Mature Students and HEAR/DARE programmes will also be organised.
A full timetable of the virtual Q & A events is available from www.cit.ie/cao
Across the country, children are coming to a new realisation that heroes come in many forms and that many of them in fact are in their own homes. In the face of the Global COVID-19 pandemic, these heroes are their parents, cousins, neighbours and friends who are spending long hours day and night, fighting to ensure that this virus is controlled and lives are protected.
IPPN, INTO, NAPD, ASTI and TUI are proposing that as a show of support for those workers and volunteers on front lines at this critical time, all children who have a flag in their county or club colours, or whatever team they follow across any code, would hang that flag from their gate posts, windows, or wherever they would normally place a flag when supporting their county club or team ahead of an important match.
While sports events at the moment are currently postponed, such a show of solidarity from the children of the country towards those on the front line will demonstrate our gratitude for their marvellous dedication to their critical work at this extraordinary time. Hanging out the flags will also provide colour to lift everybody at a time when people are psychologically feeling the effects of this terrible pandemic. If a family doesn’t have a flag to hand, we suggest that the children draw or design a new flag and put it in a front window as a show of appreciation.
We are asking all education agencies and sports organisations to support the initiative and to use their communication platforms to share this information with members and their families.
If using social media, you will doubtless see the graphic advertising this initiative. Please share and tag as many as possible so that everyone in Ireland is soon aware of it. Using #Flags4Frontline in your tweets will help to spread the message. We are asking schools, when communicating with their parents, to ask them to hang out a flag with their children in honour of those working currently on the Frontline to save lives.
We hope that in the coming days, with your help, every road, street , lane , avenue, estate and apartment complex will be festooned with colour to honour our Heroes- our families neighbours and friends in the Frontline services
As we start week 3 of online teaching, we wish to thank all staff, students and parents for their efforts with this new distance learning. Like anything new it poses difficulties but it will be a goal and challenge for us all to master.
As we go forward we want this process to become Sufficient, Connected and Sustainable. We hope that the amount of work set will be both manageable for both student and teacher. We want everyone to follow their school timetable and to pace themselves. We do not want anyone to feel swamped. Do your best each day and we are mindful and there is alot going on.
We want all our students to make the effort to engage. The Microsoft 365 Teams platform is very manageable as it is connected to your school email. Teachers have posted up and continue to give very practical and helpful information. You should try to connect as often as you can so you won’t fall too far behind. Please email your Year Head if you having difficulties accessing the Microsoft 365 Teams.
This is also an opportunity for all students to develop your IT skills. You have the time. Explore the Microsoft 365 Teams platform. Learn how to video conference with your teachers and classmates. Upload answers and share them with your friends. Share what you have learned with others. Improve your typing skills and keep connected. Use your phone as an educational tool.
Stay well, stay hopeful and keep the bright side out. We are living in strange and difficult times but we must believe that this will eventually pass. Everything's going to be fine, stay home, practice social distancing, wash your hands and protect yourself.
Message to Parents
Dear Parent/Guardians,
We hope you and your families are keeping well in these most challenging of times.
Skibbereen Community School is continuing to provide as much education as is possible for our students using online and distance learning as this fast evolving crisis unfolds.
Students can access the educational resources being provided by using their Microsoft 365 accounts and the associated App – TEAMS.
Students should follow their normal timetable routine during which their teachers will be in touch with them through a combination of posting work, setting assignments, providing feedback, live chats/check ins and online classes.
We acknowledge that this is not always easy in the home environment where there may be poor broadband or sharing of devices between a number of students.
However, we are asking you to encourage your son/daughter to engage with this educational program as much as they possibly can and in particular to follow their normal timetable times to access work and complete assignments.
We thank you for your continued patience and support during this unprecedented crisis. Working together as a school community of students, parents and teachers we can overcome the challenges and difficulties that lie ahead.
We will continue to keep you informed of any updates as they happen.
The most important thing we can all be doing now is to follow the guidance being given to us regarding physical distancing and looking after the health of ourselves and our families.
I wish you all continued good health. Thinking of you all.
Anton O Mahony
Principal
Skibbereen Community School
Some short hurling and football skills videos to promote a bit of activity and skill development at home.
Click on the following link:
