29th April, 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians and 3rd Year Students,
The DES have just announced that 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/priority learning units. 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 should receive a written report on the broad range of learning that they have achieved in each subject, short course and/or priority learning unit at the end of Junior Cycle. This assessment of their learning will be provided by their teachers. Schools will have autonomy in how this assessment is to be arrived at and the format in which the report is provided.
In line with the second point Mount Sackville had already engaged in a wide consultation process with regard to the proposed State exams in the Autumn. We analysed the data received from 107 parents/guardians, 133 students and all of our teachers. Taking this data on board a plan was put in place to conclude this year with a school based 3rd year assessment that had three elements.
That plan was presented to and sanctioned by the Board of Management on Monday 27th and again by our teachers this morning. We plan to proceed with the roll out of this final assessment and are happy that it too is in line with the DES announcement. Specific details with regard to a May teaching and learning plan will follow on Friday.
In the meantime, we want our 3rd years to know that we will be inviting them to participate in a series of one hour exams during the last week and a half in May. These exams will contribute to
- 30% of each student's final assessment in each subject.
- 20% will be derived from already completed CBA's, AT's, practical work and so on (Class tests will suffice where there are none of the aforementioned completed) and
- 50% has already been derived from a predictor grade generated from completed winter and mock exams using a statistical Irish owned tracking programme.
We hope this is a satisfactory solution and one that we had already decided to employ for the wellbeing of our students and their next academic year at Mount Sackville.
We thank you for your active participation in our consultation process and for your support.