Dear Parents and Guardians,
The Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh TD announced on 10 April 2020 that a decision had been made to cancel the Junior Certificate examinations which were due to take place in June 2020. He then made a further announcement on the 29th of April 2020 outlining that 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.
School based assessment will be conducted and completed in line with the Ministers guidelines by the 22nd May 2020. This timetable can be found below. This will also allow for the minimum level of disruption to the beginning of the new school year in September. Ardgillan College support this decision and believe it is in the best interests of our students and our staff.
We in Ardgillan are very proud of our wonderful students and want to acknowledge their hard work and celebrate their achievement in our school over the last three years of their Junior Cycle. Our school prides itself on providing learning opportunities that achieve a balance between learning subject knowledge and developing a range of skills and abilities.
It is our hope that by having one final online assessment before May 22nd we will add to the already comprehensive picture we have of your child’s achievement in our school to date. Our subject departments are currently designing common assessments which are as accessible as possible for all students to complete online and this will also allow us to reward the hard work our students have engaged in online since our school closure.
What will appear in the Ardgillan College Report on Junior Cycle Achievement?
1. A grade in each subject your child has undertaken in Junior Cycle.
We will take the following results, anonymise them and forward them to Athena Analytics who will then send us back summary grades in each subject area.
a. Christmas Result from 2nd Year
b. Summer Result from 2nd Year
c. Semester 1 Result from 3rd Year
d. Mock Exam Result
e. Semester 3 Result from 3rd Year (This assessment will take place online before May 22nd)
Athena Analytics will then provide us with results for each Junior Cycle student to reflect their learning achievements over the last three years. These results are calculated using a student’s previous results and are based on an algorithm Athena have built and tested using over 10,000 previous Junior Certificate results. These results will be unbiased and the best reflection of your child’s learning achievements in their Junior Cycle.
2. A report on their achievement in all Classroom Based Assessments that your child has completed in Second and Third Year.
3. A report on your child’s involvement in Other Areas of Learning which take place outside the classroom e.g. debating, sports teams, member of our Student Council, Young Scientist etc. The students have already been asked to submit these through a Microsoft Office Forms document which has been emailed to all students and a link which is on the 3rd year Edmodo page. Please make sure they do so.
This final Report on Junior Cycle Achievement will be posted home to you and your child the week beginning June 15th 2020 and we believe it will offer you a true reflection of your child’s effort and achievement while in their Junior Cycle in Ardgillan College.
Finally, we hope you and your child have a restful summer break and we look forward to welcoming your child back to Ardgillan as they embark upon their Senior Cycle journey when we will continue to support them as we work together in the spirit of teamwork, respect and excellence.
Yours sincerely,
Nuala Ní Mhurchú
Principal
