Dear Parents and Guardians
We hope you and your loved ones are well and coping as best as you can in these extraordinary times.
Understandably, recent weeks have been very challenging for everyone, and particularly, students in Third Year and Sixth Year. It is hard to believe that schools have been closed since 13 March 2020 with no clarity as to when they will be allowed to reopen for students.
Important information for Third Year Students – Junior Certificate 2020
The Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh TD announced on 10 April 2020 that a decision was made to cancel the Junior Certificate examinations which were due to take place in June 2020.
This was followed by another announcement by the Minister for Education and Skills on Wednesday, 29 April 2020 to clarify details on the revised arrangements for this year’s Junior Cycle.
The decision was taken following recommendations from an advisory group of stakeholders as part of planning for the State Examinations in response to the Covid-19 public health measures and the decision to cancel Junior Cycle State Examinations in June 2020.
Department of Education and Skills Certificate of Completion
Your child will receive a Certificate of Completion, issued by the Department of Education and Skills, early in the next school year. This Department of Education and Skills certificate will include confirmation of the completion of the Junior Cycle programme of study, the list of subjects, short courses and/or priority learning units your child studied and the level at which the subject was studied.
School Report
In accordance with the Minister of Education and Skills announcement on Wednesday, 29 April 2020, your child will receive a formal school report on your child’s learning achievements in each subject, short course and/or priority learning unit.
A whole-school approach will be undertaken to report on your child’s achievements. Teachers will carefully analyse your child’s learning, development and the outcomes of assessments over the three years of study at the school.
The school certification will also include the descriptors awarded to Classroom Based Assessments (CBAs) and/or Priority Learning Units (PLUs) and other Areas of Learning (OAL).
All Third Year students will finish the three year Junior Certificate programme on 29 May 2020 and there will be no examinations in September. Therefore, students will resume school in September in their next programme for senior cycle – Transition Year, LCA1 or Fifth Year.
As the school year does not finish until 29 May 2020, our Third Year students are still expected to continue to work with their teachers and submit work that will be taken into account in the results students will receive in their school reports. The schedule of this work includes;
● On-going engagement with distance learning which has been in place since 13 March 2020
● Assessments in each subject via online assessments as directed by each teacher
● Assessments in each subject which are project or report based and which can be sent to the school for teachers to correct if there is an issue with broadband or if the student does not have access to a device to complete the online examination which will be part of the Subject grading.
It is important that each student’s engages and participates up until 29 May 2020 and submits end of year test / project.
Presentation of Certificate of Completion
Our school plans to celebrate your child’s achievements with a special presentation ceremony for students to receive their Department of Education and Skills Certificate of Completion in Autumn 2020. This will allow for students to experience an event that marks their achievements and to acknowledge their transition from Junior Cycle to Transition Year/Senior Cycle. We will provide details about the date and format of this presentation in due course.
The following items will be used to create a grade for each student in each subject.
Each department will decide on an assignment for all 3rd year students to complete during the month of May. It is important that all student check in with google classroom to communicate with their teacher re this assignment.
If students have problems accessing google classroom then you need to contact the school on 087-6023992 to ensure your child receives their assignments.
Student without internet access should return the assignments by post. Mark the subject teacher and subject name on the envelope and post to:
Hazelwood College, Dromcollogher, Co. Limerick. P56 HF60
Results will be available in early June and Certification will come in the autumn.
Kind regards
Brendan Burke
Principal