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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