Dear GCC Parents, Guardians & Students,
GCC Peer Learning Group – Peer Instructional Conferencing and Coaching Programme
Parents are reminded that GCC recently graduated Cohort 1 of the Peer Instructional Conference and Coaching programme. ETBI have just announced that they are now taking expressions of interest for Cohort 2 of the Peer Instructional Conferencing and Coaching Programme, facilitated by Dr. Rebecca Saunders Assistant Professor in Education, School of Education, MIC Thurles. GCC will be again be a participant school for the 24/25 programme.
We were honoured to welcome Dr Saunders to GCC this afternoon, Friday 3 May, to work with our GCC Peer Learning group. We highly value our teachers keen interest in the core school business of teaching and learning which impacts so positively on student learning experiences. We are grateful for the time they are committing to furthering their professional development in this area. Dr Saunders will return to GCC in September to facilitate a whole school professional development session and we hope to continue working closely with Dr Saunders throughout the 2024/2025 school year.
GCC welcomes the NUKU Choir from Estonia
We were thrilled to welcome the NUKU choir from Estonia to GCC this morning. The choir which was founded in 2010 visited GCC for a Friendship Concert as part of the 2024 Cork International Choral Festival. Led by conductor Reeda Toots, the choir have performed and competed in competitions all over the world from France to Sweden and Canada. NUKU performed in front of all our 1st Year students and our GCC music students from across the school. Later in the morning our GCC school choir performed for our Estonian guests much to their delight.
For further information on NUKU please click on the link below:
https://www.corkchoral.ie/festival_choirs/nuku-choir/
Shanghai International Sister Cities Youth Camp
Congratulations to GCC students Rian Leahy [5th Year], Owen Williams [4th Year] and GCC teacher Ms Lisa Hegarty who will travel to Shanghai for 2 weeks in July as part of the International Sister Cities Youth Camp. Following up on ground broken during the Lord Mayor’s visit to Shanghai last year, Cork City Council been working closely with the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission on the revival of Cork’s participation in the Shanghai International Sister Cities Youth Camp. The programme consists of cultural workshops and sight-seeing with the focus of the programme on intercultural exchange. We are very grateful to Cork ETB and Cork City Council for this wonderful opportunity which is being provided to our staff and students.
GCC 6th Year student Conor Galvin to perform Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
GCC 6th year student Conor Galvin will travel to Antwerp next week to rehearse and perform with the Mahler Student Festival Orchestra. Conor, who has a bright musical future ahead of him, will perform Beethoven’s 9th symphony with the Mahler Orchestra. Everyone in GCC is very proud of Conor and his achievements and we wish him the very best next week on his travels.
GCC Díograis Awards 2024
Congratulations to all students who were nominated by their teachers for a 2024 Díograis Award. Please click on the link below to view the list of Finalists in each category.
Final List of Nominees Diograis 2024.pdf – Google Drive
Students who are listed as finalists will attend the Díograis ceremony in the school on Thursday 9 May at 7pm. Letters of invitation have been issued today to the parents/guardians of students who will attend the ceremony. Congratulations to all our students who have worked so hard to reach their potential in school this year. It is a great achievement to be nominated for an award. It is a fantastic achievement to be the recipient of one of these prestigious awards. Well done to everyone!
Please click on the link below to view a power point presentation on Díograis. Thank you to the TY Meitheal team who designed the presentation.
GCC Uniform – School Fleece
Parents are asked to note that in consultation with our GCC parents’ and students’ council, school management has agreed to the addition of an optional black fleece to the uniform set next year. Students will be permitted to wear the fleece and/or
the jacket. Parents/students will also have the option of having initials on it.
A reminder that the annual GCC Parents Council Uniform Bank Sale will take place on Tuesday 25 June @ 9.30am. Details of collection will be shared with parents via the school website before the end of term.
GCC Activities of the week Tuesday 7 to Friday 10 May 2024
Please click here to view the planned school activities for the week Tuesday 7 to Friday 10 May 2024.
European School Survey on Alcohol and Drugs (ESPAD)
Further to our update last week, GCC will administer the ESPAD to all 3rd 4th and 5th Year next Tuesday 7 May. The following is our planned schedule:
- 3rd Year Maths: Class period 12.30pm – 1.10pm (7 teachers)
- 4th Year Various Subjects Class period 12.30pm – 1.10pm (8 teachers)
- 5th Year Maths: Class period 1.10pm – 1.50pm 7 teachers
Please click on the link below to see more information on this European wide survey which is conducted with secondary school students on drugs and alcohol.
European School Survey – Glanmire Community College (glanmirecc.ie)
RNLI Water Safety Talk
Please click on the following link to view details of an RNLI Water Safety talk which will be held on Thursday 16 May Glanmire Community College from 19.30 – 20.15. The GAA and RNLI work together in a partnership that aims to raise awareness of drowning prevention and to educate communities on how to stay safe in and around water. This is a free event for the Glanmire Community.
GCC Summer Exams
Our GCC House Exams will commence on Friday 24 May as per our agreed calendar. Our Summer Exam timetable has been shared with students. Please click on the links below to view the timetables for each respective year groups.
1st Year Summer Exam Timetable 2024
2nd Year Summer Exam Timetable 2024
LCA1 Summer Exam Timetable 2024
5th Year Summer Exam Timetable 2024
In preparation for the exams, revision guides have been developed to support 1st and 2nd year students focus in the next few weeks. Please click on the links below to view. These are also available in parents section of our website.
1st Year Revision Guide Summer 2024
2nd Year Revision Guide Summer 2024
GCC Upcoming Calendar Events
| Date | Event | Note |
| Monday 6 May | May Bank Holiday | School Closed |
| Thursday 9 May | GCC Diograis Awards | @ 7pm |
| Monday 13 May | GCC BOM Meeting | @ 4.30pm |
| Monday 13 May | GCC Parents Council Meeting | @ 7.30pm |
| Tuesday 14 May | GCC Leaving Cert Graduation | @ 7.00pm |
| Friday 24 May | GCC House Exams | 24 – 31 May |
| Friday 31 May | GCC Staff Meeting | @ 11.00am |
| Wednesday 5 June | State Examinations 2024 | 5 – 24 June |
| Tuesday 25 June | GCC Parents Council Uniform Bank Sale | @ 9.30am |
Safe Routes to School [SRTS] – Cork City Council Public Consultation
Parents and students are reminded that Cork City Council is conducting a Public Consultation regarding the GCC Safe Routes to School project. Below is a link to the plans and the proposed works as well as the online public consultation portal. The plans are available for public inspection from Tuesday 9 of April 2024 until Monday 13 May 2024 and can be accessed electronically via Cork City Council’s Online Consultation Portal or via the public reception desk of Cork City Council’s offices at City Hall, Anglesea Street. The deadline for receipt of submissions and observations is 4:00 pm on Monday 13 May 2024. Please click on the link below to view plans and particulars of proposed works for our SRTS project.
Safe Routes To School Update and Details ; Glanmire Community College
GCC Mobile Phones
Parents are reminded that 1st Year Rang Áine students have been working in a Mobile Phone Free Learning Environment since February. The feedback from teachers and parents has been very positive. Since Monday 15 April, all 1st year teachers have been asked to refrain from using mobile phones for any classroom activity. Teachers at school activities have been asked to email work for 1st year classes to Deputy Principal Caroline Byrne instead of uploading work on Google Classroom or give the work to the students in advance of the class. Some parents may support 1st years in not having a phone at school. Chrome books and computer rooms are available to teachers to book should their lessons require the use of technology.
GCC Student Development Fund 2024/2025 School Year
A reminder to parents that at our GCC Parents Council meeting on Tuesday 19 March, it was agreed to maintain the annual parent contribution to our GCC Student Development Fund at €300 for the 2024/2025 school year. The alleviation of school fees for families of one or more children in the school will also continue. We would like to thank parents for your continued support of the Student Development Fund which allows us to maintain many of the supports we provide annually to our students. These include payments for:
- School Buses
- Junior & Leaving Certificate Pre-Examinations
- Transition Year Activities
- Student Insurance
- School Counselling
- Wellbeing Activities
- Health and Safety Work
- Awards Ceremonies
- Servicing of Equipment
- Staff CPD
- ICT Maintenance and Upgrades
- Building Repairs
- Contract Cleaning
- Print Management
- Upgrading of School Facilities
Once again this Summer we have work planned to develop a GCC Reflection Room/Library, painting of staff and student bathrooms across the entire school and upgrading of our B Block Art Room and PE Office area. This work would not be possible without the consistent support and contributions of parents to the school. As always we will continue to support parents and families that may have difficulty in paying this money. For the 24/25 school year, we will set up the payment facility on Way2Pay in May/June.
Email Communication with Teachers
At our GCC Parents Council Meeting in March, we asked that parents looking to contact teachers, would do so through the school office. We highlighted in particular scenarios where parents attempt to email teachers directly by assuming their email is their name followed by the @Corketb.ie domain.
Parents are asked to note that the @Corketb.ie domain is used across the entire Cork ETB (CETB) organisation which has thousands of employees and students. Given that there may be multiple staff and/or students with the same name across the CETB, it is imperative that staff are contacted through the school office to reduce the risk of sensitive information being shared with the wrong recipient. Please email the school office at glanmirecc@corketb.ie in the first instance and your email will be forwarded to the correct recipient by our office staff. We appreciate the support of parents in this matter.
