Dear Parents/Guardians & Students,
Pre-Examinations 2022
Parents & students are asked to note that DEB, the company that issues the pre-exam papers, has stipulated that strict copyright restrictions apply in the case of pre-examination papers. To avoid circulation of the exam papers, the company has insisted that papers are not to leave the school. Therefore, students will not be allowed to retain a copy following their exam and no electronic duplication of the exam paper will be permitted. Exam papers cannot be scanned and sent home, for example, via email /Google classroom etc. or given out to a student to take home.
Parents are reminded that 6th Year students have permission to study at home when they do not have a scheduled exam. 3rd Year students must be present in school for the full day on Monday and Tuesday next week. 3rd students are not allowed to sign in late and can be refused entry to their exam. From Wednesday 16 February to Friday 18 February, 3rd Year students will be examined in their Option Subjects and 3rd Year students on these dates will have permission to study at home when they do not have an exam. The school will provide a supervised study space throughout the school day for 3rd Year students who wish to study in school. Please click on the link below which provides a day by day explanation to 3rd students and parents of when they are to present in school.
Pre-Exam results will be available for parents to access on VSware on Friday 11 March 2022.
State Exams Commission (SEC)
Please click here here for an important update from the State Exams Commission (SEC) regarding the Leaving Certificate Examination 2022 Adjustments to Papers and Timetable Publication. The purpose of this circular is to inform you of the publication of the following documents which are now available on the website of the State Examinations Commission (SEC) at www.examinations.ie:
1. Further Adjustments to the Written Examinations – Leaving Certificate 2022
2. Timetables for the 2022 Leaving Certificate, Leaving Certificate Applied and Junior Cycle written examinations which commence on Wednesday 8 June.
6th Year Students – Candidate Self Service Portal
Please remember today (Friday 11 Feb) is the final day for completing the registration for LC2022 Exam Entries on the Candidate Self Service Portal. https://www.examinations.ie/cssp/2022/
If you encounter any difficulty, there is helpdesk support available at 1800-111135 or 1800-111136 between 9am to 5pm until Friday 11 February. Outside of these hours you can email candidateportal@examinations.ie
School Musical
Recording of the GCC School Musical was completed last Friday night. On behalf of our TY students and all in our school community, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to GCC staff members Grainne Power, Louise Purdy, Lisa O Shea, Jill Manning, Lorraine O Sullivan and Nicola Swanton for their outstanding efforts in ensuring the school musical production went ahead this year. The production of the school musical is an enormous undertaking in normal circumstances, so to successfully run the musical in current times is an outstanding achievement. On many occasions since the start of the school year it looked like the musical would not go ahead but the unwavering commitment of our students and teachers to the event ensured a successful outcome. Despite numerous obstacles and setbacks along the way, our musical team would not take no for an answer and our students were given the opportunity to showcase their talents. Final edits are currently being made and we look forward to seeing the finished product in the coming weeks.
5th year – Boost Your Wellbeing workshop:
All 5th years students attended the Wellbeing workshop delivered by Evan Costigan from Brainbox.ie through zoom on Thursday 10th February. This workshop was designed to empower the students to take good care of themselves and their wellbeing as they prepare for their Leaving Certificate. This workshop has been informed by the latest findings from positive psychology, leaving the students re-energised and equipped with skills to cope a little better with the demands of modern life, exams and adolescence. Here are the some of the students thoughts on the workshop:
“Create your daily tasks on a timetable, to help you achieve your goals, always plan ahead, don’t look back”
“Make a weekly planner, if it all doesn’t all go according to plan, that’s ok!!, learn from it and make a new plan for next week”
“Face your fears, my personal fear is that I won’t do well in my LC, but I am going to have to stick with it and try my best”
“Recognise the effort we put in, the results may not always be what we wanted but once we keep trying and putting effort it in, it will pay off”
“Have a cut off time for devices, screen time affects sleep, lack of sleep leads to poor concentration and makes the school day harder”
“From the questions I was asked during the zoom call, it reminded me of the difficulties I have going to sleep at night, this is something I need to work on, as it is affecting my daily life”
“It was good to hear basic practical tips and from a different point of view on how to look after myself”
For more information see https://brainbox.ie/
BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2022
5th year students Abby Furlong, Amy Gettings and Abbie Brennan participated in the 2022 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition with their project; ‘An Investigation of the effectiveness of a restorative intervention on transition year students’. congratulations and well done on your exceptional work.
5th year students left to right; Amy Gettings, Abbie Brennan and Abby Furlong.
Online Safety Webinar for Parents/Guardians of Students
Webwise; the Irish internet safety awareness centre is delighted to host the Talk, Listen, Learn Online Safety Webinar for parents of teens. Click on the image below for more information and registration:
We hope you have a nice weekend
GCC Senior Management
Ronan McCarthy (Principal), Gertie Cahill (Deputy Principal), Seamus Kennefick (Deputy Principal), Sean McGrath (Deputy Principal)