Latest School Update Friday 21 January 2022

Dear Parents/Guardians & Students,

Pre- Examinations 2022

As previously advised, we intend to run traditional pre-exams for both 3rd Year & 6th Year groups this year. A draft timetable is currently being finalised with teachers and will be shared with students early next week. Parents and students are asked to note that the pre-examinations are scheduled to start on Friday 4 February 2022 and will continue up to and including Friday 18 February depending on subject options. Please note also that the school is closed to all students on Monday 7 February and there will be no exams on this date. The following are the outline plans for the pre-exams:

• 6th Year students will be located in the PE Hall
• 6th Year LCA students will be located in room B34
• 3rd Year students will remain in their base classrooms apart from 3rd Year Rang Eabha who will relocate to the multi-purpose room.

Traditionally our PE Hall has hosted in excess of 350 students for exams, therefore we expect that with a maximum of 157 students in mainstream 6th Year, students will be social distanced at a similar or improved level to our current classroom set up. It is important to note also that this number of 157 will only apply to Maths and English exams with numbers steadily decreasing as we move through the remaining subjects.

The timetable and procedures for our exams will be shared early next week with parents and students once they are finalised fully.

GCC History Department Website

Our History Department has created a Junior cycle History site. All of the notes, graphic organisers, revision videos and revision retrieval practice quizzes for every topic on the course is now in one place.

https://sites.google.com/glanmirecollege.com/gccjchistory/home

All students and staff with a glanmirecollege.com gmail account can access the site. This will be a very useful resource for supporting students ensuring they will be able to use this to effectively revise for school exams, pre-exams and junior cycle exams.

My Brain and Me
Please click on the link below to view ‘My Brain and Me’ January 2022 Newsletter, focusing on Retrieval Practice. MBM students in 1st & 2nd Year are currently exploring the features of effective learning. One of these features is the use of Retrieval Practice. We are supporting our staff in upskilling and implementing these 3 strategies to help impact positively on student learning experiences in our classrooms.

My Brain and Me Newsletter 2_Retrieval Practice

4th Year PPT Meeting

Parents are asked to note that teachers will finish inputting additional reporting feedback this afternoon. Parents will be able to access this feedback from Monday 24 January. Please click on the link below to see details of how to access your VSware account.

VSWare_How to Access Your Parent Account

A reminder to parents that you can also follow your child’s attendance in school by clicking on the attendance tab.

Enrolment Policy Review
Following advice from our (Special Educational Needs Organiser) SENO Ms. Maria Moriarty, we are conducting a review of the school’s Enrolment Policy, specifically, the ASD section of the document. Up to now, where more than one student from the same category was eligible for a place, a steering committee was used to select which student was offered the place. Our updated policy will align with our approach to mainstream enrolment where students will be selected going forward by means of a lottery.

Please click on the link below and refer to pages 42, 43 & 44 of the policy which highlights the proposed areas to be excluded in yellow and suggested additions in green.

20 January 2022 Full GCC Admission Policy – Review of ASD

Please feedback any comments you may have through our dedicated policyreview@glanmirecollege.com email by Monday 1 February 2022. Parents are asked to note that the updated policy will be presented to the Board of Management for review at our next meeting on 21 March 2022. The updated policy will not apply to our current enrolment cycle for September 2022.

DARE 

The Disability Access Route to Education (DARE )scheme is a third level alternative admissions scheme for school leavers whose disabilities have had a negative impact on their second level education. DARE offers reduced points places to school leavers who, as a result of having a disability, have experienced additional educational challenges in second level education. Please click here for comprehensive, up-to-date information on the DARE scheme: DARE section of the AccessCollege.ie website

A student applying to the DARE scheme needs to provide evidence that meets the DARE Scheme criteria of:

• Their disability/learning difficulty/significant ongoing illness and
• How their condition has impacted negatively on their education

This video talks you thought the scheme: https://www.ucc.ie/en/dss/dare/

Please email any DARE queries to dare@ucc.ie

UCC’s Disability Support Service has organised a live online advice clinic to disseminate information on the DARE application process. Parents/prospective students/guidance counsellors and other interested parties will be afforded an opportunity to get advice on applying for the DARE scheme. From  the first 30 mins approximately, there will be  presentation giving an overview of the DARE scheme with an opportunity for questions and answers  afterwards.

The final UCC DARE Online DARE Clinics will be held on: Monday January 24th, 3-5pm, and It is ESSENTIAL  to book.

Click here to book your place: DARE section of the UCC Disability Support Services website

Supervised Study

Supervised Study goes ahead this term from Tuesday 18th January – Friday 8th April.

Study Times:

Monday to Thursday: 4.05p.m. to 6.05 p.m.

Fridays: 1.15 p.m. to 3.15 p.m.

First Year Hurling Tournament