Dear 6th year Students and Parents
I hope you are all well and are looking forward to the gradual return to school of all students in the coming months.
6th Year Return to School
As you may know, the government have decided that school buildings will reopen on Monday 1st March for 6th Year Leaving Certificate students.
The reason for this decision is that the Public Health authorities have advised government and schools that a phased and cautious return to school is now possible, provided that the proper and appropriate risk mitigation measures are fully implemented and adhered to in schools. Cabra Community College will continue to implement all public health recommended measures that will include mask wearing, social distancing and enhanced cleaning. The Department of Education conducted an inspection of the Coivd 19 Prevention measures in our school in December 2020 and were very satisfied with all measures implemented in our school. Read the complete report here.
6th Year students will resume classes on Monday 1st March at 9.00am and will follow their class timetable as normal. All other years will continue to engage in online learning for now.
Public health advice currently indicates that 5th Year Leaving Cert and 5th Year Leaving Cert Applied students will return to school on Monday 15th March and all other years will return on Monday 12th April. We will keep you posted on any further public health updates in relation to this.
Accredited Grades
The Department of Education have also announced that Leaving Cert 2021 students will have a number of options to complete their Leaving Cert in 2021. Students can decide to sit the examinations in June, receive an accredited grade, or opt for both on a subject by subject basis.
The accredited grade is based on the following:
- The professional judgement of each subject teacher
- A form of in-school alignment to ensure fairness amongst candidates at school level
- A process of standardisation at national level to ensure as much fairness as possible amongst candidates.
We will be discussing options with students when they return to school next week and we will also be providing an Information session to all sixth year parents via Zoom next week. An invite to this session will be sent via text.
Irrespective of which option students decide to go with, the main priority for all students now must be to return to school on Monday and attend school every day. This will enable students prepare as well as possible for the final exams or prepare for assessments that teachers will use to arrive at their accredited grade.
We will be issuing further information on the accredited grades process and the reopening of schools when we receive it from the Department of Education.
If you would like to discuss this further please do not hesitate to contact me on 01 8389577
Yours sincerely
Neil Flaherty
Principal