Dear GCC Parents/Guardians & Students,

GCC Admissions – 2026/2027 School Year 

Parents are reminded that our admissions process opened last Wednesday 1 October. Applications can only be made via the link on the GCC school website [below]. The closing date for applications is Wednesday 22 October.

GCC Admissions for the 2026/2027 School Year – Online Application Form – Glanmire Community College

GCC First Year Parents Feedback 2025-2026

In advance of our information briefing for First Year parents next Monday 6 October at 7pm, we would like to thank the nearly 100 parents who have responded to the survey seeking your feedback about what is working well for your son/daughter and what areas you feel we as a school GCC could improve upon. The survey will remain open until lunch time on Monday. If you have not completed the survey, please take a minute to do so using the link below:

GCC First Year Parents Feedback Survey 2025-2026

GCC’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2025

Glanmire Community College will be shining a light on disabilities during the first week of December 2025 to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPwD) which falls on Tuesday 3 December. The campaign will “shine a light on disability” to celebrate the lives of the one in five people in this country who live with a disability. The official
colour theme for the event is purple. More information will follow in the coming weeks.

CAO Online Information Evening for Students and Parents

An online information evening for Students and Parents, in association with the Institute of Guidance Counsellors and Admissions Officers from Higher Education Institutions will take place on Tuesday 21 October at 6pm. The webinar will include presentations on the CAO application process, advice on choosing courses, supports for parents/guardians and live Q&A with representatives of Higher Education Institutions. Spaces for the live online event are limited: a recording will be available after the event for those who were unable to attend. Registration for this event will open on 1 October at noon at www.cao.ie/webinar

Career Options Tuesday 14 October 2025

Parents are asked to note that all GCC 6th year students will be attending Career Options in Rochestown on the afternoon of
Tuesday 14 October. Classes will run as normal up to 12.30pm with lunch for our 6th Year students taking place in the C Block from 12.30-1pm. Students are not permitted to leave the school for lunch. Roll Call, buses and departure for Rochestown at 1pm. Thank you to the teachers in our Guidance Department for organising this important opportunity for students.

School Attendance Multimedia Campaign

The Minister for Education Helen McEntee recently launched the Department of Education Attendance Multimedia Campaign. The campaign highlights the concerning levels of absenteeism in Ireland, promotes the benefits of regular school attendance and directs parents/guardians and schools to support at www.gov.ie/schoolattendance

Please click on the link below to view:

School Attendance Campaign Pack

GCC WSE-MLL Report 

Parents are asked to note that the school returned the factual verification form for our WSE-MLL report to the Department of Education on Wednesday 2 October. The school have requested one amendment on the report. Therefore, we will delay sharing the report in its entirety with staff, parents and students until the report is re-issued.

GCC Teaching and Learning Programme – Staff Workshop 3 

Parents were informed in recent updates that as part of our Teaching and Learning Staff CPD programme in GCC this year, teachers are exploring concepts from D.T. Willingham’s book “Why don’t students like school?” This popular book delves into how the mind works and what it means for our teachers in the classroom. We advised that we will share periodically details of our staff Teaching & Learning workshops with parents and students through our weekly updates. This week we are sharing the details of Staff Workshop 3 which was entitled Memory is the Residue of Thought  Please click on the link below to view details of the staff presentation:

Workshop 3_ Memory is the Residue of Thought

Online Student Personal Accident Claims Process 

Please click on the links below to view an update from our insurer IPB on the procedure for student accident claims. The links include the brochure and the flyer forwarded from IPB with instructions on how parents can make a claim and there is an IPB website link included in the flyer.

Flyer – Introducing the IPB digital claim form

IPB Student Personal Accident brochure-D1

GCC Activities of the Week (Monday 6 October – Friday 10 October 2025) 

Please click on the link to view the Activities of the Week beginning Monday 6 October 2025: 

GCC Activities of the Week Monday 6 to 10 October 2025

GCC Upcoming Calendar Events – October 2025

The following features were shared with parents in previous updates:

GCC Provision Mapping: Parent/Guardian Survey [GCC Parents Update Friday 26 September 2025]

GCC Teaching and Learning Programme – Staff Workshop 2 [GCC Parents Update Friday 26 September 2025]

Parents were informed last week that as part of our teaching and learning staff programme in GCC this year, teachers are exploring concepts from D.T. Willingham’s book “Why don’t students like school?” This popular book delves into how the mind works and what it means for our teachers in the classroom. We advised that we will share details of our staff Teaching & Learning workshops with parents and students through our weekly updates. This week we are sharing the details of Staff Workshop 2 which was entitled People are Naturally Curious, but not Naturally Good Thinkers. Please click on the link below to view details of the staff presentation:

People are Naturally Curious, but not Naturally Good Thinkers

NGRT (New Group Reading Tests) for 1st Year Students [GCC Parents Update Friday 26 September 2025]

Please click on the link below for information on the New Group Reading Test (NGRT) which is a formative assessment designed to evaluate a student’s level of reading. The NGRT will be administered in the school for our 1st year students next week.

NGRT Letter to Parents

The Reading Curriculum at GCC

The following link provided some supplementary information to parents regarding the NGRT test.

https://www.gl-assessment.co.uk/assessments/new-group-reading-test/

GCC 1st Year Subject Options – Change of Mind Process [GCC Parents Update Friday 26 September 2025]

Parents are asked to note that our 1st Year Subject Options Change of Mind Process is now completed. In total 22 out of 204 GCC 1st Year students requested a change of option subject and our Subject Options Coordinator was able to facilitate 18 of these. Reasons why students are unable to move option subjects include:

• No change possible as the option subject is full
• No change possible because the subject options are on same block and therefore are timetabled at the same time

These students were offered the opportunity to meet with the Subject Options Coordinator if they wished to consider moving to a class that wasn’t full.

GCC First Year Homework Club [GCC Parents Update Friday 26 September 2025]

The GCC 1st Year Homework Club begins on Friday 3 October from 1pm to 2pm in B13. The homework club is supervised by a teacher assisted by TY students working towards their Gaisce award. It is a supportive, sociable and relaxed environment. If your child wishes to join the homework club please put a note in their journal FAO the student’s class teacher.

Autumn Nasal Flu Vaccine Programme 2025 [GCC Parents Update Friday 26 September 2025]

Parents are asked to note that Glanmire Community College has arranged for the Health Service Executive and Dr John Crowley, GP ( www.YourGP.ie ), to attend the school on Thursday 16 October, to administer the free Nasal Flu Vaccine. This is a nationwide HSE school immunisation project, where all schools are encouraged to participate, and all children are to be offered vaccination by the HSE and their teams. This is completely optional and vaccination will only be given upon receipt of parental consent. It will be administered in the school, by Dr John Crowley, Dr Paddy Crowley and their nursing team. There is no requirement for parents to be present for the vaccinations. It is a nasal spray, and no injection is involved.

Registration, vaccine information and consent are available at:https://yourgp.ie/hse-nasal-vaccine-programme-glanmire-community-college/

Please note registration will close on Wednesday 15 October @ 09:00

If you have more than one child in the school, please do a separate submission for each.

We would like to thank the HSE and Dr John Crowley’s team for providing this very important community service.

Webinar: Vaping Products & Psychoactive Substances: What You Should Know as a Parent [GCC Parents Update Friday 26 September 2025]

Please click on the link to view details of an upcoming webinar for your information. Might be particularly of interest to parents of school going children.

This free online event will focus on HHC, a new psychoactive substance chemically related to cannabis, which was recently controlled after being widely available in shops and online. The webinar is designed to support parents concerned about vaping and emerging drug trends among young people.

Key Topics Include:

• Emerging drug trends and what parents need to know
• The role of parents in guiding healthy decision-making
• Risks associated with cannabis-related substances, including HHC
• Prevention strategies and practical steps for families
• Support services available locally

Webinar Title: Vaping Products & Psychoactive Substances: What You Should Know as a Parent

Date: Tuesday, 7th October

Time: 11:30am – 13:00pm

Registration Link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AFEddt9URiWlel1oOOs0pw#/registration

GCC Teaching and Learning Programme Update 1 [GCC Parents Update Friday 19 September 2025] 

As part of our teaching and learning staff programme this year, teachers are exploring concepts from D.T. Willingham’s book “Why don’t students like school?” This popular book delves into how the mind works and what it means for our teachers in the classroom. In the coming weeks we will share details of the staff workshops with parents and students. Staff workshop 1 was entitled Teaching is a Cognitively Demanding Skill. Teachers explored the idea that teaching is an incredibly complex process that needs to be practiced and refined continuously to get better at it. Teachers explored the difference between subject content knowledge and subject pedagogical knowledge. Please click on the link below to view details of the staff presentation:

Workshop 1_ Teaching is a Cognitively Demanding Skill

GCC Leaving Cert Student Led Learning Clinics [GCC Parents Update Friday 19 September 2025] 

As part of our drive to support our Leaving Cert students in their study this year, the GCC Staff Teaching and Learning group have developed a pilot program to explore the effectiveness of student led learning clinics. The initiative began with a series of study skills workshops which students were invited to attend before school on Monday 15 and Wednesday 17 September. Following this a programme of student led clinics was developed in consultation with our 6th Year students.

Term 1: September to Halloween [6 weeks]

Venue: C15

Time: 8.15 – 8.45am

Topics for student led clinics this term

• English: MacBeth Quotes
• Irish: Oral
• French: Oral
• Maths: Algebra

Student Led Learning Clinics will be held on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning in C15. In these clinics, students will work together to learn and teach each other English, Irish, French and Maths. A schedule of learning has been made by subject teachers to align with the content that needs to be learned for exams. Everyone is welcome on any day they would like to participate.

GCC School Office [GCC Parents Update Friday 19 September 2025] 

We wish to inform parents that starting next Monday 22 September, our GCC school office opening hours will be adjusted. The new hours will be 9:00am to 2:45pm, Monday to Thursday and 9.00am to 12.30pm on Friday. This change is being made to allow our clerical staff sufficient time to complete essential administrative duties and to help reduce the volume of queries at the office hatch during peak times.

To support this transition, we kindly ask that parents email the school rather than phone where possible. Email communication allows us to manage queries more efficiently and ensures that your concerns are directed to the appropriate staff member.

Please also note that, with over 1,150 students in our care, we may not be able to respond to all queries immediately. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to support all students and families as effectively as possible. We thank all our GCC parents for your continued cooperation and support.

UCC Dare Information Clinics [GCC Parents Update Friday 19 September 2025] 

UCC DARE Information Clinics

National Council for Curriculum & Assessment [NCCA] – Flexible Pathways in Senior Cycle [GCC Parents Update Friday 19 September 2025] 

Further to our update last week regarding GCC’s participation in the NCCA Senior Cycle Pathways project, please click on the link to view an information bulletin for stakeholders.

Senior Cycle Pathways Project Information Bulletin 1 September 2025

As previously advised, we are looking for the input and cooperation of staff, parents and students in the various surveys and focus groups that will be undertaken during the process. Please click on the link below to view a short initial survey which we kindly ask all parents  to complete.

NCCA – Parents Survey

GCC Marymount Fundraiser Report [GCC Parents Update Friday 19 September 2025]

Please click on the link to view a report written by 3rd year student Cerys McCarthy on a fundraiser she organised for Marymount:

My Marymount Fundraiser by Cerys McCarthy

Well done to Cerys and her class on this wonderful achievement. Thank you also to Ms Reeves for supporting Cerys throughout the process.

GCC Mobile Phone Policy [GCC Parents Update Friday 19 September 2025] 

In our GCC Parents Update last Friday 12 September we shared the recently issued Department of Education Circular 0045/2025 – Restricting the use of and access to personal mobile phones by students during the school day. Under the circular schools are required to implement a policy to restrict mobile phone use during the school day.

As advised we are sharing a Draft GCC Mobile Phone Policy and inviting feedback through our dedicated policyreview@glanmirecollege.com with any proposed additions or amendments by Monday 29 September. The updated policy will be signed off by our Board of Management at its next meeting on Wednesday 22 October.

Please click on the link below to view the draft policy and the circular.

Glanmire Community College – Draft Mobile Phone Policy September 2025

Circular 0045/2025-Restricting the use of and access to Mobile Phones by Students during the School Day

GCC StudyClix – Licence Renewal [Parents Update Friday 12 September]

Parents and students are asked to note that we have renewed our school licence with StudyClix for the 2025/2026 school year. StudyClix Plus will be available to students across all year groups in GCC until the end of June 2026. Please click on the link below to view details of how to access the content.

GCC StudyClix

GCC Box Breathing – Orla Sorenson [Parents Update Friday 12 September]

Orla Sorenson has been working with both students and staff in GCC since 2021, supporting wellbeing through gentle yoga, relaxation, and breathing techniques. This year, Orla will work with all Junior Cycle class groups as well as Senior Cycle
students through their Fit & Well mornings. These sessions offer valuable tools to help students manage stress, improve focus, and build lifelong habits that support their overall wellbeing.

Orla qualified as a Yoga Teacher in 2019 and more recently completed a postgraduate qualification in Workplace Wellness at Trinity College Dublin. Alongside teaching yoga, she also works as an accountant, giving her first-hand insight into the value of having tools that promote focus, clarity, and calm in today’s fast-paced world.

At our staff meeting last Tuesday, Orla demonstrated how simple yoga movements and breathing techniques can support students in everyday life, and particularly during challenging times. This is part of our wider commitment to providing support for all. The box breathing technique Orla will guide students through is printed in the back of the student journal, and a poster of the same technique will be displayed in every classroom. These practices calm the body, bring clarity to the mind, and help students stay present and engaged—not just in school, but in all areas of life. The technique is outlined in the graphic below:

September Issue of Education for Sustainable Development Newsletter [Parents Update Friday 12 September]

The September 2025 issue of the Department of Education and Youth’s ESD Newsletter has been published and can be accessed via the link below.

ESD_Newsletter_-_Issue_20

Mobile Phone-Free Learning Environment [Parents Update Friday 5 September]

After the successful implementation of a Mobile Phone-Free Learning Environment for first year students last year it was decided to extend the Mobile Phone-Free Learning Environment to all first year and second year students this year. First and second year students will NOT be required to have a mobile phone in school to access any part of the curriculum. Teachers wishing to incorporate technology in their lessons have the facility of booking a trolley of Chromebooks for students. 

GCC Lunchtime Clubs [Parents Update Friday 5 September]

Lunchtime clubs for first year students began this week. Lunchtime clubs are a wonderful way for our younger members of the community to get together in a supervised environment where they can relax, make new friends and have some fun.

Monday: GCC Games Club in the Multipurpose Room

Wednesday: GCC Craft Club in B10 & GCC Games Club in the Multipurpose Room

Friday: GCC Art Club in B40 and GCC Dungeons and Dragons Club in B40

The GCC Library will also be opened at lunchtime in the coming weeks for students who would like a quiet space to read.

Labelling of School Items [Parents Update Friday 29 August]

As per our update in June, parents are kindly requested to ensure that all uniform items (and especially the school jacket and fleece) are labelled with your child’s name. This will assist us in the prompt return of misplaced items.

GCC School Car Park [Parents Update Friday 29 August]

Parents are asked not to drive into the school car park when dropping and collecting students from school. Our school car park is always very busy and with road works taking place on Hazelwood Road for the coming months it is important that we minimise the throughput of cars on the school grounds.

We would also be grateful if parents could remind students:

• to use the pedestrian footpaths and not walk along or between cars when entering/leaving the school
• use the pedestrian gates only and not enter or leave the school via the main gate
• students are to take care in general when walking or cycling to school particularly with so many different sets of roadworks happening currently in Glanmire.

We kindly ask parents who are collecting their children from our school not to park their vehicles inappropriately. For example, we ask parents not to park up on footpaths. We are aware of some cars taking up the whole footpath, leaving no space for either our students or members of the public to walk freely by and limiting the access of wheel chair users.

We also ask parents and students to be respectful of the housing estates near the school around drop off & collection times. Cars queuing in school traffic on the Hazelwood Road are blocking the entrances to Old Avenue & Oakfield housing estates. Please leave a gap for residence trying to leave their estates.

We thank you for cooperation in ensuring added safety for our students when accessing the school grounds.

We hope you have a nice weekend.

GCC Senior Management

Ronan McCarthy (Principal), Caroline Byrne (Deputy Principal), Seamus Kennefick (Deputy Principal), Patrick O Mahony (Deputy Principal)