Dear Parents & Students,
Calculated Grades for Leaving Certificate Students 2020
Following the Minister’s announcement last Friday regarding the postponement of the Leaving Cert and the use of Calculated Grades for Leaving Cert students we wish to provide you with an update based on the information we know to date. It is important to state at the outset that there are many unknowns in relation to this process and this will limit our ability to give you definitive information today. We expect to have further clarification from the Department of Education & Skills (DES) later in the week, however, the following points can be made in the short term:
- As of last Friday 8 May online classes with Leaving Cert students are suspended pending further clarification from the DES.
- Until we have clarification from the DES regarding the process and timelines involved our teachers have been directed not to begin calculating grades for any Leaving Cert students.
Please click on the links below to view key documents which have been made available by the DES to schools
- Minister announces postponement of 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations
- A Guide to Calculated Grades for Leaving Certificate students 2020
- An FAQ document
We wish to bring your attention to Section 11.1 of the Guide to Calculated Grades (link above) which states that “the principal, deputy principal(s), teachers or other members of the school staff must not under any circumstances discuss with any student or with the parents or guardians of any student the estimated marks that the school is submitting”.
We are asking parents and students not to contact individual teachers or members of management regarding Calculated Grades through any forum and we have instructed our teachers that any such contacts are directed back to the DES website. This will ensure parents and students receive consistent and accurate information regarding the process and protects teachers from efforts to influence their decisions around grades.
It is also essential to highlight that students will be allowed appeal their calculated grades (Section 11.2 of the Guide to Calculated Grades) and all Leaving Cert students will have the option of sitting the Leaving Certificate examinations when it becomes feasible to hold them (Section 4 of the Guide to Calculated Grades).
We are all entering unchartered territory. We must now wait for clarity with regards to protocols and procedures in determining grades for our students. We appreciate that all the changes to the arrangements for Leaving Certificate students are a very significant move from the traditional approach. We are very much aware of the huge responsibility we are about to undertake and the trust that parents and students are placing in us as professionals. We will update you as soon as further information becomes available.
We will continue to update you as required through the school website and via our text messaging system.
GCC Senior Management Monday 11 May 2020