Arrangements for Assessment and Reporting of Third Year Student Learning 2020

Please note the following arrangements have been approved by the Board of Management after consultation for the assessment of the Third Year class of 2020, in line with Department of Education and Skills guidelines.

This year’s Third Years will be assessed in two parts:

  1. A State Certificate
  2. A School Report

 

The State Certificate

This is a certificate of completion of the Junior Certificate from the Department of Education and Skills. Students will receive a State Certification showing that they have completed the three years of the Junior Cycle programme of study, including the list of subjects studied and at what level. This will be issued to all students in early 2021.

The School Report

This is a school based written report that sets out a student’s learning achievements in Junior Cycle in a whole school approach. It will be issued in Summer 2020 to all students in Third Year. It will show all the subjects studied by a student, with a grade/descriptor and a comment from the class teacher:

  • For Geography, History, Home Economics, Maths, Music, Technology subjects (Woodwork, Metalwork, Technical Graphics) – a  grade/percentage mark will be used (in line with the Junior Certificate).
  • In all other subjects, that are in Year 3 of the new Junior Cycle programme – students will be given a grade descriptor which corresponds to a grade band (Distinction/Higher Merit/Merit/Achieved/Partially Achieved/Not Graded). These have been used for assessments and are familiar to students and their parents/guardians.

In line with Department of Education and Skills guidelines and advice from management bodies to place greater weighting on work prior to the shutdown, the following breakdown of how the result will be awarded will be used at John the Baptist Community School:

  • 35% for the pre-examination result
  • 35% for previous exams/assessments completed in class etc.
  • 15% for online engagement e.g. contribution to class discussions, interactions with class materials/submission of materials such as assignments done to best of ability etc.
  • 15% for a short final assessment that is limited in scope

Variations on this grade breakdown will occur in practical subjects to reflect the practical nature of the exam so that students can be rewarded for their practical work and projects.

Any Classroom Based Assessment (CBA) that has been completed in full and corrected will be included on the report, represented by a descriptor (Exceptional/Above exceptions/In line with expectations/Yet to meet expectations).

At John the Baptist Community School, the school report will also include an opportunity for students to show their Other Areas of Learning and wellbeing experiences, allowing them to illustrate a broad range of learning. All students will receive a link to collect this learning by an online form in the coming days.

Subjects teachers have been in contact with all Third Years through online learning platforms such as Edmodo and Teams to outline the process.

John the Baptist Community School would like to thank all our students and parents/guardians for their patience, interest and engagement though this unprecedented time.  Keep safe and well.

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