FAO 6th Year Parents re Predictive Grades

Dear Parent/Guardian,

It has been a particularly difficult and fractured period for your son/daughter(s) preparations to sit the Leaving Certificate/Leaving Certificate Applied/Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme.

We acknowledge that existing and anticipated physical and practical requirements to protect the health of all citizens has meant that the holding of the examinations at the end of July was not feasible.

We hope that the clarity brought about by Minister’s Mc Hugh’s announcement on Friday May 8th in relation to the postponement of the 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations has lifted some of the pressure within your home. It enables your son/daughter(s) to conclude their second-level education and pursue their respective paths.

We are conscious there is no perfect solution but are now fully committed to advancing the calculated grades model as outlined in ‘A Guide to Calculated Grades for Leaving Certificate Students May 2020’. The guide can be accessed via this link: https://www.gov.ie/pdf/74043/?page=1

There is also a FAQs document that you may find helpful. https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/2f07eb-leaving-cert-2020-information/#information-for-leaving-cert-students

We are awaiting further guidelines on how to proceed with the calculated grading process and will implement these as instructed by the Department of Education and Skills.

At the core of both the school-based and national standardisation phases of the system of calculated grades is a commitment to objectivity and fairness. To ensure this, the school-based process must not be compromised.

Therefore, the principal, deputy principal, teachers or other members of the school staff must not and will 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.

There are two reasons for this:

1. The mark assigned by the school is not necessarily the final mark that the student will receive and it would therefore be misleading for the student to receive that mark before the calculated grade processes are complete.

2. Allowing access to and discussion of estimated grades before the calculated grades process is complete would interfere with the process being carried out properly and fairly. If teachers discussed the marks with some students but not with others, or if some teachers did this and

others did not, these discussions might actually influence or be represented or construed as influencing the mark the teacher submits to the subject alignment group.

In light of the above, we really appreciate your co-operation and understanding regarding our staff not being in a position to engage in any conversations, directly or indirectly, with yourselves or your son/daughter (s) about the school based phase of the calculated grading system.

The graduation ceremony for the resilient class of 2020 which was due to be held on Wednesday May 13th will be rescheduled as soon as it is safe to do so. The successful completion of their second level courses at Bailieborough Community School will be celebrated and their contributions to our school will be formally recognised.

We thank you for past and continued support.

Stay safe and keep well.

Fergal Kenny 

Deputy Principal

Martha Lievens

Principal