Circular Number: 0037/2020

6am7f9zxrsjvnb

Bobtheman wrote: »

I just have an Ordinary Level Class-no foundation. I presume I can submit away!

You’re good to go. Nobody’s going to move up!

History Queen

Anyone else having difficulty getting colleagues to hold alignment meeting? Two in my school insisting on waiting for levels "just in case". Won't listen to reason even though they've been shown the guidelines and union recommendations which are to proceed... starting to cause division as one in particular hasevery excuse under the sun for why meetings need to be rescheduled so we envisage them delaying the process further even after levels are received by not being available for a meeting promptly. This then stops the rest of us dropping in our own paperwork.

Irritating in the extreme.

km79

Principal told us it will be next Tuesday at the earliest before schools have confirmation of levels !

jimmytwotimes 2013

History Queen wrote: »

Anyone else having difficulty getting colleagues to hold alignment meeting? Two in my school insisting on waiting for levels "just in case". Won't listen to reason even though they've been shown the guidelines and union recommendations which are to proceed... starting to cause division as one in particular hasevery excuse under the sun for why meetings need to be rescheduled so we envisage them delaying the process further even after levels are received by not being available for a meeting promptly. This then stops the rest of us dropping in our own paperwork.

Irritating in the extreme.

Our management insisting the meetings can't take place (no basis for this obviously)

Some have held meetings, some haven't.

The silence on levels is definitely annoying at this stage

6am7f9zxrsjvnb

History Queen wrote: »

Anyone else having difficulty getting colleagues to hold alignment meeting? Two in my school insisting on waiting for levels "just in case". Won't listen to reason even though they've been shown the guidelines and union recommendations which are to proceed... starting to cause division as one in particular hasevery excuse under the sun for why meetings need to be rescheduled so we envisage them delaying the process further even after levels are received by not being available for a meeting promptly. This then stops the rest of us dropping in our own paperwork.

Irritating in the extreme.[/quot
Our alignment meeting was on Tuesday 26th May.
I had my ranking and percentage worked out on May 21.

Just waiting on news to see if any of my HL have
dropped.

A bit bored with it all now...the tumbleweed vibe of this thread suggests I’m not alone!

mirrorwall14

I’ve a small class and none of them will have dropped. Held the alignment meeting with a colleague who took them during my maternity leave (single class subject) and now waiting....

History Queen

Anyone know what the nature of the delay is?

km79

History Queen wrote: »

Anyone know what the nature of the delay is?

Can only imagine they are trying to contact those who didn’t sign up online ?

LW2018

km79 wrote: »

Principal told us it will be next Tuesday at the earliest before schools have confirmation of levels !

Our Principal told us by the end of this week but this is seeming more and more unlikely now given it is Thursday afternoon and the Exam Aide's don't even know their duties yet.

km79

LW2018 wrote: »

Our Principal told us by the end of this week but this is seeming more and more unlikely now given it is Thursday afternoon and the Exam Aide's don't even know their duties yet.

We were told that today

jimmytwotimes 2013

Principals know no more than anybody else.

The Irish Times will tell us before anyone else

History Queen

jimmytwotimes 2013 wrote: »

Principals know no more than anybody else.

The Irish Times will tell us before anyone else

This is depressingly true

wirelessdude01

Some portal between schools and department to go live on Monday next according to McHugh just now.

r93kaey5p2izun

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Some portal between schools and department to go live on Monday next according to McHugh just now.

Sounds like they're constructing some sort of stargate in Marlborough Street, ffs. It would at least explain the delays I suppose.

Smacruairi

Did mine with my colleagues last week. All boxed off, and if we get word of someone dropping, then a minor change needed.

It's really not that overly complicated, guys. The DES spent about 9minutes thinking through this one, we really shouldn't be spending more time than that! And if something needs to be changed, Carl O Brien will text us all sure.

jimmytwotimes 2013

Smacruairi wrote: »

It's really not that overly complicated, guys.

Might get you to ring our place. Have gotten about 20 emails about it so far

LW2018

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Some portal between schools and department to go live on Monday next according to McHugh just now.

Was he speaking on radio or in the Dáil?

History Queen

LW2018 wrote: »

Was he speaking on radio or in the Dáil?

In the Dáil. Nothing earth shattering as far as I heard but I didn't watch it all.

Notorious

Here's an interesting one for you. A student who was school refusal and had a tutor during the start of 2020. Said student opted for ordinary level at Christmas and based on work/results would have struggled to pass the OL paper.

The student chose to move to higher level when given the option last week and was backed by the tutor who thinks they'll do well at HL.

The tutor has one opinion and the teacher another. The parent wants the tutor to grade the student and the principal seems to be obliging.

Any idea who should give the predicted grade here?

Mardy Bum

Notorious wrote: »

Here's an interesting one for you. A student who was school refusal and had a tutor during the start of 2020. Said student opted for ordinary level at Christmas and based on work/results would have struggled to pass the OL paper.

The student chose to move to higher level when given the option last week and was backed by the tutor who thinks they'll do well at HL.

The tutor has one opinion and the teacher another. The parent wants the tutor to grade the student and the principal seems to be obliging.

Any idea who should give the predicted grade here?

Student should have given his form regarding levels to the school in March. If they were OL then, they are not allowed to move up.

Leftwaffe

km79 wrote: »

We were told that today

Were we? I'm exam aide and I haven't heard specifically what my duties are. I was given a list of what our job might entail but nothing concrete.

km79

Redordeadqwwer wrote: »

Were we? I'm exam aide and I haven't heard specifically what my duties are. I was given a list of what our job might entail but nothing concrete.

Sorry what I meant was
We were told today by our principal that schools were not getting confirmation of levels until next Tuesday

derb12

Referring to notorious' post a few posts back:

That's correct - they are definitely not allowed to move up a level. It's here https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/bc2b3-calculated-grades-student-portal-before-you-start-guide/ - point 7 under "how to confirm levels"

Leftwaffe

km79 wrote: »

Sorry what I meant was
We were told today by our principal that schools were not getting confirmation of levels until next Tuesday

Ah ok thanks.

Pintman Paddy Losty

Are teachers going to be taking grinds in to account? My son's maths teacher is thick as two planks so we've had him doing grinds since Christmas. He's worried that even though he improved massively over the last two exams that it won't be fully taken in to account because he doesn't get on with the teacher at all. Is there anything in the guide about considering extra curricular activity?

Notorious

derb12 wrote: »

Referring to notorious' post a few posts back:

That's correct - they are definitely not allowed to move up a level. It's here https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/bc2b3-calculated-grades-student-portal-before-you-start-guide/ - point 7 under "how to confirm levels"

Well I can tell you that I was personally contacted by the Dept about the move. The student was registered at OL in March and has moved up in a number of subjects. Once the tutor gave the green light that the student had studied the higher level coursework, it was deemed acceptable.

I was trying to maintain impartiality on this but essentially what is happening is that the student's tutor is going easy and giving the student a mark at higher level (which I assume will be H6 or higher), when in reality the student has never passed an ordinary level exam. Management seem happy to go with the tutor even though the teacher feels it's unfair on the rest of the class who aren't being given the same treatment.

While I think the system is as fair as you're probably going to get, here's a perfect example of where it fails.

mirrorwall14

Notorious wrote: »

Well I can tell you that I was personally contacted by the Dept about the move. The student was registered at OL in March and has moved up in a number of subjects. Once the tutor gave the green light that the student had studied the higher level coursework, it was deemed acceptable.

I was trying to maintain impartiality on this but essentially what is happening is that the student's tutor is going easy and giving the student a mark at higher level (which I assume will be H6 or higher), when in reality the student has never passed an ordinary level exam. Management seem happy to go with the tutor even though the teacher feels it's unfair on the rest of the class who aren't being given the same treatment.

While I think the system is as fair as you're probably going to get, here's a perfect example of where it fails.

The department are mental to allow this. That opens the whole system to abuse

joebloggs32

Notorious wrote: »

Well I can tell you that I was personally contacted by the Dept about the move. The student was registered at OL in March and has moved up in a number of subjects. Once the tutor gave the green light that the student had studied the higher level coursework, it was deemed acceptable.

I was trying to maintain impartiality on this but essentially what is happening is that the student's tutor is going easy and giving the student a mark at higher level (which I assume will be H6 or higher), when in reality the student has never passed an ordinary level exam. Management seem happy to go with the tutor even though the teacher feels it's unfair on the rest of the class who aren't being given the same treatment.

While I think the system is as fair as you're probably going to get, here's a perfect example of where it fails.

That absolutely stinks to high heaven.
Best for you to keep as far away as possible from offering anything about grading that student in this case I'd say.

History Queen

Urgh... the whole system is riddled with issues... I can't wait to put it all behind us. Hopefully it won't disappoint too many students, I honestly despair that we've come to this.

Treppen

Notorious wrote: »

Well I can tell you that I was personally contacted by the Dept about the move. The student was registered at OL in March and has moved up in a number of subjects. Once the tutor gave the green light that the student had studied the higher level coursework, it was deemed acceptable.

I was trying to maintain impartiality on this but essentially what is happening is that the student's tutor is going easy and giving the student a mark at higher level (which I assume will be H6 or higher), when in reality the student has never passed an ordinary level exam. Management seem happy to go with the tutor even though the teacher feels it's unfair on the rest of the class who aren't being given the same treatment.

While I think the system is as fair as you're probably going to get, here's a perfect example of where it fails.

I would assume the student isn't included in the class ranking?