Schools closed until March/April? (part 4) Mod warning in OP 22/01

check_six · 23-01-2021 01:51PM

jimmytwotimes 2013 wrote: »

My 5th years are looking on horrified as they think they will be competing with two years of record results by the time they get around to doing it.

Many courses jumped on points required this year.

I thought 'points required' was only based on the current exam cycle results. You take all the applicants, order them by points achieved this year, and start offering down the list until you run out of places. You might have 100 places, 99 applicants who got 500+ points, and number 100 who got 250. Now your 'points required' are 250 if I understand correctly.

Do they take results from the previous year too? Deferred entry or something like that?

TheValeyard · 23-01-2021 01:53PM

km79 wrote: »

I wasn’t expecting that tbh
Kind of worrying for a lot of reasons

Agreed.

1) do they know something we dont?
2) is the return to school related to the vaccine rollout?
3) where does this leave this year's exams?
4) trapped in my house with my own crotch goblins for that extra time!!
5) it's depressing.

khalessi · 23-01-2021 01:57PM

downthemiddle wrote: »

Norma is out of her depth. She resembles the captain of the Titanic. Iceberg, what iceberg?

Yup Ive said this before and the school staff are the violinists

alroley · 23-01-2021 01:57PM

km79 wrote: »

Blended learning here we come so
I expect teachers will be back in the classroom after mid term and year groups will rotate in and out on a bi weekly basis with the exception of leaving certs
Teachers will teach all classes from their classrooms whether they are remote or in person . S and s Rotas will operate as normal to cover absences
No other way I can see it working

They'll pretty much cancel the LC next week.

khalessi · 23-01-2021 01:59PM

I think they are starting the realise the virus is the enemy

downthemiddle · 23-01-2021 02:00PM

khalessi wrote: »

I think they are starting the realise the virus is the enemy

You are the eternal optimist.

helpful · 23-01-2021 02:02PM

Wow didn’t see that coming really I presumed February 22nd at the latest.
I feel bad for the Leaving Certs but also for those junior infants who have just settled into formal education who will now have to start all over again as well as those in teacher training who were supposed to start final placements in the coming weeks. Wonder what the teaching council will do with them?
Interesting few days ahead

Coneygree · 23-01-2021 02:02PM

Tbh better to put the expected return date out as far as possible and then work at chipping away at it week by week in the hope the return will only be a few weeks away. It might scare the parts of the country where people still are not obeying restrictions to cop on and get case rates down for once and for all.

Much better strategy than just ya wan demanding schools open tomorrow with no plan in place.

Str8outtaWuhan · 23-01-2021 02:03PM

They'll pretty much cancel the LC next week.

What will 60000 young adults for the next 4 months if they know they haven't to sit an exam?

There are only so many Kahoots in the world

alroley · 23-01-2021 02:07PM

Str8outtaWuhan wrote: »

What will 60000 young adults for the next 4 months if they know they haven't to sit an exam?

There are only so many Kahoots in the world

No, I feel like they'll still have to do mock exams at some stage. With examcraft being the only company running them - there could be an agreement that they are all done on the same days in each school at some time in April or something. Use those plus all other tests to get calculated grades.

khalessi · 23-01-2021 02:11PM

downthemiddle wrote: »

You are the eternal optimist.

Well ya know, schools are safe:D

History Queen · 23-01-2021 02:12PM

alroley wrote: »

No, I feel like they'll still have to do mock exams at some stage. With examcraft being the only company running them - there could be an agreement that they are all done on the same days in each school at some time in April or something. Use those plus all other tests to get calculated grades.

If they can coordinate mocks nationally they can coordinate the LC.

Far too much store is placed in the mocks.

downthemiddle · 23-01-2021 02:13PM

khalessi wrote: »

Well ya know, schools are safe:D

If only there was someone to keep reminding us, we might all be reassured.

BonsaiKitten · 23-01-2021 02:15PM

helpful wrote: »

Wow didn’t see that coming really I presumed February 22nd at the latest.
I feel bad for the Leaving Certs but also for those junior infants who have just settled into formal education who will now have to start all over again as well as those in teacher training who were supposed to start final placements in the coming weeks. Wonder what the teaching council will do with them?
Interesting few days ahead

Just on the student teachers, some of the teaching colleges put out a call for schools to take them on to help with remote learning. Many placements were due to start at the beginning of Jan and a lot of schools dropped them.

I have one with me now and another coming in the next couple of weeks. They seem happy for them to do anything so mine is essentially doing learning support all day long. Very, very handy to have.

alroley · 23-01-2021 02:17PM

History Queen wrote: »

If they can coordinate mocks nationally they can coordinate the LC.

Far too much store is placed in the mocks.

I think the issue is that the 6th years have had online learning for such a large part of the LC course. Some of them don't have Wifi or a device.

They shouldn't be relying on ONLY one exam.

Bananaleaf · 23-01-2021 02:18PM

Sorry all, posted what Taoiseach said with no proof as was listening to it at the time of him saying it.

The Brendan O'Connor interview with MM this morning was actually very good. MM sounded very honest and human in it.

landofthetree · 23-01-2021 02:18PM

https://twitter.com/colettebrowne/status/1352965575304208384

landofthetree · 23-01-2021 02:22PM

Str8outtaWuhan wrote: »

What will 60000 young adults for the next 4 months if they know they haven't to sit an exam?

There are only so many Kahoots in the world

Everybody knows the LC isnt happening this summer. They should just be honest at this stage.

Bananaleaf · 23-01-2021 02:24PM

TheValeyard wrote: »

Agreed.

1) do they know something we dont?
2) is the return to school related to the vaccine rollout?
3) where does this leave this year's exams?
4) trapped in my house with my own crotch goblins for that extra time!!
5) it's depressing.

Crotch goblins oh my good god hahahahaha can you please come over to my house and clean me up, I've spilled my coffee everywhere from laughing so much.

What MM had to say in general terms was depressing. Re: vaccine rollout he reckons we will be in some form of lockdown for the entire first half of the year. He hopes we will have adjusted to living with it by the summer and can have some kind of june july and august. He more or less said (or might have actually said) that the vaccine is our only hope of returning to normal and he all but said the LC is gone

History Queen · 23-01-2021 02:25PM

alroley wrote: »

I think the issue is that the 6th years have had online learning for such a large part of the LC course. Some of them don't have Wifi or a device.

They shouldn't be relying on ONLY one exam.

It isn't only one exam. Most subjects have a project or practical componant. Changes have been made to papers, will be made to the marking scheme if needs be and perhaps more changes again if needed.

If LC students are back to school in next few weeks the LC can and should happen.

The LC needs reform no doubt. Mid pandemic is not the time to do it.

Loafing Oaf · 23-01-2021 02:27PM

Bananaleaf wrote: »

he all but said the LC is gone

Did he? Anyone catch his exact words?

km79 · 23-01-2021 02:27PM

Bananaleaf wrote: »

Crotch goblins oh my good god hahahahaha can you please come over to my house and clean me up, I've spilled my coffee everywhere from laughing so much.

What MM had to say in general terms was depressing. Re: vaccine rollout he reckons we will be in some form of lockdown for the entire first half of the year. He hopes we will have adjusted to living with it by the summer and can have some kind of june july and august. He more or less said (or might have actually said) that the vaccine is our only hope of returning to normal and he all but said the LC is gone

When you sit back and think about it as a whole it’s so so so depressing

I don’t think schools will even be back to “normal” for the start of the next school year now either
I honestly never considered that until now

alroley · 23-01-2021 02:30PM

History Queen wrote: »

It isn't only one exam. Most subjects have a project or practical componant. Changes have been made to papers, will be made to the marking scheme if needs be and perhaps more changes again if needed.

If LC students are back to school in next few weeks the LC can and should happen.

The LC needs reform no doubt. Mid pandemic is not the time to do it.

I have a 6th year accounting class. The exam counts for 100%. For Business it is also 100%.

The "changes" made to accounting are useless. They said one topic is guaranteed. That topic has been on every single LC accounting paper in the same format since before I was born.

The only other change made was in section one - students have always had a choice here and they know and practice which one they will do well before the exams. The change was made to only one of the choices.

km79 · 23-01-2021 02:30PM

History Queen wrote: »

It isn't only one exam. Most subjects have a project or practical componant. Changes have been made to papers, will be made to the marking scheme if needs be and perhaps more changes again if needed.

If LC students are back to school in next few weeks the LC can and should happen.

The LC needs reform no doubt. Mid pandemic is not the time to do it.

I just don’t see how you can say we need a strict lockdown until at least June and at the same time expect students /people to believe that they will be sitting in exam rooms together in June for hours on end
The death knell is ringing now . May as well just announce the move to predicted grades to allow schools to adjust assessments plans accordingly

Stateofyou · 23-01-2021 02:30PM

History Queen wrote: »

It isn't only one exam. Most subjects have a project or practical componant. Changes have been made to papers, will be made to the marking scheme if needs be and perhaps more changes again if needed.

If LC students are back to school in next few weeks the LC can and should happen.

The LC needs reform no doubt. Mid pandemic is not the time to do it.

Why do you think now isn't the time to do it?
It's been under review for some time right, with no progress so maybe this is the catalyst that finally get's it sorted.

jimmytwotimes 2013 · 23-01-2021 02:30PM

check_six wrote: »

I thought 'points required' was only based on the current exam cycle results. You take all the applicants, order them by points achieved this year, and start offering down the list until you run out of places. You might have 100 places, 99 applicants who got 500+ points, and number 100 who got 250. Now your 'points required' are 250 if I understand correctly.

Do they take results from the previous year too? Deferred entry or something like that?

There will be students who will not apply in the year of their exams and feed ahead in the following years

mirrorwall14 · 23-01-2021 02:30PM

km79 wrote: »

Blended learning here we come so
I expect teachers will be back in the classroom after mid term and year groups will rotate in and out on a bi weekly basis with the exception of leaving certs
Teachers will teach all classes from their classrooms whether they are remote or in person . S and s Rotas will operate as normal to cover absences
No other way I can see it working

This is going to be ridiculous in overcrowded schools. At home I have a widescreen monitor, iPad, Apple Pencil, chargers, phone holder and cables plus my MacBook to run live lessons. Only the MacBook is the schools and I’m lucky to have it.

Our school is so tight on space the only way this would work is for us to teach from the actual rooms on our timetable because every single space is in use for every single class. Which means carting stuff around or delivery from just the MacBook and maybe the iPad which limits the lesson.

Equally the school WiFi is absolutely appalling. They couldn’t even reliably pipe me to the whiteboard while waiting for a sub. I’d be sitting at my laptop ready to give class and they wouldn’t be able to connect. It’s being worked on but not sure if it’s been able to be continued during lockdown

If this is what happens I’ll be proposing to my sub (I’m very high risk) I’ll take the online classes and she takes the in school groups. My internet is multiples of the school line

Bananaleaf · 23-01-2021 02:32PM

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Did he? Anyone catch his exact words?

No I didn't catch his exact words. It was just that it was actually a very good interview and MM was being very honest and direct about a lot of things. He wasn't deflecting and he was answering. But when it came to the LC he sort of went back to that cageyness. He made some comment about how he couldn't just say that here and now that there had to be discussions etc.

I'll see if I can listen back and find the exact words now.

jimmytwotimes 2013 · 23-01-2021 02:33PM

Stateofyou wrote: »

Why do you think now isn't the time to do it?
It's been under review for some time right, with no progress so maybe this is the catalyst that finally get's it sorted.

The Dept normally drags out reform by staggering the introduction of new subject specifications and also overdoing inservice which probably isn't possible right now.

Jobs for the boys would also dictate that loads of committees have to sit around pretending they're busy working on their groundbreaking ideas

The wheels of change turn deliberately slowly in the Dept

khalessi · 23-01-2021 02:35PM

The poor kids who decided to repeat after last years debacle

Schools closed until March/April? (part 4) **Mod warning in OP 22/01**

Comments

Schools closed until March/April? (part 4) Mod warning in OP 22/01