On 10th March, the TUI advised members that we had serious concerns over aspects of the Department’s published Guidelines on Assessment and Reporting on Students' Learning Junior Cycle 2021.
The Guide that issued from the Department on 9th March has hereby been withdrawn and replaced with a new guide (click here to access it).
TUI was successful in securing the following amendments to the Guide:
- It no longer breaches the 2015 Junior Cycle Agreement – reference to dual certification has been removed. The school report is not state certification – the Department of Education has confirmed this to the TUI. It is simply, a school report. (Section 3 of the Guide).
- There is more emphasis on the need for consultation with teachers of third year student when choosing the appropriate form of assessment (Section 4 of the Guide)
- A new section is included in Section 5 - ‘Where a school administers an end-of-term examination as part of this approach to assessment, public health guidelines should be followed. This will mean maintaining physical distancing, wearing of masks, hand-hygiene and sanitisation to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19. If an end-of-term examination is put in place for a subject, it is recommended that it is administered to individual class groups in their classrooms rather than in large assembly-style groupings.’
- Teachers of certain subjects expressed concern to the Union over the timeline for completing CBAs – new text is included in Section 5 - ‘In the current school year, where schools encountered particular difficulties due to COVID-19, additional flexibility was provided regarding the key dates for completion of the CBA process for the current third-year students. The CBA process, including Subject Learning and Assessment Review Meetings (SLARS), for any remaining CBAs should be completed to allow for a descriptor to be awarded to the student on their report for a CBA for each subject.’
TUI’s advice to members on Junior Cycle 2021 that issued on 10th March remains (click here).
Teachers should now proceed with planning for assessment and reporting for Junior Cycle 2021.
Junior Cycle 2022
The TUI also seeks immediate clarification on Classroom Based Assessments for the 2022 Junior Cycle. TUI believes that flexibility is needed that would allow teachers, at school level, the discretion as to whether or not they should proceed, depending on the extent of access to facilities etc.
The TUI has raised members’ concerns over second year CBAs directly with the Department and the NCCA and we expect clarification to issue shortly in this regard.