24th February 2022
Updated Covid-19 Guidance to Schools following the mid-term break 2022 – Please click link below
Updated Covid-19 Guidance Feb 2022
19th August 2021
Return to school Video advice for parents and students at different levels
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/a04fc-advice-for-students-and-their-families/#returning-to-school
Resources and materials for parents/guardians and for students on returning to school (multi-lingual)
School transport
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/64a88-school-transport/
25th February 2021
Please see document below re: Phased reopening of schools
Phase2.Reopening.Schools.Parents.Pupils
Please see document below re: Downtime/Revision time for students during Online Learning
Downtime.Revisiontime.Catchuptime
29th January 2021
Please see document re: Class Based assessments for 6th & 3rd Years
Class.Based.Assessment.LC.JC.2021
10th January 2021
Please see document re: Online Learning
Information.Distance Learning & Teaching
7th October 2020
At a recent meeting of the five Post Primary School Principals, a number of issues in relation to reopening of our schools & Covid 19 were discussed. Please see letter from the 5 Post Primary Principals of Wexford Town re: Covid 19.
Letter.from.5.Wexford.Town.Principals.
30th September 2020
Please find below: Health & Safety Policy for Covid 19 for students & our policy statement.
Health and Safety Control of COVID-19 Policy for students
3rd September 2020
Information for LC Class 2020:
If students would like to come in on Mon to receive a copy of their results from Mr Ryan. We will not have the results any earlier than they are available online. If your daughter is available on Mon she should contact our office to make an appointment. 053 9124133
Supports will be also in place for any student who gets their results online. If they would like to talk with a teacher, guidance counsellor, or Principal or Deputy Principals please make an appointment with the office. 053 9124133 Thank you.
The Leaving Cert results and CAO offers are due next week and, as usual, the National Parents’ Council post-primary (NPCpp) expert Helpline will be on hand. .
The 1800-265-165 freephone helpline will be staffed by members of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, while a representative of the grants agency, Susi, will also be answering queries.
Minister Foley announces details of Calculated Grades model for Leaving Certificate 2020
Leaving Certificate 2020: Your questions answered – September 2020
How to prepare for Leaving Cert results day
How to Cope With a Disappointing Leaving Cert Result
Important steps to remember if the results don’t go your way
Leaving Cert Results – Explore your next steps
31st August
Please find below: Key Messages Booklet for Students/Parents, Slideshow from Back to School Assembly
26th August 2020
Please see link below for updated Reopening Dates for Students.
24th August 2020
Please see link below for Return to School Update 3
13th August 2020
Please see link below for Return to School Update 2
11th August 2020
Please see link below for Return to School Update 1
29th July 2020
Please see the following documents below. Letter from Min for Education, Circular 0046/2020 Full Return to School, & the Roadmap for full return to school.
We are in the process of putting all the necessary protocols and means needed in order to ensure a safe return for all of our students & staff.
I will be in touch in the next while when I have more detailed and concrete information about our return. Our priority is to make sure that everyone in our school community is safe and that all recommendations from the NPHET & the DES are followed.
William Ryan
26th May Student & Parent Guides to Calculated Grades
The DES have issued a parent & student guide to calculated grades which can be downloaded below.
25th May LC Portal for Students
In circular 0037/2020, we indicated that the technical administration of the Calculated Grade model, for Leaving Certificate 2020 would be supported by an online system for students. This online system, the Calculated Grades Student Portal, available through http://www.gov.ie/leavingcertificate
Please note the window:
Opening 10 AM on Tuesday 26 May. Closing 10 PM on Thursday 28 May.
It is essential that students register on the portal at this time and, as required, confirm their levels. The sooner that this is done, the sooner the Calculated Grades Executive Office can provide schools with confirmation of final subject levels for students so that schools can complete their task of providing an estimated percentage mark and class rank order for each student
Later on, students will use the portal to opt to receive calculated grades, to access their calculated grades, and to access later stages of the process such as the appeal procedures.
This is a tight timeframe, so students need to gather the following information before commencing the registration process You will need:
their Leaving Certificate examination number
their Personal Public Service (PPS) number (which they need to create a Personal Identification Number)
an email address to which they will have regular access over the coming months – school one if okay
their mobile telephone number
Please see Letter to Students below & guide for the portal below:
25th May 2020
Please see link below to Instructional video to assist schools, further education and training centres and all other settings in the process of arriving at an estimated mark in class rank order for each student https://youtu.be/9l_RXpccvXI
24th May 2020
Clarifications provided by DES have addressed the queries regarding the legal indemnity for teachers which were raised by the ASTI, and the ASTI has confirmed that it is to advise its members to collaborate fully in the work underway in schools to provide estimated marks for students.
• An online portal for Leaving Certificate students will be open from next Tuesday 26 May. Students in the first instance will be requested to use the portal to confirm the level at which they indicated they would be taking the examinations in each subject.There will be an intense publicity campaign around the launch of the portal encouraging all students to register on the portal and confirm their subject level. Consideration is being given to students who may not have online access and also to students who may not engage in the process. A helpline will be available to support students with the portal.
• An instructional video to support schools & students in arriving at an estimated percentage mark and class rank ordering will be made available shortly. A link to the video will be published on http://www.gov.ie/leavingcertificate webpage on Monday.
• Information leaflets for schools & students and for parents/guardians on the calculated grades process are close to completion and will be available soon.
• A short infomercial for students, parents and guardians is being finalised and will be published in the coming days.
• http://www.gov.ie/leavingcertificate webpage hosts a series of Frequently Asked Questions which have been updated on foot of the publication of the guidance document.
Please see link to the ministers press release https://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2020-press-releases/PR20-02-22.html
Please see link to: Calculated Grades for Leaving Certificate 2020 – Guide for Schools on Providing Estimated Percentage Marks and Class Rank Ordering https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/74604/d9e27dc5986e49a5a1b24623e77308d3.pdf#page=5
Please see Circular 0037/2020 re LC 2020 Calculated Grades
12th May 2020
Please letter from Mr Ryan to Parents & 6th Year Students re Leaving Certificate 2020.
10th May 2020
I would like all of our 6th year students & their families to know that everyone of us here at PSS, Wexford & the entire school community will do everything we can to support you all. There will be an assembly at 3.00pm 11th May to deal with any questions or queries you may have.
I would encourage you all and your parents to read the following documents before the assembly.
Mr Ryan
Please see link to Ministers announcement re LC https://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2020-press-releases/PR20-05-08.html
Please see attached document on how Calculated grades will work.
Please click to read the FAQ list; where hopefully some of your major concerns and worries will be addressed. https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/2f07eb-leaving-cert-2020-information/#information-for-leaving-cert-students
1st May 2020
Please see document below explaining how students in 1st, 2nd, 4th & 5th year will be assessed at the end of the school year
29th April 2020
Following the Ministers statement today and As the Junior Certificate has been cancelled & there is now a certificate for the completion of Junior Cycle by the Department of Education and Skills, we believe that school certification is the best course of action rather than exams in September for which there will be no certification.The decision has been made after consultation with Parents/Guardians, Students, Teachers that there will be no JC exams in September.
Please see link below on how we at PSS, Wexford will assess our JC students for 2020. We believe that this approach is fair and will help to keep our 3rd year students focused and engaged the last few weeks of school. We also believe it looks after the well-being of our students, teachers and parents/guardians.
28th April
Online Assemblies:
Starting on Wednesday we will have online assemblies with each year group. They will be held on Microsoft Teams, and we ask that students turn off their mics. There will be an opportunity at the end for students to ask questions. During the assembly students will be addressed by: Mr Ryan, Ms C Ryan, Ms Dooley, their Year Head & their tutors
Assemblies for each year group are as follows:
- 3rd Year Online Assembly on Wednesday 29th April @ 10.00am
- 1st Year Online Assembly on Wednesday 29th April @ 10.30am
- 6th Year Online Assembly on Wednesday 29th April @ 1.30pm
- TY Online Assembly on Wednesday 29th April @ 2.00pm
- 6th Year Online Assembly on Wednesday 29th April @ 1.30pm
- 5th Year Online Assembly on Friday 1st May @ 10.00am
- 2nd Year Online Assembly on Friday 1st May @ 11.30am
A Message from our Guidance Department:
End of Year Assessments
1st, 2nd,4th, 5th Years – Will be informed during our assemblies this week of how you they will be assessed at the end of this school year. This will then be communicated to Parents/Guardians on this web page.
3rd Years – We are currently working on the best options for JC assessment following consultation with teachers, students &, parents/guardians. Students will be informed of the planned type of assessment at their assembly, but, please be aware that the we still await further instruction from the Minister of Education. This will then be communicated to Parents/Guardians on this web page.
21st April
Please see letter below from Mr Ryan to parents/guardians
19th April
Please see the documents below
Minsters Statement
Postponement of State Exams
Full Press Release from the Minister can be found at https://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2020-press-releases/PR20-04-10.html
FAQ’s re Postponement of State Exams
3rd April
Please see letter below from Mr Stafford re Cancelled New York/Boston Trip
1st April
Please see below Covid 19 Resources for Parents/Guardians & Students
Each Document contains Resources on Learning, Study, Coping Mechanisms, Well-being.
I hope these documents will be of some help to you all.
30th March 2020
Amended Remote Learning Timetable
Which come into effect for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 6th Years from Wednesday the 1st April.
TYs from Thursday the 2nd April.
Please continue to use the current timetable until then.
25th March 2020
Please letter below re Extension of School Closures
Please see link below for Covid-19 Statement from the Department of Education and Skills
https://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2020-press-releases/PR20-03-24.html
ROME SORRENTO TRIP REFUND
The claims process will open on Friday 27th March to get a refund for the Rome Sorrento trip.
Families involved need to follow the steps in the email from Saffron travel sent on Friday 20th March. Having checked all mailboxes, if you have not received that email please let Ms Sunderland know on esunderland@preswex.ie
23rd March 2020
I hope you all managed to get some much needed down time and got to enjoy the lovely weather we had yesterday. It does indeed help.There is no other way to express it but these are indeed anxious times. I sincerely hope that you are all well, looking after yourselves and connecting with those we care about remotely. Please god this will end soon.
The last few days have certainly been very different in terms of education and our normal working & personal lives.
I am very proud of the staff and students of our school, I am proud of the work that both you as teachers are putting in and for the most part the work our students are putting it.
So, I ask that you pace yourselves and the work that you are assigning to your students. This may last weeks/months who knows! The saying its a marathon and not a sprint has never been more appropriate than now.
Do not have any reason to fall behind. This situation will end and your education should not suffer as a result. Have no regrets!!
3rd & 6th years please stay focused. Despite last weeks news about orals and practicals the state exams are still going ahead as well as course work which is now planned for the 15th of May.
So, I am going to ask you all to practice the 4 Ss of sustainability that have been used & mentioned on social media over the weekend.
- SIMPLE
- SLOW
- STEADY
- SUPPORT
19th March 2020
Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD has today (Thursday 19 March 2020) announced the cancellation of oral and practical performance tests of the state examinations which were originally scheduled to take place from Monday 23 March to Friday 3 April 2020.
All students who were due to take these tests will be awarded full marks for this portion of the exam.
The decision was taken in light of the closure of schools as a result of the Covid-19 virus and it will be implemented by the State Examinations Commission (SEC).
Minister McHugh said: “This is a difficult time for all. Students are facing a challenging period out of school and our decision on this element of the exams is being taken with their best interests at heart.
Project and Course Work completion deadlines are extended to Friday 15 May for the following subjects:
- Leaving Certificate Computer Science, Physical Education, Technology, Art, Agricultural Science, Agricultural Economics, History, Geography, Religious Education, Politics and Society, Music, Constructions Studies and Home Economics;
- Junior Cycle Metalwork, Materials Technology Wood, Technology and Religious Education;
- Junior Cycle Assessment Tasks in English, Irish, Modern languages, Science and Business Studies.
Second phase of practical examinations remain as originally scheduled from Monday 27 April to Friday 8 May, as well as the final written examination in the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) scheduled for Wednesday 6 May, a range of oral and practical tests in the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) programme, along with the first examination in Leaving Certificate Computer Science on Wednesday 27 May, and the final written examinations commencing on 3 June.
It is seen that the awarding of full marks for the oral and practical performance tests was considered to be the most fair to candidates as it guarantees that no candidate can be awarded a mark lower than they would have achieved in the test. No other approach to generating a result for these components would have given this guarantee. These decisions have at all time been guided by consideration of the best interests of students.
My advice to students is that they should continue to prepare for the remaining elements of their examinations as scheduled.
Please see full statement below:
https://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2020-press-releases/PR20-03-19.html
Please see updated letter from Mr Stafford in relation to the planned New York/Boston trip.
18th March 2020
*Remote Teaching Timetable commenced today. See Timetable below. We are working on a limited timetable for our Transition Year students. We will notify TY students/parents/guardians when it is operational.
A note to students:
*Please make sure to get the work completed that will be assigned by your teachers.
*Your teachers have spent and will spend a lot of time preparing work and lessons for you all so please try and get the work done when assigned by your teachers.
A note to our 2nd, 3rd & 6th Years
• The timing of Class Based Assessments (CBAs) will be adjusted to take account of this school closure. Please do not be worrying about them at the moment
• The State Examinations Commission will direct us on the timing of the practical exams, course work and orals. This information will be immediately communicated to you by email and our school website, twitter and by text message.
• Mock results – not all results were back before we were asked to close last Thursday. Teachers will input whatever results they have and the reports will go live on Friday the 20th at 3.30pm.
13th March 2020
Letter about school closure & Remote teaching
Updated Remote Teaching Timetable
Letter from Mr Stafford re: New York/Boston GAA Trip
12th March 2020
16.00pm
An announcement was made this morning by the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD of the closure of schools, pre-schools and further and higher education settings, for a period until 29 March 2020, to support efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19. This will take effect from 6pm this evening, Thursday 12 March. This is in line with the advice of the National Public Health emergency Team.
• The context of this decision is to try to minimise social contact.
• Schools are closed to students during the period of closure.
• In order to minimise the impact on teaching and learning, all schools are asked to continue to plan lessons and, where possible, provide online resources for students or online lessons where schools are equipped to do so. Schools are asked to be conscious of students that may not have access to online facilities and to consider this actively in their response.
• Teaching staff and non-teaching staff should be facilitated in working from home during normal school hours where this is possible.
• Caretaking, secretarial, cleaning and other staff should only be in the school as necessary.
• Where facilities are available in a school for online delivery of support for students, teachers who wish to avail of this should be facilitated, once this is in line with HSE advice on social distancing and gatherings.
• Schools are asked to prioritise supporting exam classes to continue to prepare for State examinations.
• The State Examinations Commission will issue updates regarding the impact of school closure on the oral and practical examinations.
• It is advised that all school facilities such as sports halls, swimming pools and playing pitches should be closed during the period of school closure.
11.00am
Taoiseach Covid-19 special statement: Schools and colleges and childcare facilities to close from 6pm tonight until March 29th.
If students would like to come and get items from their lockers today they are more than welcome.
No information as of yet re: orals/Practicals.
We are planning here in the school in the case of School Closure. We have devised a timetable for students that will work for the closure should it occur.
Teachers have been asked to be available at the allocated times and to assign students work for these allocated times.
We ask that all Parents/Guardians ask their daughter that they have access to their school emails, and also the learning platforms that teachers use such as Edmodo/Seesaw/Schoology etc.
We would also advise students to keep their books at home and copies to make sure they have the books needed for work assigned by teachers.
Please see the planned Remote Teaching Timetable below.
11th March 2020
Please see attached a letter from the Chief Medical Officer for school principals which gives advice which schools should follow.
It outlines how decisions regarding school closures will be taken in line with public health advice.
Up to date information on Covid-19 that is relevant to education settings is available at www.education.ie/Covid19
The Department will continue to keep us updated as the situation evolves.
10th March 2020
As you may be aware the news has broken that Italy has gone into lockdown. Saffron Travel has been in touch to say that the advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs is now that Irish people should not travel to Italy. Therefore, our planned Home Economics trip to Rome & Sorrento from the 2nd to the 5th April is now cancelled.
Please see letter below in relation to same.
6th March 2020
All information provided specifically to schools in relation to Coronavirus – Covid 19 will continue to be placed on our website under the clearly designated tab.
This issue is monitored on a daily basis and the school will follow the advice provided by the relevant statutory authorities.
All students are advised to wash their hands thoroughly and frequently. Additionally, they are asked to practise proper respiratory hygiene when coughing or sneezing.
Every student should ensure that she is able to access her email address as provided by the school. Whilst we hope that school closures will not be necessary as a consequence of this coronavirus outbreak, it is important that students be able to access emails for work/notes that may be provided by teachers during such a closure.
Students with a difficulty in this regard should speak to Ms Dooley, Ms C Ryan or Ms O’Brien
Ms. Sunderland will be liaising with families in the coming days regarding the planned school tour to Italy at Easter.
Please see relevant information below
Further information & updates from The DES can be found here:
25TH FEB 2020
As many of you are aware, some of our TY students & their teachers returned from a skiing trip in Italy last Friday. We are very much aware that people are concerned as to what consequences this may have with regard to the coronavirus COVID19.
The school has been in contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the HSE. The advice to-date is if you are feeling unwell to contact your doctor for medical advice.
If you are feeling unwell please refer to the HSE website:
https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/
Any further updates from the HSE on how we should proceed and what measures should be taken if any we will let you know.
Attached is a document with recommendations on how to prevent the spread of infection.