Our first year classes of 2020 have settled well into school. The students have learned new routines as well as making many new friends. The classes have all chosen their subject choices of Art, Catering, Metalwork, Music, Woodwork, Business and Science. We may not have all the extra curricular activities to offer our first years, but hope the new year will give everyone a chance to experience many more of the activities Kylemore College has to offer.

Take a look below at how the first years have been welcomed into our school and how wonderfully they have settled into life at Kylemore College.

WELCOME FIRST YEARS

Every School Day Counts Poster Competition

Congratulations to Zoe Gonzalez Moyano , Mihail Spasov , Dylan Mullen and Shauna O'Keeffe who won prizes for their fantastic posters.

Pizza Party For the best Class Attendance

Our ‘Every School Day Counts, attendance campaign kicked off on Monday November 2nd and ran until Friday November 27th, 20 days in total.

The purpose of this campaign which is now in its 2nd year at Kylemore College is to put the emphasis on the importance of attending school every day. By supporting our students to attend daily, especially in these challenging times, we are sending a message to them that their education is of the utmost importance to us as educators and to you as the primary care givers in the home.

Statistics show that students who attend school every day and on time achieve better academically. However it’s not just academic achievement that’s important to our young people. Our regular attendees have more opportunity to avail of the many supports we offer our students to attend, participate and stay on in education to Leaving Cert and beyond. By being in everyday our students acquire a positive sense of belonging to the school and are happier to be here.

Students with 100% attendance each week will be entered into a draw for a €50 One4All voucher. There is a weekly voucher for a junior cycle and a senior cycle winner. In addition whole class attendance as a percentage will be displayed on classroom doors each week, this will create a positive sense of competition between the classes and will encourage those struggling to attend to make more of an effort to come in. The class with the best attendance over the entire 20 day period will receive a pizza party.

If you are struggling to get your young person into school please contact the form tutor immediately. We will support you to improve attendance so that your young person gets the very best of his/her time with us. As always we thank you for you continued support.

Ms L Keegan

Halloween Fancy Dress

Just before the October mid term, class Corrib organised a fancy dress competition for all Junior Cycle students. The aim of the event was to raise money for Pieta House.

Many of the teachers got involved in the event too, providing plenty of fun and entertainment on the day.

The students of Class Corrib visited each group and decided....

Ms Sherlock won best teacher

Alex Clarke class Ash won best student.

Thank You Ms Quinn for organising the event

Music Moments

The music department has been a strangely quiet place since we returned to school in August. The new routines mean that we cannot perform in groups in class or at lunchtime. Despite this we are determined to be creative.

The 1st years are exploring Apps for composing with Mr Flynn and the 2nd and 3rd years are busy creating CBA portfolios and recording practical work at home for Mr Kelly. Our Music for Success students have been taking their instrument and voice lessons over Zoom and we are trying to offer this opportunity to as many students as possible this year, especially the 5th and 6th year Leaving Cert music class.

The time will come again when we can perform and socialise through music. In the meantime here is a piece we worked on during lock down 1.

Mr Kelly

Niall de Burca Zooms into Kylemore College

Niall, the storyteller, who is a regular visitor to Kylemore to welcome our first year students, came via Zoom to give his fabulous show. He told a few stories and entertained all four classes at the same time. The man is a legend!

Library News

The library has gone mobile

With the new situation the library has had to adapt and go mobile. Whether on a trolley outside classrooms or with students in the conference room we have still been able to get each student reading. We have access to our JCSP digital library through the Sora app so every student can access books, whether through their own device or in person. Even though we are restricted to when and we can access books in school at the start of November our students have read over 300 books and 2 million words. That’s still quite an achievement.

MyOn and digital reading

To give every student the best chance of success, Kylemore College has invested in an online reading programme which will allow all of our Junior Cycle classes to access a whole library of e-books and audio books. They can access these books anytime and anywhere, whether in school, at home or even on holiday. The students can read or listen or do both to each book and take an Accelerated Reader quiz directly from inside MyOn. It can also be a reading support for the whole school curriculum allowing teachers to set tasks and check on progress.

The Library

is Open

All students can still borrow books from the school library. You can look at our online catalogue at https://kyl.interleaf.ie/ and select a book. Just ask Mr. Peelo to get the book for you, or send him an email. You can also read from our e-book libraries, at https://soraapp.com/welcome or at https://www.myon.co.uk/login/index.html and download your choice and get reading. All these links can be found in the virtual library or on the Kylemore College website on the library page.

Mr Peelo

New Leaving Certificate Pe Class

This year at Kylemore College we have added the new Physical Education course for Leaving Certificate. Over the two years, students will complete a physical activity project, a performance assessment as well as a final written examination. We are delighted to have access to the training centre across the road, where students can use all the equipment safely.

Transition Year students have been rowing down at the Garda Boat Club, getting plenty of fresh air and trying out a new activity.

We can also see first years getting to grips with their health related fitness PE class, please keep in mind the correct PE uniform. Details are available on the school website kylemorecollege.ie

Well done to all first years who took part in the CDETB Cross Country in the Phoenix Park. The winners were Simon Idowu, Jason Farrelly and Cameron Maguire Doran from class Elm, Maria Idowu, Class Beach, and Patricia Maniak, Class Oak.

Congratulations to 3rd year, Ryan Ritchie who has been selected for the U15 Republic of Ireland football squad on their upcoming winter tour.

Mr Kelly

CBA Peer Assessment In the Art Class

What are Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs)

Classroom-Based Assessments: Classroom-Based Assessments will provide students with opportunities to demonstrate their understanding and skills in a way which would not be possible in a formal examination. The tasks will cover a broad range of activities including oral presentations, written work of different genres, practical or designing and making activities, artistic performances, scientific experiments, projects or other suitable tasks. A particular purpose of the Classroom-Based Assessments will be to facilitate developmental feedback to students. Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs) are best described as the occasions when the teacher assesses the students using the specific tasks set out in the curriculum specification for each subject. They are completed within the teaching time allocated for each subject.

Deciding the level of achievement for the Classroom-Based Assessments There are four level descriptors of achievement for each CBA; teachers use the Features of Quality, set out in The Assessment Guidelines for each subject to decide the level of achievement in each CBA. The Features of Quality are the criteria used to assess the student work as best fitting one of the following descriptors:

EXCEPTIONAL; describes a piece of work that reflects the Features of Quality for the Classroom-Based Assessment to a very high standard. While not necessarily perfect, the strengths of the work far outstrip its flaws, which are minor. Suggestions for improvement are easily addressable by the student.

ABOVE EXPECTATIONS; describes a piece of work that reflects all of the Features of Quality for the Classroom-Based Assessment very well. The student shows a clear understanding of how to complete each area of activity of the investigation, and the work is praised for its rigour. Feedback from the teacher might point to the necessity to address some aspect of the work in need of further attention or polishing, but, on the whole the work is of a high standard.

IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS describes a piece of work that reflects most of the Features of Quality for the Classroom-Based Assessment well. It shows a good understanding of the task in hand and is free from significant error. Feedback might point to areas needing further attention or correction, but the work is generally competent and accurate.

YET TO MEET EXPECTATIONS; describes a piece of work that falls someway short of the demands of the Classroom-Based Assessment and its associated Features of Quality. Perhaps the student has made a good attempt, but the task has not been grasped clearly or is marred by significant lapses. Feedback will draw attention to fundamental errors that need to be addressed.

NOT REPORTED; describes when a student has not submitted any piece of work for assessment

Peer Assessment

All 3rd year students have completed CBA2 and this week gave feedback to each other on the work carried out in class. Its great to see students analysing their own work and provide feedback to their peers. Peer evaluation or assessment refers to the many ways in which students can share their creative work with peers for constructive feedback, and then use this feedback to revise and improve their work.

First Year Painting

Twenty four enthusiastic first years stepped into the art room before mid term. At the moment they have been exploring colour mixing and the use of tone, as they created a Christmas Card design. Some of the Christmas themed watercolour paintings will be used as a design for our new Kylemore College Christmas Card. The cards will be used to send Christmas wishes from all at Kylemore College this year.

Senior Art

Senior students are busy preparing for the Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied art exams. Each group will begin their practical projects soon

In Transition Year students have completed an exciting book folding project with Ms. Weldon

Outdoor Education

Students from across the school have been taking part in lots of adventure activities with Mr Mulligan and Mr O'Brien in the OE Department. With many adventure activities to still enjoy students are making the most of the outdoors and learning about mapping skills and water safety, and much more.

Past Pupils Join the team at Kylemore

We are delighted to welcome Charlie Murray and Emma Weldon back to Kylemore College.

Charlie graduated in 2016 and completed his Degree in Maynooth University. He is now part of the team here at Kylemore as a School Completion Project Worker.

Emma Weldon graduated in 2010, and is now in her final year at the National College of Art and Design, studying Art and Design Education. She is completing the final part of her teaching practice in the Art Department, and will graduate as an art teacher in 2021.

Principals Note

Newsletter- 30th Nov 2020.docx

Wall of fame of past students who progressed on to Maynooth University, NCAD, TUDubin, NCIRL, PLC Programmes and apprenticeships this year.
Teacher wall of fame displayed in front hall.
Teacher graduation pictures with MASKS competition on PowerPoint. Lots of prizes for everyone!
Charlie Murray and Emma Weldon, past students of Kylemore College and University graduates, talked about their education journey from to both our junior and senior cycle students, giving them food for thought and inspiration to work hard and progress on to higher and further education.
I’m a celebrity and I got a degree poster showing Irish and international stars who got degrees.
Ask me about my career badges for teachers
Several teachers facilitated Build A Campus Activity where students created their own university.
My dream job posters by 1st years (You have pics of this)
Drop Everything and Talk about College. Staff wore Ask me about my Career/job badges for the day and welcomed questions from students about their career
My Uni Life documentary on RTÉ player was shown to some classes. It followed the inspirational college journeys of people facing challenges in their lives but who were successful despite the odds being stacked against them

College Awareness Week

A very popular week in the school, Kylemore Colleges, College Awareness Week provides students from 1st to 6th year with the opportunity to investigate the wonderful opportunities that going to college can give to everyone. Activities that took place are listed here.

Congratulations to winners of the poster competition MY DREAM JOB for College Awareness Week.

1st Mihail Spasov - Friel

2nd Adam Fernandez - Ash

3rd Ada Fernandez - Friel

4th Andrea Lain - Moy

5th Alex Montgomery - Moy