National Student Executive Takes Office

Today, June 10th 2020, the National Student Executive 2020-21 of the ISSU has taken office for the year ahead.

Headed by Reuban Murray and Luke Casserly as President and Deputy President respectively, the 12 members of the NSE will work for the upcoming year to further student voice in schools and work on students’ behalf in the education system.

The full NSE can be seen HERE

Call for Trustee with Fundraising experience

The Role:

The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union is seeking an individual with proven knowledge and experience of fundraising in the NGO sector. Previous voluntary experience serving on a Board or Committee is desirable. 

The Organisation:

The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union CLG (ISSU) is a charitable company limited by guarantee. The main object for which the ISSU is established is to contribute to the advancement of second-level education of all second-level students in order to improve and enrich the education of each student and to support the involvement of students at all stages of their education so that they achieve their full potential, and as responsible citizens, improve society.

General Trustee Duties of a Charity Trustee & Company Director:

• Compliance with the charity’s governing documents

• Ensuring charity is complying with its charitable purpose for the public benefit

• Acting in the best interest of the charity

• Act with reasonable care and skill

• Manage the assets of your charity

Charity trustees may not profit from carrying out their duties as a charity trustee. Board members do not receive remuneration for Board membership. Travel and subsistence will be paid in line with ISSU policy and public sector rates.

Grounds for being disqualified from being a charity trustee include if a person:

• is adjudicated bankrupt;

• enters into a formal court approved insolvency arrangement with the Insolvency Service of Ireland;

• is convicted on indictment of an offence; and

• is a company that is in the course of being wound up.

Candidate specification includes the following:

• The candidate should have previous NGO fundraising expertise, ideally with 5 years+ experience.

• The role of the successful candidate will be to advise on and monitor the new fundraising opportunities and revenue streams for the ISSU.

• The successful candidate will regularly inspect an overview of the finances to advise the Board on financial implications of proposals, cash flow problems etc. 

• The successful candidate will offer oversight of compliance and risk management in line with usual board responsibilities.

Board Meetings:

There will be a minimum of 4 board meetings a year, with some committee work outside of these meetings. Meetings are held in Liberty Hall, Dublin. Meetings can also be held virtually from time to time and voting would take place virtually

Apply to be the Waterford - South Tipperary Regional Officer!

Following the election of Emer Neville to the National Student Executive, the ISSU is looking to co-opt a new Regional Officer for the Waterford - South Tipperary Region. 

The position of Regional Officer is open to any second-level student in an ISSU member school in the Waterford - South Tipperary Region. The term will last until December 2020. 

The role of a Regional Officer in the ISSU is to represent the students and student councils in that region, and to bring their views into the work of the ISSU. Regional Officers also work on engagement and growth of membership in the region, and help to organise and chair the Regional Council in the autumn time. 

Regional Officers will also be given support and training to work on their own regional projects. This aspect of the role has been delayed due to COVID-19, however we are hopeful that individual projects can be supported before the end of the Regional Officer term. 

The ISSU Constitution outlines the role as follows;

4.1. To promote and defend student voice of the ISSU membership in that region.  

4.2. To coordinate the delivery of Student Council training in their regions  

4.3. To organise annual Regional Councils  

4.4. To recruit new members for the ISSU.  

 4.5 To organise cluster meetings of student councils in their region.  

4.6 To maintain contacts and relationships with students in each member school in the region and use these links to communicate ISSU events, campaigns projects and initiatives.  

The ISSU invites candidates to apply for the role before June 6thhere: 

https://form.jotform.com/201453552964053

Applicants may be invited to interview following the review of applications.

Registration for the Department of Education Student Portal opens today

The online student portal for Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied students is now open for registration as of 10 am on Tuesday 26 May. All students are required to register in order to have the opportunity to receive Calculated Grades at a later stage.

Following registration students following the established Leaving Certificate or Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme are required to confirm the level at which they intended to sit each of their subjects. It is essential that students confirm their levels at this time .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 appeals.

Schools will assist any students who do not have access to device or smartphone.

There is help desk support available at 1800-111135 or 1800-111136. Due to COVID19 restrictions the help desk phonelines will be available from 12 pm to 5 pm on Tuesday 26th and between 9 am and 5 pm on Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th. Outside of these hours you can email lcsupport2020@education.gov.ie.

If you have any questions please contact us at clarity@issu.ie

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Feedback: Department Release Calculated Grading Guidelines

The Department of Education & Skills has released a Guide for Schools on implementing the Calculated Grading model for the 2020 State Examinations .

The document outlines procedures for the awarding of grades for the Leaving Certificate Class of 2020. The document can be found here:

https://assets.gov.ie/74604/d9e27dc5986e49a5a1b24623e77308d3.pdf

The ISSU encourages students to read the above document, and to share any feedback, queries or concerns  that they may have by emailing clarity@issu.ie 

The ISSU further wishes to stress that due to the nature of calculated results and this unique situation, students should not contact their teachers in any capacity. Canvassing by students or parents with regard to the calculated grade a teacher will provide is not allowed, and will serve only to compromise the calculated grade process and their integrity.

Further clarity is still required on certain aspects of the guidance  and the ISSU is continually engaging with the Department and other stakeholders to reflect these areas of uncertainty and  concerns of students. 

ISSU Campaign for Clarity Continues

The ISSU welcomed the elements of clarity which were brought with the announcement made by the Minister for Education on Friday the 8th of May.  However, the ISSU continues to seek further clarification on a number of crucial concerns relating to the finalised contingency plan to ensure it is fair and equitable in implementation.

• Candidates who wish to sit the Leaving Certificate examinations should not be disadvantaged in transitioning to the next stage of their education . Students wishing to sit the exams must be allowed to avail of this at the earliest and most practical time that health guidelines permit. All students should have the equal opportunity to progress in their next step of education. A number of logistical queries, which the ISSU submitted to the Department of Education and Skills advisory group in April, regarding the sitting of examinations must be addressed and developed to ensure safety, fairness and equitable measures implemented.

• The school profiling standardisation mechanism  should not academically disadvantage or advantage  any student because of the school they attend. Students should be awarded their deserved grade.

• More detailed guidance needs to be provided as to what is deemed sufficient evidence for students studying subjects externally from their school. Protocols must be developed in detail to be able to administer grades in all subjects undertaken for the Leaving Certificate 2020.

• Measures must be explored and implemented for any candidates who are repeating examinations, internally and externally, so that they can progress in a fair and equitable manner alongside their peers.

• The date for release of calculated grades must be decided and provided at the earliest possible date to ensure those wishing to appeal and sit an examination are afforded the opportunity, without having to defer or reapply the following academic year.

• Calculated grades must be cognisant and reflective of the possible progression of students’ ability and performance had they been afforded the opportunity to complete their schooling,study, coursework and examinations under normal circumstances. Students have missed vital class time, finishing of curricula and the completion of projects and practicals since the closure in early March. It is pivotal to include these variants alongside the records of students’ ability and performance in providing a calculated grade. 

• Any students receiving a calculated grade who would require reasonable accommodations in the examinations, should have their performance calculations estimated on this accommodation being available to them.

• Clarification is needed on whether the new contingency plan will have implications for the DARE and HEAR access schemes. 

• Clarification is needed for students who wish to study abroad specifically around the release of dates, deadlines for appeal and sitting of examinations as this could have a huge impact on their entry to third-level institutes in other countries. The deadlines given should be aligned so that these students are able to proceed with their studies overseas.

• We are seeking clarity on the HPAT results release date and are advocating for this to be brought forward for students to receive in advance of the CAO deadline for change of mind as is done in previous years.

• Contingency plans need to be developed for the current 5th year and 2nd year students moving in to examination years that will ensure they are not academically disadvantaged due to school closures, loss of curriculum/project/coursework completion time and the implications the recently announced contingency will have on their progression to the next stage of their education. 

We continue to encourage students to communicate their views, queries and concerns and would urge them to get in touch with us at clarity@issu.ie