Subject Choice Webinar

FREE WEBINAR ON SUBJECT CHOICE FOR TY AND CAREER DECISIONS

Upcoming Webinar: Careers in Subject Choice for TY and Career Decisions
Date: Monday February 28th @12.30pm


Register on: https://www.synergycareers.ie/webinars-workshops/
For: Parents, students and Guidance Counsellors
Content: The 24th Webinar in our series this year, 8th in our General Careers Topics for 2021/22

The aim of this webinar is to highlight to Parents and Students, 3rd & TY, key tools and resources that will help them make informed decisions when selecting the best subjects to suit their aptitude, interests and career aspirations.We also aim to provide a suggested plan for Careers exploration going through senior cycle. We will look at extracurricular activities, experiences, voluntary/paid work, summer/TY camps available to help you get prepared to make the best decision for you.

You will get insight from a careers guidance perspective along with colleges advice on subject options based on requirements for their courses. We will be joined by college reps + student/graduates on a Q&A panel sharing their decision making process around subject choice and choosing careers.

***Guest speakers : TBC ***
Viewing Options: Each webinar is hosted on zoom, links are provided once you register. If the webinar reaches full capacity make sure to go to our facebook page where it will be broadcast live https://www.facebook.com/synergycareers?ref=hl


Alternatively, if you cannot make 12.30pm Monday, ALL webinars are recorded so you won’t miss out. Go to www.synergycareers.ie to register and view this week’s webinar – free to view for a limited time.

College Week

Next Week is College Awareness Week. Here’s a quick list of things that are great about going to college:

Click here to view the pdf.

Helping your child to become college ready

  • People who go to college will earn more over their lifetime – about 40% more than people without a college degree.
  • People with college degrees increase their chances of taking up a highly skilled job and decrease their chances of being unemployed. Most 21st century jobs require a college degree.
  • People with college degrees are happier and healthier. More likely to be involved in your community and suffer from less physical and mental health problems.
  • Reference: OECD Report: Education at a Glance 2013 and The Spirit Level, Wilson and Pickett

The Immediate Benefits of Going to College for students

  • Learn a new subject or gain more in-depth knowledge
  • Acquire a qualification for the workplace
  • Be stimulated by world-class lecturers
  • Have access to amazing facilities – libraries, computer rooms, labs, sports centres
  • Meet new people from around Ireland and the world
  • Join a student club or society
  • Play sports
  • Socialise
  • Travel the world through internships, study abroad programmes
  • Increase your confidence and sense of achievement and direction

The Long-term Benefits of College Graduates for Irish Society

  • Meet employers require a college education to meet the demand for knowledge-based 21st century skills. (60% of jobs in US)
  • Less reliance on social welfare
  • Increased likelihood of long-term employment
  • More involvement with voluntary and community based activities
  • Better physical and mental health of society
  • Cost: benefit analysis. Cost of educating people at third level is returned multi-fold through increased earnings and taxes
  • Improved social –cohesion. Increase in personal satisfaction and happiness. Lower rates of anti-social behaviour and incarceration
  • Reference: OECD Report: Education at a Glance 2013 and The Spirit Level, Wilson and Pickett

The Benefits of College-readiness for schools

  • Helps your community of students to realise their full potential
  • Increase the sense of direction and achievement felt by your students and your teachers
  • Recognition that a college degree is the common currency of the 21st century
  • On average 65% of 18-25 year olds are enrolled in college. Will 65% of your 6th years go to college this year?
  • Important element of school self-evaluation reports within the Inspectorate of the DES
  • High expectations + supportive environment = college going culture

Teen Talk Event

As a part of our TEEN TALK events this year, we have created “Gen Z”, a free virtual event for PARENTS of your students. This also may be of interest to teachers.

Gen Z is an event for Parents & Teachers to educate on the issues and realities that arise in the world of teenager.

Various speakers shall address subject matter that can be challenging for Parents and Teenagers to discuss.

The event will be held on

·      Tuesday 23rd November from 7pm.

Speakers include:

  • . Anna Geary (MC)
  • . Maureen Gaffney – Psychologist
  • . Kirsty Donoghue – Mother of a Transgender Child
  • . Ray Goggins – Ex Special Forces Officer
  • . Alicia O’Sullivan – UCC Law Student & Youth Activist

Topics which will be addressed are:

  • . Teenage Psychology
  • . LGBTQI+
  • . Mental Health

The event has been designed to raise awareness of issues affecting teenagers and empowering parents to support their teenagers during this time of great change in their lives.

ADMISSION IS FREE.

FOLLOWING REGISTRATION, A LINK WILL BE SENT TO ACCESS THE WEBINAR CLOSER TO THE DATE OF THE EVENT.

This is a one off Streamed event for which a recording will not be available.

Register Now:

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR EVENT

If you have any queries please email TeenTalks@corkcoco.ie

Parent/Guardians of Third Year Students

Dear Parents / Guardians,

The Junior Certificate examinations are fast approaching for Third Year students. Every year Mayfield offers students the opportunity to purchase past papers books at a discounted price. For one payment of 20 euros per student, class teachers will provide a past papers book.

There is also access to teacher-led supervised study sessions after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 4-5.30 pm.. These sessions are run at a cost 20 euros per term, and hot food is provided.

On Mondays we have subject specific support. This begins on Monday 15th November 4-4.45pm. This is free of charge.

Payments for the past papers should be made to their class teacher at the nearest opportunity. A receipt will be issued by the Year Head when the payment is received.

Yours sincerely

James McMurtry

Head of Third Year

Students Return to School

Dear Parent and Guardian, a thuistí/a chaomhnóirí,

We are entering our third phase of re-opening our school following the successful return of our ASD classes, our sixth year students and our fifth year students. We are now looking forward to the safe return of the rest of our school community on Monday April 12th.  We all have worked hard to minimise the risk to everyone’s health & safety.  Your co-operation in all of this is essential. 

Having reviewed all our Health and Safety procedures and to ensure that our school is ready to re-open for the return of all our students on Monday 12th April, the following is an outline of our plan to re-open our school as safely as is possible.

Please discuss the following protocols with your son / daughter prior to their return to school:

Return to School Monday 12th April – Information for Parents/ Guardians and Students

The best way to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in a school is to minimise the risk of introduction of the infection into the school setting in the first place. This can be achieved with your help through the following measures:

Symptoms of   Covid- 19.  They are:

  • high temperature
  • cough
  • shortness of breath or breathing difficulties
  • loss of smell/ taste or distortion of taste. 

Please be aware that your son/ daughter must not attend school if they have symptoms or signs that may suggest Covid-19 until they have taken appropriate medical advice and testing if appropriate. Students must not attend school if they have been told that they are close contacts of a person with Covid-19.

Return to School Declaration Form

All our parents must complete a Return to School Declaration Form following student’s absence from school following school holidays.

Respect control measures in place

  • hand hygiene – there are hand sanitisers at the entrance to our school, at the entrance to all classes and in every classroom and in strategic places around our school. Please use these
  • respiratory hygiene – coughing into the inside of your elbow
  • physical distancing within the classroom
  • physical distancing outside the classroom and within the school – during breaks, students must remain 2 metres apart
  • the use of face masks at all times.
  • All rooms are well ventilated

We remind parents if a student has been out of the country that they should not attend school until 14 days has passed.

Masks must be worn correctly at all times (no snoods). Please ensure that the mask is the appropriate size to cover both nose and mouth and is not loose. Snoods are not acceptable. If your son/daughter arrives in school without any of these items, they will be sent home.

Please make sure your son/daughter arrives, wearing a face mask, at the Main Gate at 8.50am. Once in the school, please emphasise to your son/daughter to go directly to their designated room.

Food will continue to be delivered to all our students during breaktimes in their designated rooms. Hot food is available every day for all students during the big break (1.15pm – 1.45pm) Students are to remain sitting at their desk while eating and not to walk around the room with face masks down.

Full school uniform must be worn every day.

Our focus on Monday is on welcoming our students back to school and getting them back into safe and responsible routines.  

Access to the school by a parent/ guardian can only be made by prior arrangement. You must ring the school to organise any essential meetings.

Your support in getting them ready for school is very important. We really appreciate your continued support in monitoring your son’s / daughter’s progress and co-operation since the start of this school year and in our final term.

Our priority is keeping our school open until the end of this term and ensuring that our students continue to learn in a safe environment.

Yours faithfully,

Kieran Golden                                                                                    Kathleen Daly

Principal                                                                                              Deputy Principal

Click Here for a PDF of this letter.

Support Numbers

  • We have a dedicated school email at careteam@mayfieldcs.net
  • Your own GP
  • Pieta House – 021 439 5333
  • Suicide Prevention Officer – Martin Ryan – 087 299 5913
  • HSE Mental Health Helpline 1800 247 247
  • Aware have a number of resources on their website at aware.ie
  • Aware support line: 1800 80 48 48

Pre-State Exams

Pre-State Exams

You will be aware that our mock (Pre) Leaving and Junior Cert exams are planned to begin on Monday 8th Feb. 

The pre-exam papers for both Senior and Junior Cert have been ordered, however, given the current situation and in order to support our students,  the decision has been taken to postpone these exams until after mid-term. 

Depending on government guidelines, we will continue to update you on the re-scheduling of these exams.

Students need to continue to engage in their remote classes and to revise.

Regards

Kathleen Daly, Acting Principal

Remote Teaching and Learning

18th January 2021

Dear Parents,

I am writing to you as we begin our second week of remote teaching and learning. We would all prefer to be back in the classroom working with our students and doing what we do best but for now we have to stay home to keep everyone safe.

We have learned a lot from the last lockdown and hopefully the changes we have made to our remote teaching policy will ensure a richer learning experience for the students. The daily engagement on Google Classroom and the blend of live, recorded and independent learning should go some way towards reflecting real classroom teaching.

We expect all students to engage with the full timetable each day. However, we do realise that everyone’s circumstances are different and we ask that you contact us as soon as possible if there are any issues as to why your daughter/son can not engage and we will do our best to help you. 

To support your son/daughter and monitor their engagement you can access MCS ParentPoint.  Email mcsparentpoint@mayfieldcs.net for more details.

Our Student Support team is available at all times to listen to your concerns as a student parent or guardian. Please contact us at: careteam@mayfieldcs.net

Sincerely,

K. Daly  Acting Principal 

J. McMurtry Acting Deputy Principal

STEM Virtual Industry & Career Expo 2021

STEM South West’s Industry & Career Expo is back for its 2nd year next Wednesday 13th January from 5-9pm. This free virtual event will showcase careers in tech, pharma and engineering and highlight achievable pathways for students to fulfil their career goals. There will be expert speakers, virtual stands, opportunities to interact with people who work in STEM on a daily basis, subject choice discussions, interactive Q&A sessions, tech and science demos, career videos and prizes to be won.  

Over 60 leading STEM organisations in Cork and Kerry will be showcasing their work with interactive displays and activities. The STEM South West executive committee are working closely with virtual event organisers Davis Events and platform-providers VFairs to ensure a fun and educational STEM experience for all attendees.  

Exhibition Hall 

Enjoy visiting the virtual booths in the Exhibition Hall where attendees can connect with people who work in STEM, watch demonstrations and career videos, and avail of the advice of experts in a variety of STEM areas including virtual reality, robotics and astronomy construction, mechanical engineering, software engineering, information technology, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering and science, electronics, weather-forecasting, agri-technology, environmental engineering, cybersecurity and much more.  

Speakers Corner 

Visit the Auditorium and enjoy talks and presentations by STEM experts including European Space Agency engineer, Laurence O’Rourke; inspiring global sustainability expert and co-founder of Change by Degrees, Madeline Murray; and the innovative creator of Izak9 Maths, Franz Schlindwein; and many more. 

Scavenger Hunt 

Take part in the STEM South West 2021 Scavenger Hunt, follow the STEM clues and be in with the chance to win great prizes. 

Students and parents can register for free tickets at www.stemsouthwest.ie

REGISTER HERE FOR FREE TICKETS TO STEM SOUTH WEST INDUSTRY & CAREER EXPO 2021