Welcome Back!

A warm welcome back to school to all students, teachers, parents and the whole school community. I'm looking forward to working with you all this year. Wishing you all the best for a happy, productive and fun new school year. Keep an eye on this blog and Twitter for all Career Guidance news and events throughout the year! Check out the Open Days info on the menu to the right for details of this year's main Open Day events. Finally, best of luck to all our last year's 6th years who are moving towards bigger and better things and a special welcome and best of luck to all new first year students embarking on their studies in CBC Monkstown.

Round two

Yesterday you may or may not have been made a second round offer from the CAO for a course on your list of preferences. Fewer than 3000 offers were made in total so if you were not offered anything this is not out of the ordinary. If you were offered something you can choose between your initial offer and this second choice and you have a week to do so. The deadline for acceptance of the offer is Wednesday 2nd September at 17.15 on www.cao.ie. If you want to to stick with your first round offer you do not have to do anything. If you still have no offer your options are to look at the CAO Available Places list, Direct Entry routes that some colleges may be offering or a PLC place with links on to a course you may like to take up next year. You can contact me at cbcmonkstownguidance@outlook.com if you need any advice. Best of luck

First Round Offers Deadline

The deadline for accepting first round CAO offers is today at 17.15. If you haven't accepted your offer it is HIGHLY advisable that you do so as you may not be offered anything on Round Two or later. Round Two will issue this Thursday 27th at 6am online and through the post. There are always other options if you're still unhappy like Available Places which you can apply to through your CAO account and Direct Entry courses. Please get in touch if you need any advice cbcmonkstownguidance@outlook.com 

CAO Available Places - no points needed

For anyone who has got no CAO offer to date or an offer they are not happy with, CAO have a list of available places for which you can apply to once you have met the minimum entry requirements for that course. See the most up to date list here. To apply for one of these courses go to CAO. Log in using your original details and select one of the Available Place courses. If you need any assistance please contact me at cbcmonkstownguidance@outlook.com

Offers - First Round

You should have been able to access your offers since 6am this morning by logging in to your CAO account on www.cao.ie. It is advisable that you accept your first round offer even if you are not happy with it. The deadline for accepting your first round offer is Monday 24th August at 17.15.  Second round offers will be issued next week on Thirsday 27th August from 6am online. There is a possibility you may get offered a course higher on your list and then you can decide to whether you would rather keep your first round place or take up the new offer.
A slight change of plan this morning - I will now be available from 10.30-11.45 in the school if anyone needs to discuss anything offers or points related. Apologies for any inconvenience. I am still available anytime by email at cbcmonkstownguidance@outlook.com

Offers Monday 17th 6am!

The first round of offers will be available online at www.cao.ie from 6am this Monday, 17th August. Best of luck to you all. This link explains the offers process very clearly. If anyone is unsure of what route they'll be able to take this link is very useful and includes information on CAO Vacant Places which you may be able to take up without the necessary points. I will be available in school that morning from 9.45-11.30 if you would like to discuss anything offers related. You can also email me on cbcmonkstownguidance@outlook.com

Well done 6th years!

A huge well done to all 6th years on their Leving Cert results today. Enjoy the celebrations and take care of yourselves! Round one offers available Monday morning at 6am online. Best of luck. Ill be available in school that day to discuss offers and any other related queries :)

Results- very helpful booklet

A very helpful and informative booklet for student and parents has been produced by Brian Wall about the results and ALL potential options and routes. It is available to download on the IGC website here

Exam Results and Offers Advice Line

The Examination Helpline 2015, hosted by the National Parents’ Council Post Primary (NPCpp) will open tomorrow, Wednesday, 12th August to offer advice, information and support to Leaving Certificate students receiving their exam results. 

Those seeking advice, information or reassurance can contact the Helpline on 1800 265 165 and speak to experienced,professionally-trained guidance counsellors.  All queries on third level courses, such as the points system, rechecks, repeats, CAO procedures, SUSI queries, apprenticeships and further training options will be dealt with in a professional and confidential manner.

The opening hours of FREEPHONE HELPLINE 2015 are: 

Wednesday and Thursday, 12th snd 13th August: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m

Friday 14th August: 10am-1pm

Monday and Tuesday, 17th and 18th August: 8am-7pm

Wednesday, 19th August: 8am-1pm

To complement the Freephone Exam 2015 Helpline, Independent.ie will be running an interactive CAO blog on Wednesday August 12 from 10am and on Monday August 17 from 8am,  Members of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors will also be staffing this,  answering all queries and concerns around the results and further and higher education and career options.

You can send questions directly to the blog itself, tweet queries via #IndoSubmit or send emails to contact@independent.ie. 

SUSI Grants Help

You can contact SUSI by phone on 0761 08 7874, email support@susi.ie or on their Twitter page by Direct Message.

Leaving Cert Results Day and Round 1 Offers

Leaving Cert Results Day is this coming Wednesday 12th August and Round 1 Offers are Monday 17th August. I will be available in the school from 9-10.30 this Wednesday if anyone needs anything in relation to their results and potential offers. I will also be available on Monday 17th from 10-11.30 to discuss offers. I will also be available to talk on the phone if you want to call the school or you can email cbcmonkstownguidance@outlook.com. Here are useful links to results and offers for you and your parents