Dated: 8th May 2020
Dear Parents, now we know the Leaving Certificate exams have been cancelled we will work to a plan to start organising refunds for students that will not be coming back to us for next year.
We currently have to work through the list to contact everyone and we will be doing this once we can get back into the office.
Please note we will start process repayments as soon as we can but it may take up until the end of August to get all of them processed as we get bookings for the coming academic year to help with our cashflow. Any financial assistance we will get from the government and our insurance which covers this kind of situation is only expected in late August / early September.
All refunds will be made once we get back to normal and cashflow will allow for refunds. Anyone who wishes to rebook for next term for either siblings or for other years please email us and we will discuss when we call you. We will be offering additional credit to students who wish to hold deposits with us for upcoming courses.
Thank you for your patience at this time. All refunds will be processed.
Kindest Drogheda Grinds Academy
Dated 2nd of May 2020
Just an update on where we are. We are looking at scheduling LC only 6th year classes hopefully from end of June up to the week before the exams start. We have secured larger rooms so we can use extended social distancing. The classes will be a combination of double (2hrs) and intensive (3hrs / 3hrs) only students that have paid in full and deposits will get first priority until we see how many we can safely have in each class. 5th Years who paid and have deposits for term 3 March to June 2020 will have classes in mid August to mid September under the same conditions.
All this is dependent on the rules etc. We are hoping normal terms will resume before the end of September all be it with reduced numbers in each class and health and safety concerns.
Please note if you want to take up classes for Term 1 September to December 2020 please submit your booking here www.droghedagrindsacademy.com/booking (there will be no deposits or payment required until we have confirmation on health and safety and opening.
We will also have a paired back schedule so there will be less places available for Term 1 in September and these students will have priority for the rest of the academic year. It will take us sometime to process through all the refunds and rescheduling so we ask people to be patient as we will have limited staffing capabilities.
Refunds will be processed hopefully during May/ June or students can opt to leave their deposits in place for up to 3 years (ie 3rd yr to 6th yr) and receive an additional credit against their account. This will allow us time to get our cashflow back up and running again.
We will be emailing and texting all parents over the next week or two as we try to work through the classes and schedules. Thank you for your patience.
Stay safe kindest DGA
Dated 27th of April 2020
Hi I know everyone is sitting in limbo land at the moment and we can only wait until we have more news. All teachers waiting and ready to do classes and intensives as soon as it’s safe to social distance and get classes going all be it with smaller classes to get everyone sorted before exams. There is no point in us saying don’t worry to students and parents as that’s going to be natural given the circumstances. Just know as soon as we can open staff and teachers will do their best to get classes run and students prepared. Kindest DGA
Dated 24th of April 2020
The date of the Leaving Certificate has been confirmed as the 29th of July with the timetable out early June. We are hoping to start back to classes depending on social distancing and health and safety in early June. We are securing larger spaces to ensure distancing and we may have to reduce class sizes. Classes will run as double 2 hr classes with a combination of 1 day intensives for 6th year. As below there are priority lists for students that have paid in full and paid deposits.
Everything will depend on health and safety of students, teachers and staff. We will update once we work with each teacher to come up with the best plan in terms of timing once we have the go ahead in terms of health and safety. 5th Year classes will be scheduled during August before the academic year starts to ensure they are up to date and ready for 6th year. Thank you for your patience.
Students academic year 2020 / 2021
We will have schedules for 2020 / 2021 shortly. This will be on a provisional basis. All current 2nd & 5th years will have automatic priority for 6th year & 3rd Year classes. If you wish to apply to the waiting list for grinds for 2020 / 2021 please email: info@droghedagrindsacademy.com
Kindest Drogheda Grinds Academy
Dated: 15th of April 2020
Dear Parents & students, we are just updating you on the status of grinds with Drogheda Grinds Academy. We hope everyone is keeping safe and well. We are now closed since the 12th of March due to the current COVID-19 situation but we are trying to come up with ways to deliver a solution for our students.
A quick contact to a number of students in each year suggested that online grinds was not what was wanted given most schools are now trying to deliver online classes and additional grinds online would be just too much.
The majority have said they would prefer to hold off and do double / and or intensive classes nearer to the exams once the SEC has released dates. Our teachers have agreed that this is the best course of action and they will make themselves available. So with this in mind we have we have outlined the plan below. Note these are seriously difficult times for everyone and we are trying our best to facilitate all students. Please note however our offices are closed at the moment and we are trying our best to get to contact all students with limited off-site staffing arrangements.
Weekly Grinds Term 3
All students who have paid in full for Term 3 will have priority over all other students. When we get back to face to face classes there will most likely be a requirement for social distancing so our classes may have significantly reduced numbers to facilitate this. After students who have paid in full. Students that have paid a deposit will make up the rest of the numbers. Please note students that haven’t paid fees at this stage will now not be guaranteed places. This will depend now on numbers and social distancing.
Weekly arrangements – all students will get their full 8 hours of grinds whether through double classes and or through intensive half day classes or a combination of both. The priority for this will be 6th years. We are still waiting for the SEC to confirm dates but we have been assured that the exams will go ahead. Once the dates are known the teachers and admin staff will work backwards to ensure the scheduling works for students.
3rd Year Students wishing to cancel
3rd Year students that now wish to cancel classes due to Junior Certificate being cancelled have the option to retain their payment and an additional 50% in credit added valid until they complete 6th year. It will take sometime as we need to work through each of the classes.
For 5th & 2nd year students classes will be held weekly as usual for the hour at the same time however depending on when these start the options may be for them to run for 8 weeks into the summer months or come back in August or or to give students the option to move the booking to September and complete the 8 weeks (as 6th year students) All options are currently open at this stage. Students that opt to stay and hold their booking will be given an additional €175 per subject booked and paid for to use against either Term 2 or Intensive classes during November 2020 or February 2021. (Please note the additional credit is only for students that have paid in full or have paid a deposit against an upcoming course)
Easter Intensive Classes
Easter Intensive Class students will now move to June/July intensives classes when we are told it’s safe to open.
New Students
Please note we have received a lot of requests for Intensives when we run them in the summer for 6th years from new students. Our priority for Intensives are our current students that have paid in full, then students that have paid deposits, then students that have invoices but not paid but were with us previously in the academic term. Then we will look at places for new students but at this stage we can’t guarantee any places for new students and we are not taking bookings or deposits. You may apply here but you will be on a waiting list.
Once the SEC has announced the exam date we will offer students the revised date for face to face Intensive days and at this stage they can opt to take the class or receive a refund or move to a different subject. We will be offering all students who have paid in full an additional ‘free 1 day Intensive class worth €150. If none of the classes suit we will process a refund once the dates have been confirmed.
The same is for the weekly classes in terms of cancellations. Once we have a date for the exams we can work backwards in terms of classes. We can’t re open unless it is safe for students, teachers and staff and of course their families to do so.
We will be closed now awaiting information on the 5th of May in relation to the ‘COVID 19’ situation. Once we have more information we will contact everyone again. As you can understand we have limited staff and we are waiting to see when exams will take place and we can re open again.
Please note our staff are all off until the 5th of May. We don’t have access to the office or phone until lockdown is over. Kindest DGA