Eyes to the future for students

NOW that a decision has been made students can begin to relax and start focussing on exactly what they want to pursue in terms of a career, following a whirlwind few months.

Regardless of the different opinions surrounding the Leaving Cert examination for 2020, there is now a sense of relief that a decision has finally been made.

Many students, and their families, will take respite from this decision as the last number of weeks have been immensely stressful.

The predictive grading system won’t be to every student’s liking, which is understandable given that some students will have had a clear and driven goal in mind for their studies, ramping up as the days ticked down to their exams.

But it’s time to accept the current decision for what it’s worth and move on. Students will most likely have spent countless hours discussing the Leaving Cert with friends and family over the past few weeks.

This will have exacted a huge level of personal anxiety, which is never good if left to escalate.

By moving on it means that pupils should now re-evaluate and assess their past work.

Teachers will use a number of records of a student’s performance and progress; for example, classwork and homework; class assessments; examinations in school, at Christmas or summer, mock exams and also coursework.

Try to build up a clear and honest picture of your past assessments and the standards attained in the above sectors.

This enables you to recalibrate your work so that you will have some level of understanding once your work is predictively assessed.

Be honest, confident and assertive with your grade expectations. For now, take the time to relax and refocus on the next stage.

A decision has been made and it’s time to move on.