FACING UP TO TESTING TIMES
THERE’S been a generally positive reaction in South Kerry to the first papers of this year’s Leaving Certificate exams, according to students and principals from across the region.
St Brendan’s College Killarney Principal Seán Coffey received good feedback from his students on the opening papers, reporting no major snags with any of the tests.
“The opening English paper called for creativity and lightness of touch, and the students were generally very pleased to see Eavan Boland popping up on Paper Two. The question wasn’t straightforward but she was the one everyone was banking on, so there were no major complaints,” said Mr Coffey.
“Elsewhere, the short questions on the papers were very easy and there were no major challenges reported from the Financial Maths and Geography papers.
“One of the big aspects I noted this year is that we had students taking on Romanian, Lithuanian and Portuguese papers, which I took as a sign of a modernising Ireland.”
Leaving Cert student Killian McSweeney agreed with his principal’s positive views, saying that two of the poets he studied came up on the second English paper, while he was also pleased with the comparative question.
“The other papers went fine, too. I thought Ordinary Maths was easier than what we faced for the mocks, and everything I’d prepared for Home Economics came up. I was very happy with my letter for Irish, and while the aural section was tricky, I can’t complain too much,” said Killian.
Over at the ISK, Laura Foley said she found the Irish aural test to be much clearer than the one on the mock exams. She also felt the essay titles were broad and fair, and she’s delighted with how the exams have gone so far.
“English went well; I was delighted Boland came up and the essay titles suited me, as have most of the exams so far. So far, I’ve found the build-up to the exams tougher than the tests themselves,” said Laura.