Teachers brace for year 12 stress

TEACHERS are bracing for ramped up pressure in Term 3 as Year 12 students approach the crunch point in preparing for their final exams after the disruption of COVID-19.

Queensland Teachers’ Union president Kevin Bates said teachers were preparing for an intense Term 3 even though classes would resume as normal after the coronavirus pandemic forced schools closed during Term 2.

He said while it was always a difficult term, one of the added challenges for Year 12 students was preparing to be the first cohort to take external exams under the new Queensland Certificate of Education — worth up to 50 per cent for mathematics and sciences and 25 per cent for other subjects.

Queensland Secondary Principals’ Association president Mark Breckenridge said the big challenge for the first year of external exams for students, parents and schools was fear of the unknown.

The new Queensland Certificate of Education system (QCE) will see Year 12 students sit external exams in October and November, with an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank calculated from eligible students’ five best subjects on a scale from 0 to 99.95.

“The first time for anything it’s always a challenge,” Mr Breckenridge said.

For many teachers they don’t know what to expect, for many students they don’t know what to expect, we’ve been well briefed, we’ve been well prepared but that doesn’t mean it’s a walk in the park,” Mr Bates said.

“This has been a long five or six-year process we’ve been building up to but this is the crunch point if you will, when you move towards external assessment and for finalising those Year 12 studies when we get into October and November.

“There’s significant issues with schools being closed for three weeks before Year 11 and 12 comes back, all of that has added to the pressure that’s been on people.”

Schools can resume most normal activities in term three including parent-teacher interviews, assemblies, camps, musicals, sport, and school formals and graduations.