LEAVING CERT GETS STARTED
Aidan Kelly, Leo Mullaney and Jamie Gorevan at Summerhill College yesterday, Wednesday, after finishing their English Paper 1 examination. Sligo’s class of 2021 began their Leaving Cert exams this week, marking the beginning of the end of an unusual acamedic year. Students sat the higher and ordinary level English Paper 1 and Home Economics examinations yesterday with the the higher and ordinary level Engineering and English Paper 2 exams being held today.
SLIGO’s class of 2021 began their Leaving Cert exams this week, marking the beginning of the end of a most unusual acamedic year.
Students across the county sat the higher and ordinary level English Paper 1 and Home Economics exam yesterday, Wednesday.
The year was turned on its head in January for schools everywhere as a period of studying from home was necessary due to a substantial increase in Covid-19 cases across the country. The accredited grades system which was introduced for the class of 2020 was retained on an optional basis this year, with many students availing of the option to take a predictive grade on certain subjects – with 90 per cent of students in Ireland indicating they would sit at least one exam.
Having to defer all studying away from school in the middle of the year was a difficult period of transition for the students who had to quickly adapt to a whole new enviornment for a number of weeks.
Speaking after English Paper 1, Summerhill College student Leo Mullaney explained that losing the classroom environment does have an impact on motivation.
“It did affect things a lot in the beginning because doing all your study at home is different, it affects your motivation. I made a routine for myself and I think I learned what I needed. “I tended to focus more on the personal essay, that came up and it involved personal anecdotes which was good so I was glad something came up I prepared for.”
Whether you sat your leaving cert this week, five years ago or 20 years ago, one scenario never changes – what you prepared for may not be reflected in the papers in front of you.
Aidan Kelly said that short stories proved to be a surprise as they differed greatly from previous papers of previous years.
“I was whole hog preparing for short stories. The short stories that came up were much more specific than they have been in any previous exam papers we saw. Normally you can adapt any short story to fit any topic you are given but what they wanted on this year’s paper was very specific.” There is always a sense of nerves ahead of the first paper, usually followed by a sense of relief at the end. Jamie Gorevan said anxiety about the exam began to dissipate once the paper arrived and it has settled any nerves for the rest of the exams. “I think getting the first paper over and done with is very gratifying, you are more hopeful for the rest of the papers ahead of you. In the morning you do get gradually more nervous but that tends to disappear once you get settled and composed. It also helped having accredited grades in place in other subjects, that relieves stress immensely. I don’t feel as stressed as I might have in previous years.”
About the accredited grades system, Aidan said that he feels having the option is useful for placing more time and energy in subjects he is more confident of gaining a good grade. He said: “I don’t think a lot of the subjects I do are going to be any better in my predicted grades. I feel like it wouldn’t be right if I looked back on this and couldn’t say that I at least had the experience of sitting some of the exams.”
Leo agreed, saying: “Having both options is very useful and it is good to have the experience of doing a few of the exams.”
“I am doing exams in the subjects I know I am best at. I want as high a grade as I can get in those. I don’t want to dedicate too much time to the subjects I know I am not as good at, it won’t have a huge impact on points compared to knowing the exams I sit are ones I hope to do well in.”
All three students also agreed that a mixed model of sitting exams and accredited grades would be practical going forward.
“It’s moving in a direction I like of continuous assessment. It isn’t totally there yet, it is still a new system but I think it can be very beneficial moving forward,” Jamie said.
Leaving Cert exams continue today, Thursday, with Engineering and English Paper 2. The exams will conclude on Tuesday, June 29.