Our Leaving Cert parent diarist Damian Cullen wrote last week of how the family kitchen table has been commandeered by his daughter for the duration of the exams.
T-squares, a laptop, King Lear textbooks, highlighters, plastic folders and dog-eared notes all occupy the space where family dinners were once had.
And just in case we thought he might have been exaggerating, Damien helpfully supplied this picture:
So, have you got your kitchen table back yet?
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If not, we hope you’ve made a few incursions and are grabbing back whatever territory you can. Do, please, send any pictures (email details below) and we’ll display them here soon; the more chaotic, the better!
So, the worst is well and truly over for most students. A well-received business exam followed by an accessible art paper on Thursday afternoon got a thumbs up from most teachers and pupils.
But we were stuck by this message from a student who sat Wednesday’s history exam, which was the subject of much criticism.
“I wanted to email you to discuss the devastating experience that was the Leaving Cert history paper yesterday,” the student writes.
“I am a H1 student who studied well over 32 essay titles across 12 large topics for this year’s Leaving Cert. I have given countless hours to the subject and have consistently averaged a H1 at 95 per cent throughout all my class tests and scored 96 per cent on my history mock ...
“To say that everyone was devastated opening the paper would be an understatement. I have never seen the swarms of students leaving the hall who would be scoring the top grades alongside me, left utterly demoralised from the ridiculous essay titles offered across the sections. We have the most thorough and excellent history teacher and yet we were left completely shaken by the choice on the paper ...
“Many people left well over an hour early, and those who did leave were left extremely upset in the corridors. For many of us this was our first noncore subject exam, leaving us rather shaken at what the next few exams will bring.”
Our heart goes out to her – it is a very distressing experience.
All we can say is that “hard” exams do tend to get marked easier by examiners. This is due to the bell-curve that is used to ensure there are a similar proportion of H1s, H2s, and H3s, etc.
Nonetheless, it is clear the paper was exceptionally difficult in what is a punishing subject to prepare for.
There is delicate balance to be struck by exam-setters in pushing students to display their full range of skills and knowledge – and trying to catch students out.
This is one where, on occasion, it felt like the latter for many – let’s hope the rest of the exams offer a smoother path ahead for all.
-carl.obrien@irishtimes.com
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