Leaving Cert Exam Diary December
Follow Missy.ie writer, Sophie Coffey, as she navigates the 2020 Leaving Certificate month-by-month. In part 4, Sophie shares her December Leaving Cert Exam Diary.
4 months down, 5 to go!
For some people Christmas is a tough time and throughout December my school has been involved in plenty of fundraising and offering a helping hand for those whom the festive season is a burden. There has been everything from bountiful hampers provided for those in need; a Christmas jumper day in aid of charity to carol singing and even a Jingle Bell Charity Run.
Teachers have also joined in on the spirit of giving this year with piles of past mock papers and revision booklets so generously gifted to the sixth years! There will be no fear of boredom over the Christmas holidays!
All sixth years have PE at the same time this year, which usually means approximately eighty-five students trying to convince our teachers that it is far too cold to run around the hockey pitches.
This month it meant a much-appreciated afternoon out of our academic classes for a festive trip to an ice-skating rink. Some of the girls glided gracefully across the ice. Admittedly I was a slightly less elegant gazelle and definitely more Bambi learning to walk! Regardless of skating ability everyone enjoyed themselves and we got away unscathed (mostly).
The talent show is an annual event of great joy. Created and presented by the sixth years to the rest of the school, the performance is always filled with enthusiasm, Christmas spirit and of course some good-natured ribbing. Hours of preparation and rehearsals were fitted in around Irish oral preparation and end-of-term revision tests. It was worth it though, and the perfect end to the longest term of the academic year.
The start of the next term brings with it the grand countdown to the dreaded mocks. Mocks entails two weeks of insisting to one another that all will turn out much better in June.
Speaking of June, just last week the State Exams Commission released the timetable for the Junior and Leaving Cert exams. Frankly, I can think of better early Christmas presents! However, I was delighted to discover that my subject dates actually work out well. Aside from one rather miserable day where I join the majority of the country’s Leaving Cert students in sitting Maths Paper 2 AND Irish Paper 1 immediately after each other, I only have one exam per day.
It is really weird to see all the dates and times laid out and know that I am one of almost sixty-thousand students preparing for the same exams. However, I’m trying to focus on one thing at time. For now, all of my effort is geared towards enjoying a relaxing Christmas with my family and friends and of course eating chocolate with every meal of the day!
Top Tip for December: Try to get as much of your work done as possible in order to leave the Sunday before school returns free. The best way to return refreshed is to spend that final day relaxing and not frantically scrambling to finish assignments or dig your PE top from the laundry basket where it has remained since the end of the previous term.
Catch up on all of Sophie’s Exam Diaries.