Junior Cert students wave arrivederci to exams

The last of this year’s Junior Certificate students waved arrivederci to the exams as the Italian papers ended their two-weeks of writing.

According to Robbie Cronin of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), the higher- and ordinary-level exams were student-friendly. He said honours students had to read pieces on sports players and actors, and an excellent exercise asked them to match signs in a shopping centre with the right word.

Mr Cronin said the letter question, in which students had to tell an Italian friend about a holiday in Sicily, was good, and grammar questions were challenging but fair. He said there was nothing unexpected in the paper for ordinary-level students, which also had a fair exam.

*In the morning, 7,600 Leaving Certificate agricultural science students were examined. Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) spokesperson James Conway’s views on the exams were mixed.

Junior Cert, FINISHED :D #juniorcert pic.twitter.com/nEvUjl9nbh

— Richard Neville (@RichardKNeville) June 20, 2013

While ordinary-level questions stayed largely on the agricultural focus of the syllabus, he felt there was an over-emphasis on the biology side of things for higher level candidates.

He cited a number of higher-level questions as entirely biology-based but it was a manageable exam nonetheless. He also questioned if examining topics like unintensive pig rearing and organic farming tallied well with the Food Harvest 2020 strategy’s yield-target agenda.

Mr Conway said the ordinary-level questions appeared far more aligned with the agricultural science syllabus in a very do-able exam.

* For over 6,000 Leaving Certificate music students, two papers totalling three hours, with a 15-minute break in the middle, were the afternoon task. ASTI’s Mary McFadden said students were pleased with the first listening paper question on the coda of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture’.

She thought asking for student opinions on Freddie Mercury describing Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as a mock opera allowed them show their critical thinking.

The use of a major key in the first composing question was probably welcomed by most, but some might have cringed when they saw the harmony question set in the key of F-sharp minor.

Ms McFadden said ordinary-level students were again well-guided on their answering, as questions gave them a chance to prove knowledge without testing them too hard.

They were given, for example, multiple choice answers to identify instruments or styles in an exam deemed suitable for students at that level.