German Leaving Cert paper 'positive' while Junior Cert music paper strikes balanced note

The State exams are continuing this Friday, with exams in Leaving Cert construction studies, and Junior Cert engineering and classics to take place this afternoon. File picture: Denis Minihane

This morning's German Leaving Cert exam was "manageable and very accessible", while Junior Cert students took the first music exam of the new Junior Cycle. 

The State exams are continuing this Friday, with exams in Leaving Cert construction studies, and Junior Cert engineering and classics to take place this afternoon. 

Leaving Cert students this morning were pleased with the modifications to this year’s German paper, according to Pamela Conway, subject representative with the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI). “On the whole, it was very positive,” she said.

“Students were very happy, they said they had more choice and more time than in previous years because of the Covid modifications.” 

“They found the paper very manageable, very accessible and everybody came out with a smile. That's wonderful news as a teacher, that there weren't any difficulties at all.”

The higher-level paper was “topical and appropriately challenging”, while the ordinary level paper was “well-pitched and enticing”, according to Studyclix subject expert and German teacher Lorraine Tuffy.

“While the language in the first text may have been off-putting for some ordinary level candidates, the questions were manageable,” she said.

Junior Cycle music was also examined for the first time on Friday since the course was revised. Aoife Balfe, ASTI subject representative, described the paper as “really engaging”. There was a wide variety of questions, she added, many of which were multiple choice.

“The unheard listening excerpts were very enjoyable for the students with a variety of styles such as popular, film and classical.” Popular ballad ‘Fields of Athenry’ also made an appearance on the paper.

“The students were required to aurally identity chord changes in the song. Students also had to identify cadences which may have proved challenging for some students.” 

Students were also asked to identify the time signatures and backing chords of the ‘Happy Birthday’ tune, and the final question on the paper gave students an opportunity to refer to music they created themselves as young composers.

“Overall a very balanced common level paper which suited the needs of students of all abilities.”