Junior Cycle Irish students were mostly relieved with straightforward higher and ordinary level papers, teachers have said.
Linda Dolan, Studyclix.ie subject representative and a teacher at Mercy College Sligo, said that the cluastuiscint (listening comprehension) and the léamhthuiscint (reading comprehension) on the T2 paper, which is sat by students in English-medium schools, offered straightforward and student-friendly questions.
Rita Donnellan, a teacher at Ratoath College in Meath and subject representative for the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), said that the listening comprehension was fair.
“A few words may have tripped some students up, but overall it was balanced,” she said.
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“The questions on the novel, drama, song or poem included common topics that come up regularly. Some may have struggled with some phrasing, but if they could pick out keywords, they could manage the literature questions.”
Ms Dolan said that the ceapadóireacht (composition) questions provided two “lovely” options.
“They were asked to describe a holiday abroad – also seen on last year’s papers – or to describe a picnic day with friends in the Gaeltacht.
“The final section, based on poetry, offered students two undemanding questions on the theme and the title.”
Commenting on the T1 higher level paper, which is sat by students in the Gaeltacht and in Irish-medium schools, contained appropriately pitched and student-friendly language, and was straightforward and happily received by students.
Both Ms Dolan and Ms Donnellan said that the ordinary T2 level papers were fair, although Ms Donnellan said that a question about inviting friends to see the actor Paul Mescal may have been challenging for some.
“The paper went off without a hitch,” said Ms Dolan. “The language used was student friendly and nothing different to what has been seen on past and sample papers.
“The last composition invited students to describe a day mitching from school.
“This would have given them a great opportunity to utilise vocabulary that they learned over the past three years and also would have put a smile on their faces.”
Ms Donnellan said that the Irish papers are more literature focused than teachers expected when the new syllabus was introduced.
“Personally, I would love to see more focus on the oral element in junior cycle, as it can make Irish more accessible as a living language,” she said.
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