Emotions were high this morning in Belmayne Educate Together Secondary School (ETSS) in north Dublin, where the school’s first cohort of sixth year students began their Leaving Certificate exams with English Paper 1.
For Zuzanna Zoltowska (18), anticipating the exams has been nerve-racking.
“It’s honestly just a stressful experience ... Going into that exam I was like ‘Oh my God, I’m going to die.’”
Zoltowska wants to study physics in Dublin City University (DCU), a subject that she is feeling more confident about tackling.
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“I think I have one of those more technical minds. English isn’t my strongest subject, I’ll say that.”
Her six years at Belmayne ETSS, which was established in 2019, have “gone by really fast”.
“Until the last second you’re like, it’s not going to happen, and then suddenly you’re in the room and you’re doing your Leaving Cert.”
The “mixture of anxiety and tiredness” school principal Aisling Kenevey saw among Zoltowska and her classmates before they turned over their first exam papers on Wednesday morning had been replaced by relief and animated reflection by 11.50am.
Students gathered around their English teacher, Sinéad McGowan, to dissect the paper.
Ms McGowan said students in her class had the chance to show off their creative flair with the opportunity to write a short story about their family pet, a task several gravitated towards.
“I have a lot of lads that are really funny so I think they really leaned into that and their sense of humour will shine out, hopefully.”
The theme of the underdog resonated with students who took the Higher Level English paper this morning.
“This year we feel like the underdogs,” said Ms McGowan, “I think they connected emotionally with that one because they do feel hard done by in that the inflated grades ended just in time for them.”
A “postmarking adjustment” applied to students’ grades this year will reduce from 7 per cent to 5.5 per cent, meaning students’ grades will be lower, on aggregate, compared with the bumper grades achieved over recent years.
English is Sarah Osbourne’s (18) favourite subject, and one she wants to continue in college. She has Arts in Maynooth and a creative writing course in Blackrock College on her Central Applications Office (CAO) form.
There was a period where I wanted to drop out,” said Osbourne, who is now glad she decided to complete her Leaving Certificate.
“Those last two years make or break you. They push you and then once you’re finished it’s just such a relief. I think that the build up is so much worse.”
Páidí Malone (19)
is hoping to study politics and history in DCU while Arron Kavanagh (18) plans “to start working and save up a bit of money, probably go travelling”.
Cormac Taaffe (18) has “an electrician apprenticeship lined up” for next year, while Ilyas Ugurlu (18) is looking forward to studying engineering technology.
