Transition from TY to 5th year

tina1040

How difficult/easy is it?

Any tips on getting going and organised from the start of 5th year?

legocrazy505

Just try to get back into the swing of working and doing a lot of homework quickly. It took most of my year the entire 5th year to get serious about things.

Teachers should ease you back into work but just make sure you take that opportunity to get back into the usual routine that you did from 1st-3rd year.

Word of advice they'll probably all give you is just don't go into la la land for 5th year then suddenly wake up in 6th year. Keep your notes organised, do the homework, listen in class. You don't need to panic about the LC for another year.

smiles_1998

The most important thing is to do all your homework and study for every class test right from the beginning of the year. I found it quite difficult after TY to motivate myself to start doing homework and study again but if you can do homework and study right from the beginning of the year you will be fine!

Also try to write out your own notes for every subject this year so that you won't need to waste time in Leaving Cert doing this.

evolving_doors

This might seem a bit 'much' but it worked for me with college modules. It's minimal effort but takes long term commitment.

Keep a copy of the most recent exam paper at home in a subject folder. Every now and again skim through it, don't worry if you can't attempt all/any of the questions, just skim and highlight anything familiar then put it away (don't even ask your teacher questions about it!). Gradually after a few months of constant skimming you'll start to see things clicking into place and it will have your head really geared up for the exam. It will also teach you to skim an exam paper quickly and see what's relevant.

Many students don't really know how everything ties together until late in 6th year once they start finishing a few exam papers. But it seems like you want to stay ahead of the game and be prepared.

Worked for me anyhow! Be careful of certain subjects which change every so often.
Also I wouldn't mention it to teachers or other students as some can become very stressed when the word 'exam' is mentioned so early. In fairness a teachers job is to teach to the curriculum and not towards the exam too, so don't worry if the exam paper seems a bit foreign for a few months.



Also, another thing to watch out for is the blame game. Once your subject choices begin you might start to notice 5th years getting antsy about 'not getting the teachers/subjects they wanted'. Fair enough if you can switch, but if not then you have to go with what you've got. This can become toxic amongst students (usually the academically weaker ones) starting to constantly criticise the teachers methods, it's often a defence mechanism put up to justify any failings they may have in the future. I'm not saying that there aren't good/bad teachers out there, but just stay positive and focused on your homework and good consistent note taking and pay little heed to rumours and gossip (the grass is always greener!)