$ 5th Year 2018/19 Off-Topic & General Chat Thread $

Fastidious · 16-08-2018 05:24PM #1

Hey Guys! Hope you're all well.

Thought I'd create this thread for us incoming fifth years..

I still have about two weeks left till I go back so ample time to fix my sleep schedule and get organised. Don't really know what to expect..
Having completed TY I honestly feel so lazy and unproductive, definitely regret doing it! There's little to no academic focus! And expensive too! How did you guys find TY/3rd year?

Lol hopefully this thread will be successful!!

Tropical.ing · 16-08-2018 06:09PM

Thanks for making the thread

. Yeah I definitely let some of my academic focus slip during TY (I’ve basically forgotten all of my French) but I don’t regret doing it as I really enjoyed the year overall. I think it helped me to become more confident and I got to try lots of new experiences! What subjects are you doing for the Leaving Cert? I’m doing English, Irish, Maths, French, DCG, Physics, Economics and Business!

randylonghorn · 16-08-2018 07:01PM

Welcome along!

Fastidious wrote: »

... so ample time to fix my sleep schedule ...

The phrase "famous last words!" springs to mind!

naxmax9 · 16-08-2018 10:21PM

TY Sucked. I'm ready to get back into it. All I did in TY was do a bit of study for the LC. I have half of Economics done (my 8th subject) and bits and bobs of other subjects done (irish,maths,french,english,physics,chem,bio) so I think I'm ready for the new year

yellowsoul · 17-08-2018 08:11AM

I enjoyed TY but I feel so lazy after it. I'm doing English, Maths, Irish, German, Biology, Home Ec and Business.

c_f_p99 · 18-08-2018 12:07PM

TY was fine. As much as I feel that I could have done more, I didn't really have a lot of control over what I could do and there simply weren't many opportunities. I feel extremely lazy now, though and I'm quite looking forward, for now at least, to 5th year. Still not entirely sure of the Chemistry vs Economics debacle for the eighth subject, though.ðŸ˜‘ If only I could borrow a book and find out what's actually on the curriculum. For the rest though it's English, Irish, Maths, French, Physics, App. Maths, and Music (all HL). Have done quite a lot of the Maths course out of interest (most of trig, logarithms, p&c and a bit of algebra, geometry and differentiation. Only did small bits of the others.

Honestly, I feel TY is as good as how you make it to be and that if you didn't enjoy it...well...it sort goes down to yourself, your family and your school. The lack of academic focus was a bit of a godsend after the horrors of 3rd year, tbh.

wheresmahbombs · 18-08-2018 10:47PM

3rd year - my study habits were fine for a month or two, but things took a negative turn afterwards. My weakest year with regard to test results so far. That's not to matter now, since it's the LC that counts, with regard to college course admissions.

TY - Some of what I got out of TY was presentation skills and a programme in TCD that ended abruptly, thanks to snowmageddon. Numerous moments of boredom ensued, however.

It looks like my LC subjects will be:
-Biology
-Business
-French
-Physics.

Fastidious · 01-09-2018 04:13PM

Hey everyone!
I'm taking English, Irish, Maths, French, Music, Biology & Chemistry all at higher level for now anyways.
Unhappy with some of my teachers but it is what it is...
I'm finding biology mind numblingly boring, but its early days,, we've completed the first two chapters in Unit One, and moving onto food next week..Can't wait to get stuck into the other subjects,, the past few days have been spent going through the curriculum and all that jazz..
Also for English, our teacher went for the unconventional texts..really not looking forward to reading any of them

Hope everyone had a great first week

naxmax9 · 01-09-2018 04:45PM

Fastidious wrote: »

Hey everyone!
I'm taking English, Irish, Maths, French, Music, Biology & Chemistry all at higher level for now anyways.
Unhappy with some of my teachers but it is what it is...
I'm finding biology mind numblingly boring, but its early days,, we've completed the first two chapters in Unit One, and moving onto food next week..Can't wait to get stuck into the other subjects,, the past few days have been spent going through the curriculum and all that jazz..
Also for English, our teacher went for the unconventional texts..really not looking forward to reading any of them
Hope everyone had a great first week

2 bio chapters done already? We are still on the scientific method lol

Tropical.ing · 01-09-2018 05:26PM

My first few days have been pretty good and I’m happy with my teachers. None of my friends are in my business class but I guess that means less distraction

. Haven’t got much homework so far but I’m sure that’ll change. My timetable is ok but we have double maths first thing on a Monday and Friday morning

hopefully my first full week next week will be just as good

hope fifth year is going well for everyone!

naxmax9 · 01-09-2018 05:27PM

Does anyone else have 1hr long classes for all subjects? I have maths English and Irish 4 times a week

Tropical.ing · 01-09-2018 09:28PM

My classes are 40 minutes long. I have English and Irish 5 classes a week and Maths for 7 classes a week.

wheresmahbombs · 01-09-2018 11:46PM

Yesterday was my first day back.

My French class will probably have only 5 students.

2 double maths classes, amounting to 7 classes a week.

My classes are also 40 minutes long.

spurious · 05-09-2018 03:56PM

Fastidious wrote: »

Also for English, our teacher went for the unconventional texts..really not looking forward to reading any of them

You have a smart teacher. The less popular texts usually score well.
Same applies to topics in History etc..

wheresmahbombs · 05-09-2018 07:14PM

Maths class was a bit tough to keep up with today, especially since I didn't really have an understanding of perfect squares in that class.

naxmax9 · 05-09-2018 07:20PM

We are doing natural numbers in higher maths (really easy so far)

Chemistry is so confusing though. Irish is annoying as always, English is chill, French is nice, Biology is beautiful and physics Is the cherry on top. I'm doing economics at home and that's nice.

Chemistry Is just a nightmare right now, I hope I get it soon

wheresmahbombs · 07-09-2018 10:27PM

Doing functions in HL maths.

Speaking of maths, it was recommended yesterday that I read the upcoming topic in advance so I don't fall behind, especially given the fast pace of the maths class. Along with that, I will be doing maths topics in advance, in place of religion.

Given the massive workload that LC HL maths entails, I think the extra classes will be beneficial.

spurious · 07-09-2018 10:49PM

wheresmahbombs wrote: »

Maths class was a bit tough to keep up with today, especially since I didn't really have an understanding of perfect squares in that class.

If you can at all, get either your teacher or someone in your class to explain it to you.
Once you fall behind by not 'getting' something, it can have a bad knock on effect and you can end up completely lost.

Fastidious · 08-09-2018 06:57PM

wheresmahbombs wrote: »

Doing functions in HL maths.

Speaking of maths, it was recommended yesterday that I read the upcoming topic in advance so I don't fall behind, especially given the fast pace of the maths class. Along with that, I will be doing maths topics in advance, in place of religion.

Given the massive workload that LC HL maths entails, I think the extra classes will be beneficial.

We aren't studying functions till 6th year :0 Will be doing Algebra right up until midterm which isn't so bad I guess. We have 6 classes of maths a week and 3 classes of religion, a massive waste of time imo.

wheresmahbombs · 08-09-2018 08:51PM

My timetable states 7 maths classes (including 2 double classes) and 3 religion classes.

In religion, we discussed aspects like the papal visit and religion's association with aspects of life, such as education and healthcare.

naxmax9 · 08-09-2018 08:58PM

I feel like our maths class is going at an ordinary level pace. We are still on natural numbers and it's so easy and boring

Tropical.ing · 08-09-2018 10:06PM

In my school, Religion is compulsory for Junior Cert but not Leaving Cert. You only have Religion classes if it’s one of your Leaving Cert subjects.

wheresmahbombs · 09-09-2018 02:35PM

Religion is done in my school but not the exam, I believe.

Tristan_ · 23-12-2018 12:48PM

How'd everyone's exams go? :P

wheresmahbombs · 24-12-2018 01:04PM

Maths - fine. Expecting a H3 at least.
English - hopefully I'll get a H6.
Irish - nothing amazing. Should expect at least a H5.
Business: looks like the best out of all the exams. Hoping to get a H1.
Physics: expecting a H3.
French: expecting a H2 or H3.
Biology: hopefully I get at least a H3.

c_f_p99 · 24-12-2018 08:03PM

Did fine.

Maths (H1)
Physics (H1)
App. Maths (H1)
Economics (H2)
Music (H2)
French (H2)
Irish (O2)
English (H3)

Quite indifferent about them. Economics was 88% so close enough to the H1. French and Music are really just building up processes (we were given LC HL questions on both, including a short story for French!)

So could push the three of them to H1s without any bother (if I work, obviously).

Tropical.ing · 24-12-2018 09:39PM

Mine were:

English (H1)
Irish (H2)
Maths (H1)
French (H2)
Business (H1)
DCG (H1)
Physics (H1)
Economics (H1)

Fastidious · 23-02-2019 04:41PM

Better late than never..
Mine were
Eng H2
Irish H2
Maths H1
French H1
Music H1
Chem H1
Bio H1
Must be said that they were incredibly easy, and are in no way indicative of what I will actually get.

How's everyone getting on? Hard to believe the year is nearly over. With only seven weeks till easter and five in the third term time really does fly. Just think, this time next year we will be doing our mocks!

Do any of you have teachers that are just woeful. I've a few incompetent teachers that bring shame to the teaching profession to be honest. Like literally in French, I just study rather than listen to my teacher harp on about how beautiful France is, in English! It almost beggars belief that he is allowed to teach first years yet alone a LC HL class..Dont even get me started on my English teacher

You'd think that some kind of standard would have to be maintained..I know inspections may be conducted in which case a teacher would just put on a facade and pretend as though they care. It just really irks me. By the way, I have nothing but respect for those teachers that do go out of their way to ensure that we understand. But the amount of teachers who simply can't teach is unbelievable. And to think that there are many graduates struggling to find a job..perks of working in the public sector eh?

c_f_p99 · 23-02-2019 10:29PM

Fastidious wrote: »

Better late than never..
Mine were
Eng H2
Irish H2
Maths H1
French H1
Music H1
Chem H1
Bio H1
Must be said that they were incredibly easy, and are in no way indicative of what I will actually get.

How's everyone getting on? Hard to believe the year is nearly over. With only seven weeks till easter and five in the third term time really does fly. Just think, this time next year we will be doing our mocks!

Do any of you have teachers that are just woeful. I've a few incompetent teachers that bring shame to the teaching profession to be honest. Like literally in French, I just study rather than listen to my teacher harp on about how beautiful France is, in English! It almost beggars belief that he is allowed to teach first years yet alone a LC HL class..Dont even get me started on my English teacher
You'd think that some kind of standard would have to be maintained..I know inspections may be conducted in which case a teacher would just put on a facade and pretend as though they care. It just really irks me. By the way, I have nothing but respect for those teachers that do go out of their way to ensure that we understand. But the amount of teachers who simply can't teach is unbelievable. And to think that there are many graduates struggling to find a job..perks of working in the public sector eh?

Oh god yes. Okay, I’m going to let you all in for a little secret. I attend a grinds school. Yeah, I know, boo boo, posh D4 alert, boo boo, stupid, pathetic idiot who has everything handed to him alert, boo boo, going off to abuse your daddy’s money again, etc.

But looking back on it, I couldn’t be happier with the decision I’ve made. Now, there are many reasons for this (most notably, greater freedom, lack of a religious ethos, more diverse student body), but the best reason is simply to do with how well run and organised the school is. My previous school was private (and actually costs around the same amount too). I can’t say that I hated it, in fact, I’ve many memories of rugby matches, classroom banter, hanging out with the lads and all. But I was wary of the problems that I could have faced with the standard of teaching there. For instance, my brother, who also went to the school (he is a year below me) had horrific teaching: He had no English teacher until May of 3rd year! In second year, the teacher did NOTHING on the syllabus whatsoever so he had literally a month to do the entire course (got a Higher Merit in the end, fair play to him). The Latin teacher couldn’t control the class whatsoever, same with Maths and French. The rest were barely adequate. (To be continued)

c_f_p99 · 23-02-2019 10:48PM

Alright, I was just scared of the response being automatically deleted again. Anyway, there were more reasons to that. The French department is an absolute disaster (literally EVERY SINGLE person in the LC HL French class for one of the most useless teachers has grinds), the English department is supposed to be crap too (very bad news for me since I’m hopeless at the subject).

Needless to say, I dodged a bullet. One of my friends doing Economics there (one of my options for LC) didn’t have ANY teacher (no sub or anything) for FOUR months straight (since after the October mid-term). The sixth years have someone unqualified who “happens” to know bits and bobs of the subject for just two 40 minute classes a week. This, in a 6k a year private school?! I literally can’t imagine how bad it must be in a public school!

Not to mention ridiculously outdated syllabuses (Economics and App. Maths haven’t been reformed in almost 50 years) and non-existant use of IT in schools surely pits Ireland into having one of the worst education systems in the developed world? I know very well that the Government is trying to revamp it, I just really hope that it succeeds.

Fastidious · 23-02-2019 11:08PM

Indeed there is an apparent dichotomy between public and private schools, which pits those less fortunate against those who can afford grinds etc. It really is an unfair system.
Although it is what it is.
I suppose I can sit all day and criticise the Irish education system. But credit where credit is due-it does teach the very important lesson that hard work is always rewarded. And didnt the maths syllabus change recently with the implementation of project maths? Ireland fares quite well in the world education rankings so it's not all that bad.

I can't help but feel we are going so slowly through the course..
For instance,
In Maths all we've done is algebra and coordinate geometry. It's a mammoth course and honestly, I can't see us finishing it.

Do you have any idea what you'd like to do after school??
Have you been to any open days?
I went to TCD, RCSI and UCD.
Thinking of doing pharmacy or something concerning healthcare anyways.

Is anyone going to the Gaeltacht?

$ 5th Year 2018/19 Off-Topic & General Chat Thread $

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