political analyst wrote: » I'm aware that the new LC timetable will be published this June - public health permitting. Regarding the usual schedule, why doesn't the State Exams Commission have the exams of both papers each in English, Irish and Maths in the Leaving and Junior Cert exams take place on the first 3 days of the exam period so that students will have the exams in the main subjects over with by the end of Day 3? After all, the sooner the exams are over and done with, the better - right?!
km79 wrote: » Another question What happens if a student /teacher develops covid 19 during the 2 weeks of classes /during exams Obviously the whole school community has to self isolate What happens exams then........... I really hope they are working on the background on alternative to LC in case it’s not safe to run it We do not want another postponement and another poorly thought out “plan”
Random sample wrote: » They were separated out to alleviate the stress on exam students. English is a lot of writing. One of those exams in a day is enough.
deiseindublin wrote: » I thought it was one a day so that students would not be congregating at lunchtimes. I just don't see how they will get all practicals, LCA tasks and orals done in the 2 weeks before the exams. There is just so much of it to get through, and often times it is the same examiner taking up a number of positions, which won't be possible if all on at the same time.
km79 wrote: » Another question What happens if a student /teacher develops covid 19 during the 2 weeks of classes /during exams Obviously the whole school community has to self isolate What happens exams then...........
mirrorwall14 wrote: » Both English exams on the same day is cruel in terms of the writing quantity in my opinion. However in the current crisis and uncertainty I’d be inclined to be getting as many over as possible in case a centre gets a diagnosed case etc. So even English P1 maths P1, English P2, Maths P2. Then break up a little with smaller subjects as usual Irish P1 with Home ec, Irish P2 with Engineering. Then revert to normal. Means in four days the three key matriculation ones are done so even if things go belly up.... Interesting coverage of the proposal today though. Colm of Rourkes headline is funny if accurate
km79 wrote: » If he agrees with us we know that’s things are bad
km79 wrote: » 727 new cases today (I am aware of german lab results etc) I hope they have a contingency/are working on contingency for no LC taking place Never mind 430 the rest were from German tests Still not great
rainbowtrout wrote: » That's exactly what I thought when I read the piece this morning!:D
km79 wrote: » He makes an awful lot of the same points we have made though to be fairSeems fine with teachers correcting JC papers though ......no mention of that
rainbowtrout wrote: » It's too heavy going in the first three days. Both English papers used to be on the same day until 2009, until an examiner gave out Paper 2 in the morning instead of Paper 1, realised his mistake a couple of minutes later but students had seen some of the questions. He should have run the exam and the students be kept in with no contact with outside (no phones at lunch, lunch brought into them etc) and run paper 1 in the afternoon. He didn't do that, he didn't inform the SEC and a student from the school when they left English Paper 1 tweeted about Paper 2 and that's how the SEC found out. Paper 2 for the afternoon was cancelled and a new paper was run on the Saturday. Think it cost the SEC around €1 million to re-run the exam. After that English was split over two days to prevent that happening again. Irish and Maths were already on separate days so the issue wouldn't arise. Splitting of English would have been welcomed anyway as it's a very heavy day with 5 or so hours of writing, so it was a welcome decision overall I think.
rainbowtrout wrote: » Ya that part was conspicuously absent.
Mehan2000 wrote: » How will they facilitate junior cert exams if half of third years do TY and half do fifth year?
deiseindublin wrote: » I'm thinking since Friday about how implausible it is for schools to have all assessments and practicals done in a 2 week block. Was trying to make a list about what might happen when. Mid July - in 2 weeks we have: Computer Science Project Engineering Project finished Engineering Practical History booklet Geography booklet Ag Science booklet Art PE performance test Construction Religion Politics and Society All the while teaching blocks?August - extra exams to be timetabled: Computer Science Exam LCVP Exam LCA ICT Exam LCA Tasks Interviews This is far from a complete list but I'd love if others added to it, just to see how hair brained it is when it's all put together.
rainbowtrout wrote: » Ya I don't see any reason not to have two subjects in a day even if the core (English, Irish, Maths) were 1 per day for the first few days. All the rest are choice subjects, and once you get some of the more popular ones out of the way like Biology, French, Geography, there's no reason you couldn't have two in a day. I teach Physics and it's a small subject and would have small enough classes around the country. Can't imagine there's any school with more than one LC class. No reason that couldn't be paired with Geography or something similar where the chances of a large cohort of students doing both is small by virtue of the fact that Physics classes are smaller anyway. Same with lots of the random minority subjects like Latin, Italian, Applied Maths etc.
Inspector Coptoor wrote: » School I teach in has two LC Physics classes, 2 LC Chemistry classes and 3 LB Bio glasses as well as 2 applied maths classes and LC PE. There’s a lot of crossover with geography, even with some of the physics students so it’s a non runner. There can’t be any clashes
