LC French

Ailbhe (Higher Level French)

Oh la la, sacrebleu!!Le Français s'est bien passé, non?I think this is the one exam I'm actually kind of sad to have put behind me. I really enjoyed French- the people, the accent, the culture, the fashion, the cheese- was, comment-dit, extraordinaire!I was happy to find an illustration on "le fast food". I had pas mal d'informations about manger sainement from my oral, as I was anticipating questions about my future career (dietetics).The comprehensions posed des problémes, the first one about Permet de Conduire was a little difficult...there was no verb question on it either, something I was none too impressed to see!Le Journal Intime was a highly pleasant venture altogether. Going into the exam I had vocab to express sadness and happiness, any form of anger, love, confusion, fear, would have made me look un peu "retard".I choose the emigration Question 1. Nattered on about “C'est un problème primordial de nos jours, qui malgré la croissance économique a continué s'aggraver” ...basically any sentence I managed to crowbar into my head last night.The listening wasn't too bad but some parts were a bit hazy but that’s the French for you!Bonne chance pour demain!

Owen (Higher Level French)

Whoop finished all my languages now!! :DWe're nearly there... in the last stretch of it now and even though I have two exams left, I couldn't feel any better!French today was believe it or not, très bien! :DHave to say that I was absolutely dreading this exam as it’s one of my weaker subjects but only for the fact that the social topics can be so unpredictable and I usually find myself, which is unusual for me, stuck for words!The reading comprehensions were quite do-able, one about the new driving test scheme in France and another about a girl whose husband died and she had no money so reluctantly was being sent to France to find work. There were the odd few questions which required the art of guessing... hopefully with a bit of luck this method proved to be successful!Now on to the opinion questions, my most feared part of the French paper!EMIGRATION..... lovely just like in Irish - an open doorway to complain and moan (what us Irish people do best) about the recession and the effects it has on emigration.I next found myself doing the diary entry... “PARTY, PARTY, PARTY” ... oh wait no, the party got cancelled and I was left stuck in on New Year’s Eve in front of the television with my parents! Easy to sympathise with, the emotions came flooding out about how this was the worst thing that could have ever possibly happened in the world.... worse than starvation, worse than dying, dare I even say it worse than the recession!?! I made my point very clear...to my diary anyway!For my last opinion question, I answered the question on how fashion is just as important to boys as girls. I have to say my French teacher’s love for fashion and Tommy Hilfiger came in handy here! I had a wide variety of vocabulary and phrases to give a satisfactory answer! Let’s hope the examiner will agree! :DThe listening, never usually my strong point... but for today I did manage to give the Exams Commission a run for their money! Saying that, I also missed a few ones here and there which resorted to my fine art of guessing again, they were good educated guesses though so hopefully it works out!Now with Biology tomorrow I have a lot to revise and thankfully I have a half day, so I'm going to go and make the most of it!

ISSU Condemns Cheating During State Examinations

Irish Second-Level Students’ UnionPRESS STATEMENT    *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

Cheating during State Examinations    15/06/’10

The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union welcomes the investigation being conducted by the State Examinations Commission into cheating by candidates during the Junior and Leaving Certificate exams.Incidents of this nature undermine the credibility of our education system on a national and international level and so the ISSU calls on students to report any efforts at cheating that are brought to their attention during the exams, as it is the credibility of their educational qualifications that are at stake. The ISSU urges students not to stay silent for fear of being labelled a “snitch” as incidences can be reported in confidence to the relevant authorities. The ISSU also calls on the State Examinations to ensure that superintendents implement stricter regulations and checks to ensure that attempts to cheat during exams do not go undetected as unless more rigorous measures are enforced, attempts at cheating will escalate in future years and confidence in the Irish exam system will be gravely undermined.__ENDS__Notes to Editor:ISSU is the national umbrella body for school Student Councils, aiming to represent and connect Irish second-level students the length and breadth of the country, ensuring that the voice of the Irish second-level student is heard and striving for innovation and democracy within the education system. ISSU is a not-for profit student rights organisation.At ISSU we believe that young people are not merely citizens in waiting - we deserve better, we deserve to be heard. We can and will contribute positively to society. It is so important that our voices, views and opinions are (i) heard (ii) listened to (iii) and most importantly respected. This is what ISSU is all about. We’re here for you.Our main aims include:

• To provide training and development of second-level school Student Councils, in conjunction with relevant bodies.
• To develop policies on issues affecting Irish second-level students and bring the needs and rights of students to the attention of the relevant authorities.
• To provide a transparent, democratic and reliable organisation.
• To work in collaboration with other educational institutions and bodies both in Ireland and Europe.
• To work closely with educational curriculum policy makers and teachers’ unions to continually develop a transparent, fair and modern education system.
• And most importantly, to give students a structured platform through which the voice of the Irish second-level student will be heard.

ISSU represents students at a national level and is affiliated to; the WHEEL, NYCI, Anna Lindh Foundation, Stand up for Education Alliance, Children’s Mental Health Coalition and the Children’s Rights Alliance. On an international level, ISSU works closely with OBESSU. ISSU also works with curriculum development teams and various advisory bodies.Contact:www.issu.ie, email info@issu.ie or call 01 443 4461.

JC Business

James (Higher Level)

This morning I had Business Studies Paper 1. The paper started with the twenty short answer questions of Section A. In Section B, four long questions were to be answered. I completed everything and was satisfied on my lunch break. In the afternoon, I had Business Studies Paper 2. Four long answer questions were to be answered and I completed these questions well with lots of detail. I did not choose question 1 or question 4 on Paper 2. Overall, I'm happy with my Business Studies exam.

LC Business

Owen (Higher Level)

Ah business... my favourite subject, so much to say, so much to write about, so much common sense involved but oh so LITTLE time to do the exam!The Paper proved to be a nice little paper overall, nothing out of the ordinary in the short questions, the ABQ was a nice little piece on Management and the use of IT in business quite a walk in the park for a Leaving Cert student.The long questions again had a nice variety from EU policy to franchising and branding it was overall, a nice paper!However with the pros also come the cons, much like every other aspect of the business some of the questions were a bit vague and wishy washy resulting in again what is found in every aspect of business...waffle...but again that is the art of business and proved not too difficult to master! :DAlso the timing!! My poor hand, I now know how those monks felt writing manuscripts all day... God bless them!There was a lot of time management to be done in this exam and it was easy to let yourself go especially on the ABQ. However, I finished with 5mins to spare to have a quick glance back over and tidy things up.Now to get ready for French, oh the joys, thankfully though I have no more full days!A demain, bonne chance!

LC Irish Paper 2

Ailbhe (Ardleibhéal)

The clichéd "BIG THREE" are over. Just three more to get through.Irish passed by without much ado.Did Stair first. The choices available were not of the predicted variety. Bealoideas, Meath na Gaeilge and Colaiste Lováin were chosen.Clare sa Speir and Fiche Blian ag Fás showd up as expected in Ceist 1, which was were my pen took me after the Stair. The questions were manageable, I just hope I wrote enough to secure me the precious marcanna.I then started into An Triail. I did the Teicníochtaí Drámata. I was glad to get that jumbo sized question finished.I then turned to poetry.I couldn't do Uirchill because I never bothered learning meadaracht, little did I know how much my negligence would conspire against me. An Chéad Drama got a going over. I think I may have spelt the poet's name incorrectly, probably wasn't the best start, they should really print the poets on the paper.Jack, Níl Aon Ní and Faoiseamh a Gheobhadsa were the ordinary level poems of choice. I had been banking on doing Jack and had learned off a hefty wedge of Dlí na hOidreachta, saol na tuaithe sula dtáinig an cumhacht leictreach agus araile and was disheartened to find that the question wasn't the best. Instead I turned to O’Searcaigh and O’Direáin for the ordinary level question.Was glad when 12.50 rolled around on the clock. That was definitely the toughest paper. Not only was it the same length as English paper 2 but you have a lot more to learn and more questions to answer. Not many were left standing when the final whistle was blown. Out of a starting group of about 140, I'd say about 20 or so stayed in the exam centre until the bitter end. Most dodged out early to get an extra cram for business in.Have to spend my afternoon with French now, a subject I have disregarded, lucky me!

Owen (Ardleibhéal)

Wow, all I can say is thank god that today is over! There was some serious amount of writing involved in today’s exams with both Irish Paper 2 and Business!Well, well, well Irish Paper 2... the paper I've been dreading the most with its unpredictable ways, its confusing questions and usually the most ferocious paper to walk the world of the Leaving Cert!!However today for me it proved to be nothing more than a piosa páipéar! All my worries and anxiety were completely overdramatic (looks like I can relate already to the An Chéad Drama question :D).As soon as I opened my paper, I was off to a flying start with the prós question, a very approachable question on 'An Cearrbhach Mac Caba' and how we are sympathetic with him in his constant struggle with death. He's a gambler, who is lazy, spends his time playing cards and wasn't even there for his wife when she was having her baby, however for the sake of the question I decided to pledge by sympathy to the gambler after all he did change his ways in the end!Next came the An Triail question for myself, now I have to say I'm not at all into the whole ‘let’s cook our children in the oven’ thing and never found myself to be a big fan of the play but I did manage to get through the question. I did the first question on how the main conflicts of the drama come from the fault of 'something' 'something' 'something' about love, I took an educated guess anyway and decided to talk about how the main conflicts in the play were as a result of love.... I hope that's right cause I did give a fairly decent answer!Now for the poetry, to my great relief it was quite manageable. After dreading for so long what poem might come up and if I would know it in enough detail, the ones I had prepared the most made a lovely appearance. Níl aon Ní, although Cathal may be a bit dodgy, I threw myself head over heels into complete adoration of his poetry! Next came Faoiseamh A Gheobhadsa, again another enjoyable poem which shares some similarities with Níl Aon Ní so I didn't have any trouble with that.Next onto the higher level poetry....*Owen turns the page**Owen sees Uirchill an Chreagain and Owens dies a little on the inside**Owen turns the page again...AN CHÉAD DRAMA and Owen is resuscitated back to life*Thankfully one of the poems I had covered in detail phew! Although I did cover it in detail, the questions were a bit awkward and a bit of a waffle was in need but I'm sure I got the gist of it!Stair na Gaeilge...  I found myself writing about the poets and Bealoideas na Gaeilge. Thankfully I'd covered the poets but having expected something like Fiannaíocht to come up, I settled with Bealoideas with my knowledge from an Cearrbhach Mac Caba helping me out so I took a gamble with it.Overall most people were happy with the exam and the only main complaint was with the An Triail question and how it is becoming near to impossible to study at this stage with the vast variety of questions being asked on it!

LCA Office Administration & Customer Care

Rosemarie

I found this exam very difficult, which was a disappointment as I felt confident entering the exam and had done very well in this exam in my mocks. A lot of the questions had parts I felt I was not prepared for. Timing was also an issue for me in the exam as I felt that I didn’t have enough time to answer the questions to the best of my ability. Throughout the paper the answer space was longer than usual, this was a turn off as I thought my answers had to be longer than usual and I didn’t have time to give longer answers!This was my last exam. I really enjoyed the LCA programme and did well throughout the two years of it. I am delighted to be finished and look forward to the future.