The inaugural Leaving Cert exams of this year were user-friendly and incorporated overarching topics, according to educators. The examinees of the English paper one were given explicit cues throughout the paper, stated teachers.
A faculty member of Loreto Secondary School in Cork, Kate Barry, pointed out that this year’s higher-level paper offered students more guidance than in past years. “The comprehension questions in section A specifically indicated the number of marks and points to be allotted to each question,” Barry, who is also a representative of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), elaborated.
Institute of Education’s English instructor, Clodagh Havel, mentioned that some of these cues were more detailed than anticipated, but it left ample room for the students to delve deeper and broaden their responses.
This year’s paper pivoted around the subject matter of ‘connections’. On the whole, pupils were pleased with the paper’s approachability, stated Laura Daly, who teaches at Dublin’s St Benildus College and is an expert with Studyclix.
The paper this year allowed students to select from three comprehension passages. The Bee Sting, a Booker Prize nominated novel by Irish writer Paul Murray, and a piece by Financial Times journalist Monisha Rajesh on the role of travel in forming bonds were included.
The English paper one initiates the mood for the exams, added Ms Havel. The central theme, ‘connections’, was all-embracing enough to let students reflect on a wide selection of experiences while still being relevant enough to their world to be engaging.
“Every passage had a subject matter in which the students could identify themselves. The tension between teenagers and parents is something everyone can relate to, irrespective of the precise topic of tattoos.
Some students might even have been acquainted with Text 2: The Bee Sting which is a fresh best-seller and a prominent feature in bookshop displays.
However, even those who haven’t directly read the text would find the underlying theme universal and significant, namely, the aspiration of far-off places. There is something that will resonate with young people, constantly connected to the broader world and on the threshold of a new chapter in their lives.”
Ms Daly remarked that some aspects of the part B queries were uninspiring, attributing this to their lacking in originality. She highlighted that students had the opportunity to create a sequence of diary entries, a traditional method often seen in Junior Cycle level examinations. The paper also contained a dialogue and a suggestion for a Tidy Towns committee. She noted the absence of modern formats like blogs or podcasts, that could have updated the examination’s style. However, she conceded that the students would likely have appreciated not facing any singular or highly challenging tasks in this section.
In terms of the essay questions, Ms Barry noted that a question prompting students to write a dialogue might have been confounding, yet they were given alternative options. Ms Daly expressed that the prompts echoed themes from past papers, which would have benefitted those who studied prior year’s papers.
Regarding the ordinary level exam, Ms Daly said it concentrated on the themes of trials and was manageable for the majority of students. She added that it presented students with assorted styles of reading comprehensions, catering to a range of learning styles. She singled out Text three for its light amount of writing and use of images, which many would have found appealing.
Ms Barry praised the inclusion of an extract from the Booker-prize longlisted novel, How to Build a Boat, penned by Irish author Elaine Feeney. Additionally, she admired a question that prompted candidates to draft a magazine article discussing the difficulties of adapting to a new country. Ms Barry believed that many new arrivals to Ireland would have appreciated this question, as it allowed them to draw on their personal experiences.
For practice: consider this query from a high-level English paper one – In The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, the character Cass depicts people as puzzles, stating that they would frequently look at her as if they were trying to solve a riddle. Compose a personal essay reflecting on your puzzling life aspects.