Class of 2021 – Start with a good routine

The return to school has been a huge adjustment for everyone. Students and teachers are getting used to one-way systems, more restricted movement from class to class, practising social distancing and the wearing of masks all day long in school. While school is a very different place the people and the purpose is the same. For those of you who have started in 6th year, you have done so watching the media hype surrounding the Leaving Cert group that have gone before you. You have seen inflated results and consequently a profound jump in points for many CAO courses in Round 1 offers as well listening to media hype surrounding the noticeable difference between the grades received by students from their schools and the actual grade awarded following the standardisation process. That has been compounded by mistakes made in standardisation process and further upgrades. It can’t have been easy to be watching this all unfold while you get your head around what lies ahead for you in your final year in secondary school. While we don’t have a crystal ball it is far more likely that points in 2021 will be more in line with previous years.

This year is about you. Your teachers will make you a priority, understanding that you feel extra pressure because of time lost in 5th year. Remember that adjustments have been made to the exams in 2021 to try to reduce some of that pressure and information about project work is due to be issued to the schools earlier than normal. Although the school environment feels different, the advice is the same. Start 6th year with a good routine. Get out of those starting blocks early! The work that you do between this and midterm break is critical to lay the foundations for proper revision later on. It is inevitable that there will be disruption during the school year with students and teachers having to miss school because of having symptoms, awaiting test results or unfortunately contracting the virus. You have learned to survive through a lock-down, you can learn to live with the disruption. It will help greatly if you establish a good routine for yourself from the beginning. Start by familiarising yourself with the amendments to the exams for 2021 so that you don’t waste time covering material that is not required. Your teachers will be focusing a lot on the exam papers so from the start get familiar with the structure of the papers and identify where the main marks are allocated and what sections are compulsory. Try to get into study mode now. Make it part of your daily routine from Monday to Friday and choose one day over the weekend to catch up on revision. Use any free time in school as an opportunity to get some work done in a structured environment with the support of teachers and classmates.  Huge strides have been made by all schools in using online platforms to upload notes and work when disruption occurs so we are all in a better place technologically than were pre-Covid. Identify 2 people in each of your subjects that you can buddy up with (at a social distance or virtually) in terms of explaining work or exchanging notes in the event of you needing to be absent from school. Keep in mind the end goal of giving your very best performance in the exams in June and work towards that. All the best athletes do their heavy training in the early stages of the season – follow that lead. Sow the seed in September & October and you will reap the reward in June. Let the aim for September & October be to settle back to school and establish a good routine in terms of homework and study. Give yourself the best start possible!