PREPARATION was the key for Leongatha Secondary College (LSC) students tackling Tuesday’s VCE English exam, the Sentinel-Times hearing positive views of the paper from Year 12s after they left Mesley Hall.
College leader Montana Kranen was pleasantly surprised when she saw the contents of the exam.
“I thought the article was going to be more difficult and I also thought the prompts would be more difficult, but they were really specific and easy to unpack, so I liked it,” she said.
Montana did product design last year, studying history, psychology, health and human development, and English this year, with psychology her favourite, being a subject she can apply in everyday life.
Fellow college leader Alana Lopez-Freeman was also pleased with the English paper, acknowledging there was some trepidation beforehand but a real sense of release after sitting the exam.
“A lot of hard work was put in and it definitely paid off and I feel good,” Alana said.
With the current VCE cohort having done Year 12 practice exams since year 10, she felt ready.
“It’s all about preparation and timing,” Alana said.
She was set to continue the English theme, with literature her second exam.
In addition to those subjects, Alana studied art making and exhibiting last year, with psychology, biology and maths her other Year 12 subjects this year.
While biology is her favourite, she takes an active interest in everything.
River Thomas was pleased with how he went in the English exam.
“It’s pretty stressful walking in but once you get it done, it’s a big release, and it’s worth all the study and all that time,” he said.
While art is his favourite subject due to the scope it provides for creativity, River said English lends itself to that too.
He also studied psychology and physical education.
Assistant principal, Tanya Chalmers, outlined the extensive preparation the current crop of VCE students had to enable them to perform at their best during the exam period.
“Over the last couple of years, but especially this year, all the VCE teachers have been working really hard to prepare them more thoroughly with what we call their exam literacy skills,” Tanya said.
She explained that includes students’ understanding of the questions and how to answer them correctly, and ensuring their timing is on track so they can successfully complete the exam paper.
Fortnightly study sessions with teachers focused specifically on exam literacy.
“This morning when I was speaking to the students, they were calm, knew what to expect and were prepared,” Tanya said as the English exam neared its conclusion.
While some nerves were unavoidable, there’s no doubt the preparation put the VCE group in good stead.
