Leongatha Secondary College (LSC) VCE students at Mesley Hall were generally pleased with the English exam paper on Tuesday, discovering they were well prepared.
“They sounded pretty positive,” assistant principal Tanya Chalmers said of the students’ reaction.
“They’re an awesome cohort and have been working really hard over the past few months.”
Tanya highlighted a change that has occurred at LSC this year with the introduction of fortnightly study revision sessions VCE students undertook with their teachers, aimed at boosting exam results.
It was one of LSC’s smallest VCE groups for some years.
This year’s lower exam numbers are partly a reflection of the strong Vocational Major (VM) program at the school for students wishing to go into apprenticeships and trades.
“In the past, those students may have stayed to do their exams but now they can have one foot out the door in an apprenticeship and still be at school,” Tanya said, with this year’s VM participants able to slide straight into full apprenticeships next year.
LSC student Jude Fixter was one of those who tackled the English exam and was pleased with the paper.
He explained the exam was divided into three sections, the first relating to the analysis of a single book, the next a comparison between a book and a film, and the final section an argumentative piece.
In the middle section, the task was to compare the book Ransom and the movie The Queen.
“There are some overarching themes, such as grief and leadership, which were prominent in both the film and the book, and you talk about the similarities and differences,” Jude said.
The fact the book has an ancient Greek setting and the film is based in 20th century England didn’t faze him.
Jude said having completed multiple practice exams stood him in good stead, giving him confidence in writing to time and understanding the general themes that would arise on the paper, but there was still uncertainty entering the exam room, not knowing what specific prompts would arise.
The final section of the paper required students to analyse an argument that is put forward.
“I’m happy with how it went,” Jude said as he headed off to prepare for other exams, with those being PE, further maths, history and visual communications.