As a former Junior Cert student I was so stressed and anxious about going into third year and having to sit the exam. But what I forgot was that the Junior Cert is only to prepare you for the Leaving Cert and get a feel of the environment of an exam hall and what it is like to sit a two hour exam.
The mocks were the worst part of the whole Junior Cert. It was a new environment, I had never sat a test or exam in a massive hall with hundreds of students, one at each desk. The mocks were a lot, there were three exams in one day for a week, not being allowed to leave the school and the constant silence between exams, made making the mocks extremely difficult. The results for the mocks were dissapointing, nobody was happy with there results but this pushed me and encouraged me to study and try harder.
The Junior Cert really shocked me. It was not what I expected.
The Junior Cert was much better than I thought it would be. The exams were much easier than the mocks, we only had max two exams a day, after one exam was over there was quite a long break so my friends and I would go for lunch and talk about the exams.
The relief off all your hard work, time, and stress is over. That is what I enjoyed most about the exam.
For parents the most you can do for your child sitting the Junior Cert is to be supportive and understanding of what they are going through This is a very stressful time for a child sitting the exam.
But as a parent you should be mindful of plans coming up to the exam. The Junior Cert is in June at the start of summer and the weather is good so there are lots of distractions. Offer your child help and grinds but not to overload the constant pressure of having to study as the school days are long and much homework is given.
For study I would highly recommend getting a whiteboard to rewrite notes During study my top tips are too study in a quite organized space in your comfy clothes and to set timers as a "goal" for yourself. Setting a timer helps study as you will not get distracted as easy.
As I have not got my results yet but I know I have tried my best and put as much effort as I could into the Junior Cert.
