A few weeks out from her Year 12 exams, Kloe Laws wasn’t thinking about them, university courses or even schoolies.
The Greater Shepparton Secondary College student was thinking about her home, which, like many others across City of Greater Shepparton, was threatened by rising flood waters.
“The water came up just underneath the floors and, in the meantime, we had to stay at my stepdad’s until we could come back,” Kloe said.
“We were stressing about the house and I just forgot about exams, then I had to get back into it a week later.
“It just made studying harder than what it already is.”
On Monday, she finished the second part of her further maths exam.
Luckily for Kloe and the rest of her peers, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority has made students in flood-affected areas eligible for Derived Examination Scores.
The DEV takes into account the difficult circumstances caused by the floods to make sure the student’s examination reflects the level of achievement they have maintained throughout the year.
“It was like a huge weight was taken off my shoulders which has been helpful,’’ Kloe said.
“... there were a few subjects I haven’t been able to study as hard for, so hopefully the DEV will help out with that.’’
Her classmate Paris Patifio also sat the further maths exam on Monday.
“I had family members and friends that were affected and knowing they were stuck in their house you feel like mentally you’re somewhere else and it was a lot harder to give full attention to my studies,” Paris said.
“Considering what Shepparton has been through, a lot of the students were affected more, so I think it’s a very good alternative they’ve put in place and it gives people a bit more security.”
After the further maths exam, Bethany Gray said it was difficult being away from study resources in the lead-up to exams, with her biology notes and practice exams left at school as large parts of the region were cut off from each other.
“We went into the weekend before exams going ‘we’ll be back on Monday, I’ll just bring back a couple of practice exams and won’t worry about the rest of the subjects’,” she said.
Estela Seit thought she did “quite well” in the further maths exam but was thankful for the derived scores.
“It’s good because it makes you perform better almost because you’re not as stressed in your exams,’’ she said.
“I haven’t been stressed for any of the exams.’’
Her classmate Kaitlyn Crowhurst felt she had done reasonably well in the further maths exam, which was her second of the day on Monday.
“It’s not my strong subject but I’m still feeling confident,” she said.
“I think I did pretty well today.
“I did psychology and maths today so feeling a little tired and ready for sleep but I found this exam easier than part one of further maths.”