Almost three years of on again-off again education came to a climax for Kyabram’s two VCE Classes of 2022 when Kyabram P-12 College and St Augustine’s College began exams on Wednesday last week.
The 62 students, 30 from St Augustine’s and 32 at Kyabram P-12, launched into 15 days of exams in traditional fashion – a three-hour English exam sat by 46,000 Victorian teenagers on October 26.
The final day of exams is Wednesday, November 16, with only the Melbourne Cup bringing a stop to testing procedures.
This year’s VCE students have been subjected to a string of online learning stints throughout their senior secondary school years.
They have also had to cope with the demands of regular Rapid Antigen Tests and the uncomfortable requirements of wearing masks for extended periods of classroom learning.
In between sanitising their hands on what must have seemed a continual basis, they have also had to live in an environment where many of their outlets, often the salvation of dedicated students, have been cancelled, postponed or run via Zoom.
Add to the mix the most recent challenge of several tutors being otherwise engaged –due to their homes being threatened and in many cases inundated by flood waters – in the important lead-up to the exams and it makes for a difficult learning environment.
For many, the ATAR they receive for the exams, a major component of their final VCE score, will dictate the career direction taken in the coming years.
Students at St Augustine’s College, affected by the recent flood event, were being offered a Derived Examination Score for their exams. On Page four today the Free Press speaks to students about coping with the stress of exam time.