CSPE - #JC2017 - Kurt Scott
Kurt Scott - Ratoath CollegeI think we were all thinking the same thing when we left our CSPE exam today, "Who the hell is the UN General Secretariat?"In all seriousness, the CSPE exam was pretty much exactly how I had expected it would be. Anyone who has practiced using the Junior Cert papers from the previous years should not have been majorly surprised with this exam.A bit of State, Explain, Example, and this exam should have been a good shot at an "A" for most of the students taking it.
Junior Certificate Technology
Kate - Higher Level 
My final exam! I finished exactly two weeks after I started. I went into this exam knowing I would do poorly. We spent all of our class time doing projects and briefs and did little or no theory. My project and brief was of an A standard with only one or two minor flaws so I went into the exam feeling ok.I opened the short questions and initially could only answer about 10 of the 32. Eventually I got 27 done to a fair standard. I moved onto long questions. I did section B 1 (a) and 2(b). 1 (a) was a lovely question about a truck. I answered that fairly well. Question B 2(b) was very difficult so I just made the whole thing up. I tried to do it as best as I could but honestly it was all waffle. I loved the question on Technology and Society. It was all about bike rentals, modern consumer technology and green technologies. This was also a load of waffle but it was more educated waffle.Overall I think that was a bad end to a fairly good run of exams, but what can you do! I'm just happy the exams are done and dusted!
Luke - Higher Level 
Yesterday I had the day off, and there comes a time in the exam period where you don't care anymore and where the communal motto is; "it'll be grand". Hence, I didn't look at a book yesterday.Because my exam wasn't until two o'clock today, this morning I said I may as well have a look at some past exam papers, basically the ones I hadn't done yet. I've been studying all year for this one, because technology is actually one of my favourite subjects. It links up with science, another one of my favorites. It's practical, it's hands on, and it just makes sense to me.I got into the exam and saw the paper was pretty nice. I did 32 short questions out of 32, the minimum to be answered being 25 so this gives me a safety net.The first long question I did was the plane. You have to design a development of a plane (the net). The second question; I had planned to do the mechanics question beforehand because this is one of my strong points, but the electronics question was so easy so I decided to go for it. You didn't even really need a knowledge of technology to do this question, just a log tables!For question three I did technology in society which I didn't really get a choice in, it was the only topic my teacher had taught us, as he designated it the easiest. I also think that bike rentals came up because the recent introduction of bike rental schemes in Ireland!Overall I'm happy with the exam. More importantly though, the Junior Certificate is finally over! Roll on Transition Year!Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate Music (Listening, Composing & General Study)
Isobel - Higher Level 
After having a few days off since my previous exam, I felt well rested and ready for my music exam. I was fairly happy with how my practical exam went, apart from a few slip-ups due to nerves. I played two songs on the piano and two songs on the ukulele.Overall I thought it was a good paper. Question 1 was set songs, in which me and my classmates nearly started laughing when our favourite funny song came up, "Click go the Shears". Hoe-Down from Rodeo came up in the set works question. I was hoping that Peer Gynt would come up, but I think I dealt with the questions fairly well. I was really happy when I saw we had to write about a collector of Irish Music in question 3, and I wrote about Edward Bunting. Next was good old dictation, (everyone's favourite... not!) I've never really been confident about it but I think it was slightly easier than the mocks, and I'm hoping that I've picked some marks up for the rhythm, bar lines and end note. Some familiar songs were played in question 5, including a Glee cover of Imagine, a U2 song, and Eye of The Tiger!I found the triads question and the answering phrase question fine, however I thought that the chord progression question was a little tricky. Question 10 went well for me, as you weren't asked to write about 3 specific features of the songs you've studied, instead they asked you to just write a general account of the songs and include information about the features.All in all, I'm happy with how it went, and I hope everyone has a great Summer. We did it!Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate Metalwork (Materials & Technology)
Shane - Higher Level 
Ah, my last exam! I went in not worried because I love Metalwork and made sure my project and day practical were perfect so I could get as close as I could to that 75%.Today went great! It was a lovely paper and very manageable. I answered all parts of Q1 A and left out the second last part of Q1 B. Then I did Q2 which asked you to design a bus stop. I love Q2’s so I actually enjoyed this. Then I did Q3 and there was no surprise as a Blast Furnace came up. Then I did Q4 and discovered I still had an hour or so left.Out of the remaining 5, 6 and 7, I did Q6 because it was the best. I then went back and went over the paper several times just so I could hear “Time’s up” for the last time. So I am finished! The Junior Cert was as I expected and I feel I did really well in reflection! I wish everyone the best for their remaining exams and want to wish you the best for the summer and in 5th Year or TY!
Joe - Higher Level 
It is the final count down to my very last exam. Today I was in high spirits as I enjoy metal work but more than that I won't have to do another state exam for three years.The pick and mix question, aka question 1 was formatted the same as most years with question on engines, circuits and about the design of the trike.Question 4, the furnace question, was a blast and bronze came up in the question too.The metal work exam unlike many others doesn't have great time restraints, which allowed me to spend way too much time drawing a bus shelter and then a bench for question 2.Then question 5 was interesting, half on drones the other on gears. I've always had an interest in drones so I enjoyed the first half but was a small bit lost when it came to gears and I just couldn't connect.I am so glad to be done and best of luck to anyone with exams left!Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate Materials Technology (Wood)
Joe - Higher Level
Woodwork is my favourite subject so I was confident going into this exam.I started with the shirt question and they took less than half an hour and I was happy with them.I moved onto question one then. You had to draw an elevation and end view of a laptop stand. As I do tech graph as well, this question suited me. For the final part of the question I suggested using a finger joint.I then did question five A on the lathe next. You had to list parts, list safety precautions, say how to bore a hole in a lamp and suggest a clear applied finish. It wasn't that difficult and went well.I left my favourite until last, the question two on design. I drew a box with wheels and handles. For the last part of the question and then sketched in chamfered for safety and a bunny done with marquetry for appearance.
Chloe - Higher Level 
Okay so anybody that they could predict this exam was in for a shock today. Only for the fact that I got up early today to study more than what I had predicted I would have been in so much trouble in this exam. Woodwork is my least favourite subject and I absolutely hate the theory for the simple reason that I have absolutely no interest in it! Unfortunately I wasn’t gifted with an artistic streak either and so I have always avoided the Q1 and Q2 in this exam.So before going into the exam I was set on doing Q3, Q4 and Q5B. All of my study since Friday revolved around these questions and I had never crammed so much in all of my life for a subject, I should have won an award!I started with Q3 which was grand, not as straight forward as usual at all but doable. Next on my list was Q4. I swear if you asked me to identify a selection of any other type of hand tool I could have done it but I was kicking myself that I hadn’t looked at chisels. I hadn’t a notion and I just had to move onto Q5B and I would come back to it. Q5B was just not appealing me to me whatsoever and I chose to do Q5A instead which went well enough.So then it was time to choose a third question I was left with Q2 as my only other choice as I wouldn’t know where to start with a working drawing. I think it went well apart from the sketches which I made a huge effort with but I’m not joking when I say I can’t draw, so drawing something without tracing was really pushing the boat far out into the water for me!Before this exam I would have been a firm believer in that you should never try something in an exam that you haven’t done before, but after today I guess sometimes you have to do what you have to do to get the most marks as possible !I hope you guys had a better run at this than me but hey maybe not!This is my last exam blog and I’d just like to say thanks to all that have read the blogs and to all of you that have written them as well. I have enjoyed reading other opinions just as much as I have writing my own!Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate Technical Graphics
Luke - Higher Level
I have been studying for Technical Graphics all year long, doing a little bit here and there. I used to be quite slow at doing the actual drawing (I'm a perfectionist) so I have had to speed up. I have a drawing board in my room so I have been able to practice. If you choose Tech Graph to take as an exam subject, you definitely need a good quality drawing board at home.The best thing you can do to study is complete practice exam questions. There are also videos on YouTube which explain some of the different construction techniques used. I would recommend these two methods to revise leading up to the exam.Yesterday I revised Solids and Contact, because I was pretty confident with everything else.I wasn't that nervous this morning because I knew I had everything covered. Being prepared is a good feeling, although I was still a little bit jittery just because I wanted to do well.After looking through the exam paper, I was relieved to find that it was no more difficult than any other year. Solids and Contact came up!There were 15 short questions, you had to answer 10, and 6 long questions, and answer 4. You literally only have time to answer this amount of questions, if you get time to answer more than that, you're not taking enough time!Overall it was fine, I reckon I got an A or B!
Kate - Higher Level
Tech graph is possibly my favourite subject so I had high hopes for this exam. I want into the exam well prepared and had enough materials for the whole exam centre. I started the exam and did the short questions first. These were great, I can confidently say I did well in these and scored a high mark. Next I moved on to the long questions. My tape did not work. My page would not stick to the desk. This was a disaster. I continued on, stressed but had to keep working or I would run out of time. I answered the orthographic question, the development question, the isometric scale question and the transformation geometry question.I felt like this exam was a lot easier than exams in previous years and I am optimistic about it! One more exam to go!
Philip - Higher Level 
I'm going to start by saying this: I'm finally done, hell is over. I cannot wait until TY, its going to be great. Anyway, Technical Graphics. I started with the short questions. I didn't think these were too hard compared to other years and I'm pretty confident I got at least ten. Then I started the long questions. First I did question 1, when I first looked at this question I thought it looked pretty hard but as I did it I think it wasn't too hard and I think I got most of the marks. Then I moved onto question 2, the rotations. Usually I don't find these questions too hard but I thought this question was particularly difficult. Drawing out the plan went fine, it was the rotation part that was the problem. I did the left side of the gate easily enough, the side with the star. My problem was with the other side. Any time I tried to bring it over it went to the same place as the left gate.Anyway, before I had time to do anything else (I probably would have brought it up to the other side) the time for that question was over so I had to move on. I moved to question 3. I'm usually pretty good at these questions and I think I got most of the marks from it. I got this done in more or less the half hour. Finally I did question 4, solids in contact. I'm pretty sure this went well and I got it done with time to spare. After this I went back to question two but I didn't have time to do anything,really.So that was Technical Graphics, my last exam. good luck to everyone still doing exams!!
Shane - Higher Level
It actually pains me to write this (sob).So. I was dreading this exam. However, to my surprise, it went worse than I possibly thought it could of. I started out on a high note. The short questions were fantastic and I did 12 (I think it was 12, but I am not sure). Then I did Q1 on orthographic projections. This was a nice question and I flew through it, finishing just on time. However, things took a bad turn for question 2. I spent so much time trying to draw the pentagon, and when I did, I moved on to rotating it. This was a nightmare. I had never seen a question like this before and I could not make it work. When I saw points going onto the wrong side of the gate, and starting the rotation after about 40 minutes, I jumped ship and said I would go back if I had time. Sadly, I didn’t.Moving straight to Q5, I had my hopes lifted when I saw that this question was one that I could manage just fine and surprisingly finish on time (I always go over time on this). Then I got to the ellipse. I had thought Q2 was bad for me. If that was bad, this was apocalyptic. Sadly for me, we had not done the method to finding the major axis when given the minor auxiliary circle (we did do how to find the minor when given the major auxiliary circle and a point) so I was scratching my head in dismay. Then I just gave up hope and guessed my way through it in the hope of getting random marks.Honestly, I could be overreacting but I think this could have gone A LOT better. I am hoping for a B, like what I got in the mocks but I can’t tell if that is feasible. Anywho, I am delighted to be finished the exam and subject I personally found was created by Satan himself to make people (by people I mean me) cry. I have one exam left and I wish anyone and everyone the best tomorrow in Spanish and Metalwork!
Joe - Higher Level
I knew timing would be my biggest opponent for the exam as in the mocks I had struggled with the time restrictions. Despite this, I enjoy the subject and have a fairly good knowledge of it.I started on question six aka the pig, it was an interesting question on circles, parabolas and ellipses. I was pleased with how it turned out. I then moved onto question five, it was a transformation question. I had scored well on similar questions in the past and thought I did well.Then I did question four, where you had to draw the plan and elevation of a strimmer guard then draw two surface developments. I was unsure how well I answered it.Then I moved onto question three on axonometric projection. I used the axonometric scale method and it was going well until I noticed I was running out of time and still had the shirt questions left. I got most the question done and then had to move on.I rushed through the short question and got 10 done just before the exam finished!
Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie