Moving pass to honours based on results?

Dooom

Right, I know I did terribly in my jc. But my main concern is being moved down (probably should have thought of this before hand) to pass or something. I want to stay in honours...but is it my choice? Or is it going to be a case of "tough, you should have done better"?

PurpleFistMixer

I don't think they can FORCE you to move. It's just meant to be a strong guideline. Apparently the jump from honours JC to honours LC is quite a big one. But if you really want to stay in honours I don't think they can change that.

coconutmonkey

In my school it's your own choice. And also in my school, it's moving across to pass, and across to higher level, that's what all the teachers say anyway. Unless they're in a bad mood, in which case they forget all about it and threaten to 'bust you down to ordinary level so fast!' :rolleyes:

PurpleFistMixer

I hate euphemisms. They're so degrading for everyone involved, I think. Even though they're not meant to be. The fact that they have to hide the shame makes it even worse... ph.

coconutmonkey

Indeed......(im too lazy to come up with something smart like that so i shall just agree with you)

Hello Kitty

Its your own choice if you want to do honours, but you have to work harder to stay in it!

Raphael

It's your call, no one can force you to do a level you don't want to. But in certain subjects, ie maths, if you didnt do well in the JC, then drop. Drop like a bag of rocks tied to a bigger bag of rocks which has been dropped down a well and had more rocks dropped on top of it for good measure

K!LL!@N

The results aren't out yet, so maybe you didn't do as badly as you thought.
But if you have done badly, you'll have to ask yourself why.
Were you not bothered about the exam?
Lack of study?
Just a bad day, the day of the exam?
Why do you want to stay in higher level?
If you're putting in a lot of effort and still struggling then perhaps pass level might be better for you, and you can concentrate on subjects you're better at?

If you do get a bad result your teacher is gonna see it as an indication that you're not able for higher level and that you'd be better off in a pass class.

If you decide to continue with higher level, it's going to take a bit of work.
I'd recommend maybe getting some grinds, to help you get your head around the things you're having problems with.
Depending on the attitude of the teacher you have, maybe the classroom isn't the best place to be asking questions.
When it's just one to one tuition with a grinds teacher it's much better, you can ask questions as much as you want.
I gave grinds to a guy who had failed pass level junior cert maths in his mocks and after a couple months of grinds and some hard work he managed to get a B in his junior cert.
So you can definitely get back into it with a bit of work on your part.

Are you going into transition year or straight into 5th year?
If you're going into transition year, then you have plenty of time to get your head around things.
If you're going into 5th year, then you need to ask for help and soon.
If you fall behind it'll be very tough to catch up.

Killian

coconutmonkey

Whoah.....you take things seriously. That was a long post!

JBoyle4eva

Spike wrote:

I want to stay in honours...but is it my choice? Or is it going to be a case of "tough, you should have done better"?

DON'T WORRY!

It's not the teachers choice: IT'S YOURS! All my class can decide by themselves, and I'm pretty sure that's YOUR choice too!

Dooom

Ah good. Thanks for the info.

As for the exam - it was a bad day. As was the next, and the next, and the next...

Big Ears

A teacher in my school says its our constitutional right to do honours and if the teacher or the school don't let you they could be sued .

Rozabeez

we get put into classes we have no choice, but i dropped to pass maths and science.

segadreamcast

Anyone who gets 'put into classes' can request to be changed. Talk to your guidance councilor/ year head for further advice.

newgrange

You can request all you like, but if you are not able to keep up with the Higher Level group, and are slowing their progress, the school is quite within their rights to move you to a more appropriate class. In a mixed ability class it does not make as much difference.

Obviously on the day of the exam, you can take whatever level you want, though I doubt there are many people who (except in cases of illness, missed papers etc.) failed Ordinary Level Junior Cert. Maths only to get an honour in Higher Level Leaving Cert. Maths.

sci0x

Well, a month has passed Spike. Are you still in honours Maths and how are you coping?

Raphael

Rozabeez wrote:

we get put into classes we have no choice, but i dropped to pass maths and science.

So you don't have a choice, yet you dropped?

Rozabeez

no, you see you get put into the classes at the start of the year, but if you cant handle it after a few weeks or so you can move up or down, but with science it was your own choice. since i moved down ive been getting straight A's teehee. the problem is with me in maths and science, pass is too easy, honours is too hard. but in irish and english, honours english is fine, but irish is too easy. last year it was hard but my new teacher is just thick.

Raphael

If your getting straight A's at ordinary, you're wasting your time

PurpleFistMixer

What my business teacher says - aim for the stars, and land on the moon.
I wonder what she's been smoking.. but the principle is the same. It's better to be challenged than to just breeze through it.
Dude.. you're finding honours Irish too easy? *muttermutter*

AdMMM

tbh, this years papers were marked so easily, if you had put in the effort, but STILL managed to fail a subject, then you really should think about dropping down to pass for the LC!

Anyway, lets not forget that you have TY (or 5th year) to see whether you are capable of staying in honours. If you feel like you're still laggin behind after the Christmas exams, then it would be probably be worthwhile to drop down to pass.

As for being forced into classes, you can choose what level you do in the state examinations and most schools will place you in classes accordingly. However, schools may place you in the Pass class even if you are doing honours in your LC, this is sometimes down to space constraints.

fozzle

The first thing to realise is that there's a big difference between JC and LC standard work, weather honours or pass. From the sounds of your post you know you could have done better, so I'd advise sticking with the higher level course as long as you can, there's nothing wrong with pass, but passing honours in the LC can open more choices for you, if you plan on going into 3rd level.

If you're doing TY then I wouldn't be too worried, most schools do some level of the core subjects (maths, Irish, English) in TY so just don't abandon them for a year.

If you're going straight into 5th year, my advise would be to stick out the honours til Christmas if you can, and then make a more informed decision, based on how well you've been coping. If doing honours in one subject is taking too much time from others, go back to pass, in the end your results will be better for it. If yu're still not sure, stick it out as long as possible, then, if you do go back to pass, most subjects are a lot easier. However, bear in mind that some subjects, like English, may involve different set poems and stuff that have to be learned-or they did when I sat it, so check it out first.

To those that say that As in pass are a waste of time, I say that's nonsense. Having dropped back to pass Maths and Chemistry a few months before my LC I can tell you that there is a huge difference in standard.

Just don't get too stressed about it yet, you have plenty of time to decide. And don't concentrate solely on study, take up a sport or a choir or something else, the break from thinking about school work can do wonders, and yor brain needs the rest.

Sorry this is so late in the year, but don't panic, you've plenty of time yet.

Corruptedmorals

Marked easy? In general, yeah..apart from HL Irish which was marked atrociously bad. UGH. And I wasn't bothered appealing because none of the people in my year who even went to an all irish primary school got an A, so I didn't have a hope in hell.

The mocks were marked VERY bad. While we were correcting them in class, I went up 6% in Science, and 11& in Business. That shouldn't happen.

You shouldn't panic, and try to hold out in honours as long as you can. If you really feel you're not up to the standard and would feel much more comfortable in pass, then drop down.

I'm dropping down to pass maths as soon as I get into 5th year (im in TY)
I failed the mocks and scraped a pass in the JC. I was pretty much doomed from the start of 1st year in Maths, I have never had a good teacher for maths and I STILL don't. Grr...stupid shortage of decent maths teachers in my school.


Rant over.

Corruptedmorals

PurpleFistMixer wrote:

Dude.. you're finding honours Irish too easy? *muttermutter*

But it is...they compensate by marking the papers far too hard though. What a joke of an examinations commission.

rainbow kirby

newgrange wrote:

I doubt there are many people who (except in cases of illness, missed papers etc.) failed Ordinary Level Junior Cert. Maths only to get an honour in Higher Level Leaving Cert. Maths.

A mate of mine failed ordinary level maths in the JC, then went on to get an A1 in higher level in the LC.

Rozabeez wrote:

the problem is with me in maths and science, pass is too easy, honours is too hard.

You should give honours science another go. The exam is purely a test of memory at JC level, so if you just mindlessly memorise the course (get a revision book or something) you can do really well.

Rozabeez

I'm not sure whether I actually find honours Irish too easy, or if my teacher is just plain stupid.

PurpleFistMixer

Corruptedmorals wrote:

But it is...they compensate by marking the papers far too hard though. What a joke of an examinations commission.

No, no it isn't. Irish is not hard. Irish is like english, you have to write all interesting, well worded things about poetry and literature. That's bad enough. But then they make it in another language. And assume we're all fluent/have been speaking this thing forever.
I'm bitter! And angry!

WexCan

The only subject I noticed a real difference in between JCH and LCH was Maths. Make sure you get to every class you can at the start of fifth year or else you'll be completely lost.

Aoibheann

WexCan wrote:

The only subject I noticed a real difference in between JCH and LCH was Maths. Make sure you get to every class you can at the start of fifth year or else you'll be completely lost.

agreed on this.

LC irish is v similar to JC irish. english is better, IMO. I've improved a lot. The poetry for the LC is your personal response, so that's not hard at all.

maths is a higher standard, bah, calculus, trig, etc, etc...