HSC Trial Dates Changed!! (1 Viewer)

[paradynamic]

My school has just informed us that the 2007 HSC Trials have been moved to the end of term 2, rather than mid term 3. Has this happened in any other schools?

I'm concerned about how this works with the early entry scheme, and the fact that trials are done while there is still a term of work to get through.

Any comments or suggestions about what this means would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[jirwin]

Our trials are at the end of term 2 as well. Last year they were mid term 3 but no one would show up after and therefore work wasn't getting done.

We have known about the change since the beginning of yr 12 so its not shock to us. The trials will just be on the stuff we have done so far and most subjects are just making assignments worht more or having an additional topic test. its kinda better cos its means more revision for us.

 

[Lani89]

Ours is still the beginning of term 3.

 

[princesskt]

as far as i know they havent been changed.. ours is still mid term 3...

 

[williamc]

Yer i think mine are still week 4, term 3 which i think is better becuase then i have the whole holidays to study and not worry about assessments and the 3 weeks lead up to the trials during school is also assessment free.

 

[PC]

In a way, this means that the Trials are really the Half-Yearly Exams, since they're in the middle of the year!

Could present an interesting point of discussion!

 

[williamc]

In a way, this means that the Trials are really the Half-Yearly Exams, since they're in the middle of the year!

Could present an interesting point of discussion!

Well not really, they would be three-quarter exams. Seeing as they would be in term 3(including term 1, 2006) ) instead of yearlies(trials).

 

[SoulSearcher]

Nope, mine are mid-term 3.

 

[watatank]

My school has just informed us that the 2007 HSC Trials have been moved to the end of term 2, rather than mid term 3. Has this happened in any other schools?

I'm concerned about how this works with the early entry scheme, and the fact that trials are done while there is still a term of work to get through.

Any comments or suggestions about what this means would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Highly likely that you wont get through the course in time, meaning you wont get questions on certain topics until after trials. And it means it will leave you guys a whole term and 4 weeks of holiday/stuvac to work toward the hsc, which is solid...but which could either really good or bad.

 

[cl3nta]

mine is term 3 too. don't you think there will be too many assessments in term 2 with trials?

 

[airie]

My trials are never scheduled in mid-term 3. They start pretty soon after we come back for the term

Still, don't worry. Just do what you normally do, except perhaps plan your studies so you'd get it all done before then

 

[kloudsurfer]

Yeah, mine are at the end of term 2 as well, and Half yearlies have been eliminated. Apparently the rationale is that the teachers spend too much time doing revision and stuff for both trials and half yrlys so they dont get enough time to actually teach us the course. By eliminating one set of exams they get more time to teach us.

Our yr is the first yr they have done this for. Personally, i think its a bad idea because we get less practice at HSC exam style questions and it also means we revise older stuff less frequently.

 

[paradynamic]

Thanks guys. I tend to get stressed very easily and I'm not too great with time management. I'd figured out at the beginning of the year where all my assessments were and now they've all been changed to make room for the Trials changes.

With the trials changed, it means that throughout term 3, there will be more assessment tasks and new work, right before the HSC.

Does anyone have any ideas on how the year 12 students at my school could go about getting the trials changed back to term 3? My whole grade disagrees with the changes and they're as frustrated as I am.

(We still have to do our half yearly exams which start Monday March 19, as well as early trials)

Thanks

 

[pritnep]

Yeah, mine are at the end of term 2 as well, and Half yearlies have been eliminated. Apparently the rationale is that the teachers spend too much time doing revision and stuff for both trials and half yrlys so they dont get enough time to actually teach us the course. By eliminating one set of exams they get more time to teach us.

Our yr is the first yr they have done this for. Personally, i think its a bad idea because we get less practice at HSC exam style questions and it also means we revise older stuff less frequently.

Similar thing happened at my school last year. We didn't have a formal half yearly exam week/2 two weeks. There were some half yearlies for classes however they were all done in class not in the hall and with no classes.

And the argument you raise was raised at the time but in reality it doesn't matter in theory you should be doing HSC exam practices in your study, you should be study older topics so really in the long run it wont effect you and means you should finish your courses a little ealier.

 

[zangetsu.xo]

i always thought the trials WERE our half yearlies.
but yeah mine are still term 3 w4-6 as we start trials midweek. most likely. as my school is strange and bizarre.
then what would you do after trials if they were in term2?
aren't the trials supposed to examine everything you've learned during the course?
there is absolutely no way you'd get through all that bloody material by the end of term 2...

 

[pritnep]

Term 2 for trials Woah.

All I know is my trials were in August.

The trials are meant to be exactly that a practice for the real deal and by practice I mean with weightings and contrabuting to your assessment mark and all. They *should* cover everything but usually some schools haven't finish the final topic so that can be excluded.

 

[SoulSearcher]

i always thought the trials WERE our half yearlies.
but yeah mine are still term 3 w4-6 as we start trials midweek. most likely. as my school is strange and bizarre.
then what would you do after trials if they were in term2?
aren't the trials supposed to examine everything you've learned during the course?
there is absolutely no way you'd get through all that bloody material by the end of term 2...

Most of the time, but even if they were in term 3 you usually don't cover all topics by then.

 

[cem]

I have been teaching the HSC since 1992 and I have never finished the course before the trials - usually I aim to have one to two weeks of revision at the end of Term 3 (and my results are very very good - about 20% get Band 6 each year on average - sure some years more and some years less and usually <10% get Band 2 and none have ever got Band 1). My point in stating these figures is to show that my results aren't suffering because of not finishing the course too early. The worst results I ever got was the year I had about 4 weeks revision time - the kids were soooooo sick of the course by the beginning of stu-vac that they didn't do any more revision and the results showed.

The trials are timetabled by each school to suit their philosophy but many schools will use the Catholic Trial papers and they are set for Weeks 4, 5, and 6 of Term 3. If your school is doing your exams outside of those weeks then they shouldn't be using the Catholic Trials (although doing them in that time doesn't mean you will be doing the Catholic Trial either - I usually mix and match that paper, the Independent Trial paper and past papers to set a fair paper that covers what I have taught the students to that point).

 

[paradynamic]

Thanks guys!

My main concern with this is not having a complete HSC practice, just parts here and there. The Trial is supposed to include the entire HSC course to prepare us for the actual exams. Trials in term 2 goes against this because there is no way the work can be covered!

Half yearly exams: week 8, term 1

HSC trials: Week 9, term 2

It doesnt make sense!!

 

[theodore223]

we knew our 0.5 yealies were end of term 2 and our trials were the end of term 3. i thought this was normal. obviously i am wrong in my judgement...