Sixty-four of Year 12 students will sit their first Higher School Certificate (HSC) exam in Gunnedah on Thursday.
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Forty-one students from St Mary’s College and 23 students from Gunnedah High School will attempt English paper one at 10.20am.
In the afternoon, three or more local students will sit the Primary Industries exam.
Among those sitting the English paper are High School students Jessica Moore and Haylee Murrell.
On Tuesday, Jessica headed back to the classroom to get in a last-minute study session with her Advanced English teacher Emma Holdom.
Jess has been keeping to a school timetable over the study period and feels confident about the two English papers, which are based on the theme of discovery.
“I’m pretty excited to get started,” she said.
“I feel prepared.”
Ms Holdom said every Friday during the school terms she had been setting her students essay questions to help them practice for the real thing.
"I was calling it ‘surprise essay’, which they didn’t enjoy,” she said.
I’m pretty excited to get started. I feel prepared.
- Jessica Moore
The English teacher said her students knew their study texts back-to-front but getting down the essentials in a timed period was another thing.
“Trying to express that understanding in a time frame is really tough,” she said.
“Doing it in class allows them to do it in a short time.”
Ms Holdom has taught Jessica for two years and is confident she will do well.
“She’s always loved English and been a good reader and enthusiastic about text,” she said.
Ms Holdom said both Jessica and Haylee Murrell had worked “really hard”.
“They've got a really good understanding of the text, so no matter what the questions are, I think they’ll be alright,” she said.
Haylee will be sitting both English and Primary Industries on Thursday and said “I’m definitely not as stressed as I thought I’d be”.
“I feel very confident for agriculture and Primary Industries but I dislike English so I’m not keen on that [but] I tried to do as much as I could over the two years instead of cramming it into the two weeks,” Haylee said.
Haylee is planning to pursue property management and has been offered a scholarship at the University of New England (UNE) in Armidale in 2019.
“It’s still what I want to do so I have my fingers crossed,” she said.
Haylee said they have “the best ag courses” at UNE and hopes to be accepted for a Bachelor of Rural Science.
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