logo
Leaving Cert Diary: German and Construction cap off another week

Leaving Cert Diary: German and Construction cap off another week

RTÉ News​13-06-2025
What's another week of tough exams between friends?! The class of 2025 have another weekend to relax and unwind - we have some tips to help here!
For many, the Leaving Cert is over, but our Leaving Cert Diary entries continue with thanks to members of the Irish Second-Level Students' Union (ISSU).
Today, we lead off with Isabelle on German, and keep reading as Ryan tells us about his long day with Construction studies...
Isabelle - Freitag, den 13. Juni 2025.
The day has come. We walked into our exam halls/special centres with our heads bursting with Deutsch at 9.30 this morning.
Higher level students were met with Leservrständnis 1, about a professional gamer called Till, and we were asked questions regarding his journey as a professional gamer. This was followed by a grammar section with challenging adjective endings.
The second Leserverständnis followed an interview with a Munich student working in Antarctica. The questions related to the harsh winters there. I chose to do the Äußerung zum Thema about the diary writing. The questions were simple and nice, relating to how relevant it is to write diaries in our modern world.
The pen pal letter had plenty of nice broad topics, including the Olympics, how we meet new
people, and our morning routine. The 10 minute break between the written and aural allowed me to have a much needed stretch and movement break (fellow neurodivergent students will understand!)
The Hörverständnis was the part I was very anxious about, but was extremely happy with how smooth it was. The questions were straightforward and the 40 minutes went by in a blissful breeze. I personally was highly expecting topics of AI on the paper, and so was surprised to see that it made no such appearance on neither the written or aural paper.
While challenging in many ways, I found the paper relatively straightforward and there was nothing on it that my teacher hadn't prepared me for (shout-out to my wunderbar Lehrerin Frau Prior!)
It was all building up to this for Ryan...
The Construction Studies exam is over, after months of research and manufacturing of an artefact, a grim 4 hour day practical and a 3 hour long exam it's all finished.
Construction Studies was my break from the written subjects over the past two years, I'd look forward to going downstairs to get into some practical work, but then there was the Monday classes where we would do theory, it's not a surprise that the class attendance was always better for the practical classes then the Monday theory class!
Today's exam was theory based, the subject is 50% assessment before the exam and 50% for the written paper. I think the exam was fair, but definitely had a few challenges that will have surprised students because they definitely surprised me.
The first question was the window detail which is one of the harder detailed drawings, there was a few tricky details thrown into it to catch people. I was happy to see a Safety question come up in Q2 however I was hoping a site safety question would come up somewhere on the paper, which it didn't!
Question 3 again was a very predictable question which I was very happy with, although Q4 was definitely not expected and threw me from having options in the exam to having no options of questions.
The U Values question this year again had two tricky elements thrown into it which I have to believe will have tricked some people. For the last number of years the two details stayed the same but this year they changed it so I think people will have been caught. Q6 again was a highly anticipated question on Enviormental impact which was very manageable.
I personally did not study Q7,8,9 as I opted to go for the chapters that suited me better as there is a lot of choice on this paper, we have 10 options and have to answer 5 questions.
Again, Q10 was a bit difficult and required critical thinking but I think most people will have got the majority of the marks here.
Overall it was quite a challenging paper compared to previous years but I think students will be happy with it. I'm certainly happy to have it all over but unfortunately I still have one more exam to go, I just have to wait 10 days to do it!
Founded in 2008, the ISSU is the national representative body for school students in the Republic of Ireland. The ISSU is led by students, for students.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Little Shop of Horrors opens for business in Dublin
Little Shop of Horrors opens for business in Dublin

RTÉ News​

time3 hours ago

  • RTÉ News​

Little Shop of Horrors opens for business in Dublin

With Little Shop of Horrors set to open at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin this weekend, Evelyn O'Rourke headed there to meet the creative team behind the theatre's first in-house production. In 1986 a movie called Little Shop of Horrors burst on to cinema screens, telling the story of a hapless florist called Seymour who stumbles upon a mysterious plant that grows into a monster. The American horror comedy musical film, directed by Frank Oz, was a big hit with cinema audiences at the time, subsequently transferring to stage version which has been a popular show for both amateur and professional productions over the years. This weekend sees a new stage production opening at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin and the excitement is building as the team there is producing its own in-house production for the first time. "The aim is to give Irish musical creative teams, both on and off stage, an opportunity to work on a home grown level production on a major scale," explained Stephen Faloon, General Manager of the theatre. The cast and creative team behind Little Shop of Horrors. Photo by Brian McEvoy Claire Tighe, director and choreographer for the show in Dublin, describes this production as a "statement of intent by investing in a fully Irish cast and creative team" and explained how it started with an open casting call where over 2,000 hopefuls auditioned. "The idea is to demonstrate the breadth of musical theatre talent, not just only on stage but also in supportive, and the off stage, creative side of things." She went on to explain how "most talented people, the people who want to work within the industry, have to go abroad to work elsewhere, because that is where the action is, so to bring it to Ireland is special." Musical director David Hayes also teaches at the School of Music in Cork and he said that young students are very interested in developing music related careers here. "There are a number of under graduate third level courses in Ireland, and now with the Leaving Cert rolling out the new theatre, drama, and film studies course too this year, it shows the on-going interest," he said. David O'Reilly as Seymour Krelborn. Photo by Cían O'Riain He is enthusiastic about this production, noting that "this is an important moment for musical theatre, it takes a step forward, that we don't have to go to the UK all the time anymore, or it isn't our default, that you have to go, to the UK, we can do it here." He added, "there's an opportunity, there is space, there's facility, there are resources and now there's a will which was the missing bit I guess." David O'Reilly, who is playing Seymour Krelborn in the show, said that he and his friends have always had to focus on the UK as a base for work explaining that "certainly when I went over in 2007, if you wanted to work in musicals, you had to go over and live in London and train in London and kind of carve out a career there, so think its going to really change the landscape of musical theatre in Ireland and I'm very proud to be part of it." Little Shop of Horrors is set to open in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on 25 July. Photo by Brian McEvoy Faloon said they have been building towards this production for many years, explaining that they are usually host touring West End productions and that "for 16 years I have watched, Irish talent come on and off stage as part of a tour of a brilliant West End or Broadway show, even like Kinky Boots last week, that we had two Irish stars in it, but they can't get work in Ireland." He added "they have to go to London and beyond in order to get work, and this is the chance to bring them back home." We need your consent to load this rte-player content We use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences Little Shop of Horrors opens at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on 25 July and runs until 9 August 2025.

Dying review: Dark family saga shows living, like dying, is a messy business
Dying review: Dark family saga shows living, like dying, is a messy business

Irish Times

time5 hours ago

  • Irish Times

Dying review: Dark family saga shows living, like dying, is a messy business

Dying      Director : Matthias Glasner Cert : 16 Genre : Drama Starring : Lars Eidinger, Corinna Harfouch, Lilith Stangenberg, Ronald Zehrfeld, Robert Gwisdek, Anna Bederke, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Saskia Rosendahl Running Time : 3 hrs 3 mins Matthias Glasner's Dying (or Sterben in the original German) is a film composed like its central musical motif: sprawling, discordant, haunted by mortality and strangely reminiscent of other works. Spanning three hours and five loosely tethered chapters, this dark family saga plays like a collage of recent festival favourites; early, unvarnished scenes of elder care nod towards Vortex and Amour ; a hectic middle section concerning a conductor recalls Todd Field's similarly themed Tár ; a late narrative swerve into assisted suicide intersects with Pedro Almodóvar's The Room Next Door . Somehow, the disparate pieces and maximalist clutter find a rhythm. Glasner's sweeping intergenerational study lays bare the fractures within a German family. Lissy (Corinna Harfouch), an incontinent matriarch dying of cancer; her husband Gerd (Hans-Uwe Bauer), vanishing into dementia; their son Tom (Lars Eidinger), an enigmatic conductor rehearsing a choral piece titled – get it? – Dying; and Ellen (Lilith Stangenberg), their estranged, self-loathing daughter, who works as a dental assistant in the belief that it's a job everybody hates. She sings beautifully, but only when drunk. Her desperate affair with a married colleague marks her out from a clan composed of emotionally distant adults. Tom's marked detachment is signalled by his bizarre domestic arrangements and the dispassionate abandonment of his depressed composer friend. His blank self-concern veers toward blackest comedy: imagine an episode of Peep Show directed by Michael Haneke. READ MORE There's plenty to admire in the performances – Harfouch, Eidinger, and Stangenberg all deliver searing, bravura turns. The film's obsession with finality makes room for bodily fluids of all varieties. Even the film's hook-up scene – Ellen pulling a lover's tooth before kissing his mouth – is bloody. Living, like dying, is a messy business. The script's wandering and overlapping arcs can feel uneven and tricksy, yet there's something utterly compelling in how Glasner stages decay not just as a biological inevitability, but a doomy familial legacy.

Olympians Katie Taylor and Daina Moorehouse immortalised in Wicklow mural
Olympians Katie Taylor and Daina Moorehouse immortalised in Wicklow mural

Irish Independent

timea day ago

  • Irish Independent

Olympians Katie Taylor and Daina Moorehouse immortalised in Wicklow mural

The artwork, painted by local artist Adam J Connors, while a fitting homage to two of Bray's sporting legends, is also a real testament to the collective community spirit that prevails in the neighbourhood. With the slogan placed between the two boxers, 'When Dreams Become Reality', it will have a lasting impact, fitting once again, given it wasn't the easiest of battles for this particular dream to become a reality either. There were a lot of driving forces behind it, from the inspiration of Paul Treacy, manager of the community centre, to the dogged perseverance of local councillor Dermot O'Brien, as well as Ashling Smith (Pilates with Ash), who spearheaded the fundraising drive. Even the crew at Chadwicks in Bray deserves a mention for sponsoring the use of the scissor lift which helped hoist Adam to great heights to complete the work. Of course, none of it would have been possible without the wishes of the two subjects, who gave it a wholesome blessing and a seal of approval. "It's complete,' Daina posted on the Facebook page. 'Absolutely delighted what an honour to be beside the legend herself, big thank you to Connect Ballywaltrim South Bray.' The genesis for the idea of the mural goes back to last year, when the community held a homecoming event for Daina after the Paris Olympics. Ashling expressed an interest in her business community sponsoring the project, and, as Paul explained, 'we roped Adam in and we got on to Councillor Daisy and stakeholders and it's taken almost a year to get over the line'. "But we finally got there,' he said. 'So the idea is that two Olympians came from the same community, and it was just a way of kind of putting it out there and celebrating their achievements, because they do inspire young people in the area. And it's a nice way to celebrate that.' Once permission was granted by the council in June, it was decided that a competition should be opened to involve the young people in the community in devising a suitable slogan. The winner, a member of the youth project, was Darcy Crinnion, who came up with the befitting words: 'When Dreams Become Reality'. Paul said everyone has been 'thrilled' with the result. It was a 'no-brainer' for Ashling, when she offered to take over the fundraising side of the project. "I started out my business in Ballywatrim Community Centre,' she said. 'They've always been really great to me. So I approached Pau and said I'd be interested. And I went back to my Pilates community and told them what was happening and would they be in. And it was a resounding 'yes' from everybody,' she said. "They wanted to support it. So over the long winter, through planning applications etc, we waited and waited and waited. And when we got the go-ahead, the money just came pouring in for us. But at no stage was it a given. Similar projects in other areas, I believe, have been refused. But Daisy O'Brien was a real driving force behind getting this through. So it was an absolute privilege to be able to support this for our two Olympic athletes.' It was also a privilege for the man on the scissor lift, Adam J Connors, who said: 'Such an honour to paint a mural of these two Bray legends in their own neighbourhood. Got to spend a couple of weeks in the area, met the nicest people and one thing is for sure, every single person there has so much love for them.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store