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Year 12s to push through pandemic

Sarah MakseAlbany Advertiser
ASHS Year 12 student Chloe Ridge at home. Pic: Laurie Benson
Camera IconASHS Year 12 student Chloe Ridge at home. Pic: Laurie Benson Credit: Laurie Benson/Albany Advertiser

The months leading up to a Year 12 student’s final exams are often the most stressful of their young lives and for those tackling ATAR amid a global pandemic the road to graduation has been filled with uncertainty.

But the nation’s graduating class was given the green light on Tuesday when Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan confirmed all Year 12 students would finish school this year despite the COVID-19 crisis.

“There will be no Year 13. There will be no mass repeating,” Mr Tehan said.

“Every student will get an ATAR certificate for 2020.”

Albany Senior High School Year 12 student Chloe Ridge, 17, said she was relieved to remain on track to reach her goal of studying nursing and midwifery at university.

She will be hitting the books from home and joining her classmates online.

“I miss seeing my friends in person but luckily for us we do have all the social media and we can keep in contact a lot easier than previous generations could,” she said.

Ms Ridge said gearing up for exams during a pandemic was “pretty whack”.

“It’s not the easiest thing in the world. It is so weird because no one has ever had to do this before,” she said.

“Learning without a teacher present makes it a lot more difficult and just trying to keep up with the content for some reason feels more difficult without the structure of school.

“I’m hoping that things change quickly and we can get back to some sense of normal.”

Ms Ridge said she was sad to see many of the Year 12 traditions in limbo.

“My school ball was meant to be last weekend and it obviously wasn’t. In a way that was kind of heartbreaking because for a lot of us we have been looking forward to it since we were little girls,” she said.

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