Tamworth students enter HSC season, as pandemic heaps stress on final exam process

McCarthy Catholic College students started their HSC trials yesterday.

But despite the added challenges of COVID-19 heaped on top of an already stressful final graduation process, principal Geoff McManus was confident.

"English Advanced Standard and English Studies was on today. I've spoken to probably about 30 kids who came out and they seemed pretty happy," he said.

"As much as year 12s can be happy about having examinations!"

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The Higher School Certificate isn't even the biggest stress at the moment. With formals and other extracurricular school events canned on Monday, he said year 12 students were more concerned about their "rites of passage" particularly whether the school formal, scheduled for term 4, will take place.

"Our year 12 teachers would say that the year 12s themselves in class are as well-prepared as they have been in previous years for the trials, certainly leading into the HSC examinations in October, November."

Down the road at Calrossy Anglican School, administrators were going to great lengths to keep the process safe from a potential coronavirus outbreak.

In almost their own version of the NRL "bubble" final-year students are being kept apart from the rest of the school as much as possible. Some Sydney schools have been hit by outbreaks, with one closed on Monday after a student tested positive to COVID-19. If one happens in Tamworth, the hope is the HSC won't be disrupted.

Principal David Smith said he expected the HSC to be "much harder" this year, because students won't have anything else to do.

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"The sorts of things that take their minds off and help them with their general well-being, they're just not happening," he said.

"Until a few weeks ago no-one was doing sport. Kids can go individually to the gym.

"But in terms of social gatherings, in terms of going out, in terms of lots of the co-curricular things they're just not happening.

"And probably the biggest thing is just the uncertainty. I think uncertainty does cause anxiety."

Tamworth students have spent about 30 days studying from home due to the coronavirus, adding another challenge to preparation.

Calrossy supplied them all with computers.

But 8 or 9 of them didn't have the broadband to do Zoom remote lessons for one-on-one teaching help. Principal Smith said they're relatively well-off; he has sympathy for schools where as many as one student in five doesn't have access to a computer.

Ultimately they've done everything they can, he said, and students are resilient.

"Long-term I think they'll look back and think that was really hard but we've grown as a result."

HSC written examinations will take place from October 20.

The marked trial run will continue until the end of August.

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