THE DAUGHTER of an immigrant couple from Belgium last week celebrated achieving a 100 per cent distinction grade in her Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) exams.
Éowyn Ligtvoet (18), from Clonlara, County Clare, said that sitting her exams through the LCA model at the Limerick Youth Service (LYS) programme on Lower Glentworth Street in Limerick City was, for her, less stressful than siting her Leaving Certificate through a mainstream secondary school.
“I am very happy, I didn’t expect to get 100 per cent, but I knew I would do pretty well, based on the way the LCA school system goes that we have most of our points before we even sit the exam,” Ms Ligtvoet said.
“This takes a lot of stress off, and actually helped me perform even better in the exam because I was not worrying that it was the be-all and end-all of my results – I was thrilled when I saw the result.”
After attending a mainstream secondary school for four years, Ms Ligtvott decided that sitting her Leaving Cert through the LCA programme would be a better fit for her to achieve her results.
“As great as mainstream school is, I realised it was not for me anymore, and I never had actually envisaged my self sitting the traditional Leaving Cert, I just thought that I would be too stressed and I wouldn’t perform as well as I could,” she told the Limerick Post.
“I went and checked out all the programmes and I decided on LCA because it gave me a Leaving Cert and the best way possible to do it, and I didn’t have to rely on one seeded exam for my results.
“It was an amazing experience, I met so many new people from different backgrounds, cultures, and countries, and the staff are the best asset to the school, they are very helpful and I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”
Éowyn has now been accepted onto a one-year post-Leaving Certificate course in music production at the Limerick College of Further Education (LCFE) “which will give me my Level 5 (qualifications) and allow me to broaden my scopes and maybe get to university the year after”.
Coupled with her love of music, Éowyn said she ultimately hopes to pursue a career in “pastry or culinary arts” and “hopefully move to Belguim or France where they teach in the best pastry schools”.
Éowyn encouraged others to consider pursuing their education through the LCA method, saying: “I don’t think its broadcast enough, because everyone learns differently and everyone has different skills, and some people can’t just sit down and do one exam and that’s all their best work.”
“A person’s best work can be hands-on, and I think Limerick Youth Service is the perfect place to do that, and I hope more schools will come into existence providing this, I would 100 per cent recommend it.”
