Spare a thought for year 12 students around Australia – 2020 has been tough

As the end of a year that has been like no other approaches, when we have all suffered all sorts of deprivations and dislocations, year 12 students around the country prepare to jump the last hurdle: their final year exams.

Year 12 students began 2020 full of hope and expectation. Once Covid hit they were forced to dampen both – or, at the very least, re-orient them. They might have received their personalised year 12 jerseys but wearing them around the house doesn’t quite have the same frisson as parading around the school in them.

Because in March, as all our worlds were tipped upside down, year 12 students around the country were sent home. There would be no physical “school” for them for the foreseeable future. In some states, lockdown was mercifully short. In others there was a lockdown, then back to school, then another lockdown. This would have tested the patience of any saint, and it has certainly been an extraordinarily challenging situation for our year 12s to cope with.