What concerns the Loreto year 12 student is whether she will be ready for exams.

New curriculum assessment guides released about a week ago offer some reassurance on where year 12s need be aiming towards. But the not knowing is hard: when are exams and what is going to be on them.

Until Tuesday morning there was also little clarity on when school might be back. She has been preparing for anything.

Ms Fogarty has a sociology in-class assessment on Thursday. Unless they hear otherwise, students will check-in via a Google conferencing platform and must have their microphones on and cameras aimed at their desk as they write. Handwritten pieces must be submitted immediately via email.

It is as close to exam-like conditions as possible - only with the remote chance of hearing a classmate's younger sibling told off in the background or pet dog barking at the postman if picked up by the microphone.

Ms Fogarty has modified conditions, her microphone off so she can write using voice-to-text on her computer, but with cameras fixed firmly on her face and computer screen. Still, it was different and part of the new normal for now.

"I think it's been really difficult mentally and mainly that comes from uncertainty," Ms Fogarty said.

"My teachers are very open about contacting them any time we need. If our classes are big they are split into two smaller groups online. Our year 12 teachers on Mondays are listing our class work and home work for the week. If I can see I have lots of sociology home work and not as much politics, I can use more of my class time to do sociology and cut back on politics, so you can be a little flexible.

"I'm personally going okay working from home but it's been the not knowing when we're going back to school and what's going to be on exams."

ABC has asked Ms Fogarty to vlog (video blog) her experiences as a year 12 in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic for a potential news project. This follows her involvement in the ABC's Heywire regional youth summit, drawing together 50 passionate young people to bring their community issues to the table in Canberra last February.

Snippets from the project have already featured on news packages, including popular children's program BTN (Behind the News).

Ms Fogarty said it felt surreal to think her voice, alongside other Australian youth, were adding to a reference for such a pivotal part in world history.

On a school level, when year 12 is all about milestones - including all the perks in being top of the school - Ms Fogarty said these did not hold the same weight amid a pandemic.

"For a lot of year 12s at Loreto, we're so consumed with getting on top of our work and there is the anxiety of what will happen at the end of the year with exams, so we have no time to really consider those things," Ms Fogarty said.

"COVID-19 is so serious and we're concerned about family and friends...Our year 12 retreat got cancelled and there were girls who were devastated. My friendship group, we're still taking and still connected and that's what matters."

Loreto's year 12 senate still had a chance to judge the annual walk-a-thon last Friday. The focus was purely on the dress-up element for the theme 'coping with COVID'. There were girls in hazmat suits, others dressing up their dogs, some entries via Tik Tok. As an alternative to walking, there was a virtual at-home work-out session in pyjamas.

Ms Fogaty said there was still a chance to be involved - albeit in a different way.

Studying at home has helped Ms Fogarty find more school-life balance. Cutting out travel to and from school has made it easier for Ms Fogarty to work in exercise and self-care time - at the least, studying from home has made her more conscious about it.

Motivation still comes and goes, but she is working around it and feels well-supported by her school.

"A lot of feedback at Loreto was girls saying their workload had increased exponentially being at home and learning content differently," Ms Fogarty said.

"The school listened and once a fortnight we have a well-being day on which we can catch up on work, sleep or focus on self-care. That really helps."

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