In a normal year it's a case of first come the trials, next the farewell assemblies and graduation ceremonies and then the Higher School Certificate, before finally an overwhelming sense of relief and freedom.

For many, the weeks and months leading up to - and during - the HSC are the most stressful of their young lives, but few Year 12s have had to endure challenges like those facing the current crop.

This has been a year marked by disruption and disappointment as students have tackled the last year of their schooling in the midst of a pandemic.

They've been forced to spend part of the year learning from home, they've missed out on celebrating 18^th birthday parties with their friends and many have been robbed of the chance to represent their school one last time in their chosen sport.

And then, just as the HSC trials got under way on Monday, came the announcement from the state government that even further COVID-19 restrictions would be enforced on schools for the remainder of Term 3.

These include a ban (for now, at least) on many Year 12 rites of passage including muck-up days, formals, captaincy assemblies and graduations.

"Schools may hold a Year 12 assembly at school without parents to recognise the completion of school or consider delaying events until later in the year," the spokesperson said.

It's not the same, is it?

In a year where so many have lost so much these might seem trifling affairs, but we should not underestimate the scale of cumulative loss for the Year 12 class of 2020.

After 13 long years of schooling, the end-of-year celebrations for Year 12 students are supposed to be the antidote to the burden of the exams.

For many, the memories and mates made in that furnace stay with them for life.

The Year 12 of 2020, though, is living a very different experience.

For them the pressure is greater, the circumstances more challenging and the future more uncertain than it has been for generations.

But, we hope, they will emerge from the chaos better equipped than any Year 12 in the past to tackle any challenge life throws their way.