Hope Springs by Richard Conlon
Year 9 Reading Activities
Introduction
The following resources provide a three-lesson study of three key elements of the play:
 The structure of the play and what is essential to it (AF4).
 What might happen after the play (AF3).
 The attitudes of the author and audience to how we deal with disruptive children
(AF6).
Each area is introduced and explored in whole-class work before students work
independently on an Assessment Task.
Resources include detailed lesson plans, marking guidance and student resource sheets.
Timing
It is envisioned that these reading activities will be taught over three lessons of about one
hour each, although you may wish to adjust timings to suit the needs of your class. The
Assessment Tasks are introduced discretely, one a lesson. It is suggested that each task is
completed before moving on to the next one. This might mean that extra time needs to be
given for task completion, either in the form of extra lessons or homework.
Framework Objectives and Assessment Focuses
Once you have completed the study with your students, they will have engaged with the
following Framework Objectives and Reading Assessment Focuses:
5.1 – Developing and adapting active reading skills and strategies.
5.2 – Understanding and responding to ideas, viewpoint, themes and purposes in
texts.
5.3 – Reading and engaging with a wide and varied range of texts.
6.2 – Analysing how writers’ use of linguistic and literary features shapes and
influences meaning.
6.3 – Analysing writers’ use of organisation, structure, layout and presentation.
AF2 – Understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts
and use quotation and reference to text.
AF3 – Deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts.
AF4 – Identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including
grammatical and presentational features at text level.
AF5 – Explain and comment on writers’ uses of language, including grammatical and
literary features at word and sentence level.
AF6 – Identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints and the overall effect
of the text on the reader.
1
Hope Springs Year 9 Reading Activities
LESSON 1
Learning objective:

Resources:
To understand what is
essential to the structure
of the play.
Starter

Copies of Hope Springs.

Resource sheet 3: The Assessment Tasks.
Share the learning objective with the class.
Introduction
Tell the class to imagine that they are going to prepare the script for
performance, but that there will not be enough time to perform the
whole play. They need to cut out about half of the lines. How will they
go about this? Do they have any initial ideas?
Development
Take some feedback. Introduce the first Assessment Task, which is
also set out on Resource sheet 3: The Assessment Tasks:
‘Imagine that you have been asked to prepare a version of the play for
members of your class to perform. The play has nearly 2000 lines but
you have been instructed to cut it down to between 850 and 1000
lines. You may not re-write any section; you can only cut out lines.
Work with a partner to decide which lines to cut out of the play.’ (AF4)
Point out that they have a number of options including cutting:

whole characters

various lines

a mixture of the two.
To start off their thinking, ask them if there are any characters or
sections of the script which they think the play could do without. Take
some feedback.
Put students into small groups and ask them to plan for one of the
above options. Take some feedback after a few minutes.
Independent
work
Pair or group students to complete the first Assessment Task. Moreconfident students could be paired, and less-confident students
placed in larger groups.
Note: This is essentially an oral task. The opportunity for assessment
is in listening to the conversations that students have as they
complete the task.
2
Hope Springs Year 9 Reading Activities
LESSON 2
Learning objective:

To speculate about what
might happen after the end
of the play.
Starter
Resources:

Copies of Hope Springs.

Resource sheet 1: What will the future be
like?

Resource sheet 3: The Assessment Tasks.
Give the class three minutes to imagine and discuss in small groups
what will happen to the children when they return to the mainland.
Introduction
Take some feedback from the discussions. Show the class the brief
quotations on Resource sheet 1: What will the future be like? Discuss
with them what the pieces of evidence might suggest about the future.
Ask the class about the effect of Sam's final words; are they ironic
only? Or do they confirm a note of optimism?
Development
Ask the class to continue the discussions in their groups. Encourage
them to find other pieces of evidence in the play that give clues about
what the future holds for the children.
Now explain the second Assessment Task, which is also set out on
Resource sheet 3: The Assessment Tasks:
‘The end of the play is left unresolved: we don't know what happens
when the children get back to the mainland. They have committed
some very serious crimes, but as the Ringleader says, it's all ‘a bit of
a grey area’, and how things will turn out is not clear.
Explain what you think will happen in the days, weeks and months
after the children return to the mainland. Use evidence from the script
to back up your ideas.’ (AF3)
Independent
work
3
Ask students to complete the Assessment Task.
Hope Springs Year 9 Reading Activities
LESSON 3
Learning objective:

Resources:
To understand how a writer
influences the reactions of a
reader or viewer.
Starter
Introduction

Copies of Hope Springs.

Resource sheet 2: Most true views.

Resource sheet 3: The Assessment Tasks.
Encourage a general discussion about how disruptive children in
schools are – and should be – dealt with.
Jot down some of the views expressed. Ask the class which of these
views are supported by the play. If necessary, add some more views
by refining existing ones or providing your own, for example:

Disruptive children should not be forced to do things they don't
want to do.

Disruptive children should be treated patiently and kindly.

Disruptive children are simply misunderstood.

Private special schools should be shut down.
Put students in groups to put views in rank order of – in their view –
the most to least true. They only need to choose and rank order the
three most true and find some evidence to support those three views.
Resource sheet 2: Most true views can be used to record their notes.
Alternatively: Ask groups to assign a number from 1 (completely
untrue) to 5 (completely true) to each statement, and then find
evidence to support those they have rated 4 or 5.
Development
Now give students the instructions for the third Assessment Task,
which is also set out on Resource sheet 3: The Assessment Tasks:
‘This play is designed to make us think about how disruptive children
are dealt with. Explain what you think the author, Richard Conlon, is
suggesting about how we deal with disruptive children. Use evidence
from the script to back up your ideas.’ (AF6)
Students could write about what:

Conlon seems to think and feel about the Hope Springs project

life at Hope Springs is like

we feel about the pupils at Hope Springs.
The class should take their time over this task: its purpose is to let
them talk through their ideas about what the play is about.
Independent
work
4
Students complete the third Assessment Task. You may wish to pair
less-confident students or the planning stage of this Task.
Hope Springs Year 9 Reading Activities
Marking guidelines
Level
AF2
4
Some relevant points
identified.
Comments supported by
some generally relevant
textual reference or
quotation, e.g. reference is
made to appropriate section
of play but is unselective and
lacks focus.
AF3
(Task 2)
AF4
(Task 1)
5
Comments make simple
inferences based on
evidence, e.g. ‘When they
get back they might not get
into very much trouble
because the company won’t
want the bad publicity.’
Inferences often plausible,
but comments are not always
rooted securely in the text or
they simply repeat narrative
or content, e.g. ‘They’ll have
to get warm when they get
back because they are cold
and wrapped in blankets.’
Some basic aspects of the
way the play is structured are
identified, e.g. ‘We can easily
compare the attitudes of
parents and staff’.
Hope Springs Year 9 Reading Activities
5
The most relevant points clearly identified,
including those selected from different
places in the play.
Comments generally supported by
relevant textual reference or quotation,
even when points made are not always
accurate.
Comments develop explanation of
inferred meanings drawing on evidence
across the text, e.g. ‘The Inspector is
described as having “natural authority”
and an example of this is when …’.
Comments make inferences and
deductions based on textual evidence,
e.g. in drawing conclusions about what
the Inspector will do back on the mainland
from how he reacts to the children’s
reports of life at Hope Springs.
Comments on how the play is structured
show some general awareness of the
play's stagecraft, e.g. ‘It's very effective to
have Sam’s story threaded throughout
because it reminds the audience how sad
and tragic their lives are’.
Continued
6
Relevant points clearly identified.
Evidence compared from different parts of
the script.
Use of apt textual reference and quotation
to support main ideas or argument.
Comments securely based in textual
evidence.
Different layers of meaning identified, with
some attempt at detailed exploration of
them, e.g. explaining what might happen
to the Ringleader with reference to
connotations of clues in the script.
7
Evidence precisely chosen and
applied to the point being made,
e.g. close analysis of impact of a
single word, or, deft selection
across a longer textual stretch to
evaluate the Ringleader’s views.
Ability to see the significance of a
part of the text within the context of
the play as a whole, e.g. noticing
what Sam’s words imply about his
‘project’.
Comments begin to develop an
interpretation of characters and/or
themes, making connections
between insights, teasing out clues
and predictions by weighing up
evidence, e.g. considering different
pieces of evidence to illuminate the
tone of Sam’s final speech;
exploring more than one prediction.
Comments consider how some events or
words become more significant in the light
of the whole script, e.g. tracing how the
Ringleader’s attitude is gradually
developed or revealed.
Some detailed exploration of how the play
is built around different groups and their
interactions.
Comments on how different aspects of the
play contribute to the play’s theme and
the final attitude the audience is left with.
Some evaluation of how necessary
and effective parts of and aspects
of the script are, e.g. evaluation of
the role of the island voices.
Some appreciation of the skill with
which the play is structured.
Level
AF4
(cont’d)
4
AF5
Some basic features of use
of language identified, e.g.
‘The Inspector sounds like he
is in charge’.
Simple comments on
language choices, e.g.
‘“stock” makes the
Ringleader sound funny and
a bit cruel’.
AF6
(Task 3)
6
5
Various features of the play's time-shifts
are clearly identified, with some
explanation, e.g. ‘Not saying. If the pupils
are male or female keeps the audience
guessing and makes them have an open
mind’.
Various features of language identified,
with some explanation, e.g. ‘Sometimes
the Ringleader uses imagery to make his
point powerfully – like when he explains
how, for him, O.P. was “like putting
deposits of hatred into a bank account”’.
6
7
Some detailed explanation, with
appropriate terminology, of how language
is used, e.g. to underline the Inspector’s
authority and to contrast his character
with that of the Assistant’s.
Comments begin to develop
precise, perceptive analysis of how
language is used, e.g. the contrast
between the language of the
publicity brochure and the threats of
the Ringleader.
Comments show some awareness of the
effect of writer’s language choices, e.g. ‘At
the end the Inspector keeps saying “you”
to the children and giving orders. This
shows that he is feeling in charge again’.
Some drawing together of comments on
how the writer’s language choices
contribute to the overall effect on the
audience, e.g. pointing out the sort of
language that typifies the Ringleader’s
control.
Main purpose identified, e.g.
‘It’s to make us think about
the way we treat disruptive
children’.
Conlon's main purpose clearly identified,
often through general overview, e.g.
‘Conlon wants the audience to feel a lot of
sympathy for Sam’.
Evidence for identifying Conlon's
purposes precisely located at
word/speech level or traced through the
play.
Simple comments show
some awareness of writer’s
viewpoint, e.g. ‘The audience
will probably feel on the
Ringleader’s side'.
Viewpoint clearly identified, with some,
often limited, explanation, e.g. ‘The
audience will think places like Hope
Springs are wrong because they treat
children badly’.
Viewpoint clearly identified and
explanation of it developed through close
reference to the text, e.g. ‘At this point the
Ringleader’s sarcasm makes it easy for
the audience to share his hatred of Hope
Springs and everything it stands for’.
Simple comment on overall
effect on audience, e.g. ‘I
reckon that the audience will
mostly like the Ringleader –
or at least think he is more
right than the Principal.
General awareness of effect on audience,
with some, often limited, explanation, e.g.
‘You feel really sorry for Sam as he tries
to find happiness and you can really feel
how desperate he has become’.
Hope Springs Year 9 Reading Activities
The effect on the audience clearly
identified, with some explicit explanation
as to how the effect has been created.
Some appreciation of typical
features of language and how they
affect the audience, e.g. how
pronouns are not gender-specific
and the challenge this presents to
the performers.
Responses begin to develop some
analytic or evaluative comment on
how Conlon conveys his attitudes,
e.g. considering how the Hope
Springs brochure influences our
feelings about the place.
Responses begin to develop some
analytic or evaluative comment on
how viewpoint is established or
managed across the play, e.g.
tracing how the audience's attitudes
are consistent or varied in different
parts of the play.
Resource sheet 1: What will the future be like?
‘It will only get worse – worse for you, all of you.’
(Inspector, page 31)
‘You can say that, when this is all over, we will speak up for them,
say they helped us to put things right. They won't be implicated.’
(Inspector, page 47)
‘legally, I think you'll find it's all a bit of a grey area.’
(Ringleader, page 80)
‘And will they really want the bad publicity?’
(Pupil 6, page 80)
‘Pupil 3:
... ‘every student is free to leave when ... the
programme ...’
All pupils:
‘... has saved their life.’
Ringleader: I don't think I can honestly say that, not yet.
Inspector:
Unusual circumstances.
Ringleader: A bit of a grey area, eh?’
(page 81)
‘So, when things look bleak, when you are at the end of your tether,
remember – there is a way forward. It's not hopeless; just when you
think there's nowhere to turn – Hope Springs.’
(Sam, page 82)
7
Hope Springs Year 9 Reading Activities
Resource sheet 2: Most true views
Think about all the views about how disruptive children should be dealt with that are shown
in Hope Springs. Write down the three views you think are supported the most strongly.
Find evidence to support your choices.
View
8
Evidence
Hope Springs Year 9 Reading Activities
Resource sheet 3: The Assessment Tasks
For all of the following tasks you will need to:
 use evidence to support your ideas (AF2)
 interpret evidence (AF3)
 explore examples of the language that authors give their characters (AF5).
Assessment Task 1
Imagine that you have been asked to prepare a version of the play for members of your
class to perform. The play has nearly 2000 lines but you have been instructed to cut it
down to between 850 and 1000 lines. You may not re-write any section; you can only cut
out lines.
Work with a partner to decide which lines to cut out of the play. (AF4)
You might decide to cut:
 whole characters
 various lines
 a mixture of the two.
Assessment Task 2
The end of the play is left unresolved: we don't know what happens when the children get
back to the mainland. They have committed some very serious crimes, but as the
Ringleader says, it's all ‘a bit of a grey area’, and how things will turn out is not clear.
Explain what you think will happen in the days, weeks and months after the children
return to the mainland. Use evidence from the script to back up your ideas. (AF3)
Assessment Task 3
The play is designed to make us think about how disruptive children are dealt with.
Explain what you think the author, Richard Conlon, is suggesting about how we deal
with disruptive children. Use evidence from the script to back up your ideas. (AF6)
Write about what:
 Richard Conlon seems to think and feel about the Hope Springs project
 life at Hope Springs is like
 we feel about the pupils at Hope Springs.
Take your time over this task: its purpose is to let you talk through your ideas about what
the play is about.
9
Hope Springs Year 9 Reading Activities