Helping Your Child With
English in Year 11
October 2015
• Significant dates
• Coursework and speaking and listening
• What you can do to help
• What we can do to help you
• Helping your teenager!
• Other sources of information and advice
The Exams – The Finishing Post!
• 3rd May English Language
• 23rd May English Literature Paper 1
• 27th May English Literature Paper 2
Key Points Along The Way
• October assessment point (12th October)
• Coursework deadlines – yesterday! 20th November; 22nd
January
• Mock exams – week beginning 30th November
• Coursework moderation and second diagnostic mock
exam – 25th February
• Speaking and listening exam – week beginning 14th
March
Coursework, Speaking and Listening
• The coursework makes up 40% of your child’s English
Language GCSE.
• The speaking and listening exam is worth a further 20%.
• Doing as well as you can in these elements means you
can go into the exam with confidence.
What You Can Do To Support Us With
Coursework
• Please ask about the progress of the coursework.
• Ask about the feedback they have had on the drafts they have
done.
• Get in touch if you think the work is not going well.
• Remind them about resources they can use to improve their
writing. E.g. the pages in the school log book on sentence
variety, BBC Bitesize tips on writing for different purposes.
The Speaking And Listening Exam
• Ten Minutes
• Two parts – a presentation and a discussion around the topic with
the examiner
• Pupils can use cue cards containing topic words BUT NOT notes
• Pupils should avoid learning their presentation as if it was a script
Preparing For The Speaking And Listening
Exam: How You Can Help
• Talk, talk, talk!
• Questions; what if..? Why do you think..?
• Encourage them to take an interest in the world around them
and to develop opinions and views on things.
• Practise the art of conversation so that your child feels confident
about ‘speaking on equal terms’ with you (and us) when it comes
to sharing their thoughts on a topic and answering questions
about it.
Encourage Them To Think About:
• Topics of interest to them. Why is it of interest? What
would they want others to know about it?
• In the run up to the exam date, let them practise by
delivering their talk to you. It should be about three
minutes long and they should be able to do it without a
script and without having learned it by heart.
Reading
• They have to read. No, the film of the book is not a
substitute…
Read What?
• The relevant poetry section from their anthology.
• Their set texts: Of Mice and Men or Mr Pip; The Woman in Black,
An Inspector Calls or Lord of the Flies.
• Newspapers – especially The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph
and The Independent. Articles in the Sunday supplements are
good.
• Literary non-fiction – e.g. Bill Bryson, Joe Simpson’s Touching The
Void, Brian Keenan’s An Evil Cradling, Jung Chang’s Wild Swans
etc.
• Fiction – anything really but the more variety the better.
What We Are Providing To Help You
• SAM Learning: https://www.samlearning.com/
• Vision2LearnFor Schools:
https://www.vision2learnforschools.com/default.aspx
• Revision sessions and catch-up coursework sessions at
key points during the year.
• An open invitiation…
Working With Your Teenager
• Create a space for revision.
• Encourage your child to revise in short bursts.
• Be there to help..
• Get the rest of the family on-side.
• Make revision notes visible.
• Look out for their wellbeing.
• Ask, check, but don’t nag!
Other Sources Of Information And Advice
• http://www.cie.org.uk/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-igcseenglish-first-language-uk-0522/
• Cambridge IGCSE English Language First Language Syllabus 0522
• http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-literature-9715/spec-ata-glance
• AQA English Literature: route A
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zr9d7ty
• BBC Bitesize – new website has links to audio books, online notes, video clips
etc