Tong High School

English GCSE Exam – FAQs

What can you do to help your child now as they prepare for these exams?

  • Help them by checking they understand and are able to keep to the planned revision schedule and if they are unable to come to school for any reason, encourage them to catch up straight away.
  • Encourage them to attend the additional sessions run at school.
  • Get them to discuss magazine or newspaper articles or a story from the TV news with you each day.
  • Help them practise for the longer writing sections of their exam by asking them to describe and explain these sorts of things to you in detail; an important event in their lives; a place they would like to live; a person they admire; a journey they have been on; a place that is important to them;
  • Read the anthology poems they are studying with them ( most student cluster two) and ask them to tell you about similarities and differences between the 8 poems they have to study.
  • Help them plan their time outside school so that they are able to study and relax and balance the other things in their lives.

What do the students need do in order to secure a decent grade?

There are 4 pieces of coursework that need to be submitted by the 5th of November: these make up 20% of the overall grade. There are also 3 spoken assessments: also worth in total 20% of the grade. There are two exams, each worth 30%. Like all GCSEs the marks range from G grade to A*. Clearly, coursework grades are important to doing well overall. Your child is likely to have completed coursework during year 10 if attending well, however some of this may be re-visited now to maximise grades. If this is the case, a separate letter will be sent shortly by your child’s teacher , explaining what, if anything , needs re-doing or completing.

What’s involved in the two exams?

Paper one Section A

Students read and answer questions on two non-fiction texts. One is normally a newspaper article, the other normally some sort of informative or persuasive leaflet or advertisement. The questions ask pupils to read and retrieve specific information looking at the use made in the pieces of facts and opinions. One question requires a comparison of the presentational and writer techniques. (time allowed about an hour)

Paper one Section B

Students answer one question out of a choice of 5 on a topic related to what they have just read about. These pieces ask them to act as writers for a specific purpose. They could be asked to argue a case for or against something, or inform a specific group of people about some aspect of the topic or persuade someone that something needs doing.

Paper Two: Section A:

answer one question on one cluster of poems from the anthology book. The question will name a specific poem and ask students to compare the theme or feeling or poetic techniques to another poem in the cluster. This requires repeated cross reference at the higher grades and an ability to select appropriate quotes.

What websites or revision materials do you recommend?

Revision materials are plentiful in stores and online for the course we study (aqa GCSE English specification A) However we specially recommend the following

Can I contact the school with any further questions?

Absolutely. If your questions are specifically about this letter and you’d like more information, please ring the school or write to Emma Girt, the English Department’s Curriculum Assistant on 01274 681455 ext 514 to arrange a phone call or a meeting with your child’s teacher.

What advice can you give me to help my child improve with their Reading?

First of all, an explanation of what we mean by Reading. It means literally, decoding the letters, individual words and sentences in order to see what they mean. It means also being able to talk or write about what you have read explaining what is meant and commenting on how you know what it means and commenting on how the writer has tried to get information across.

If your child is already quite a good reader but not a confident one, they should practise

  1. Find a quotation which could support their ideas.
  2. Practise skimming and scanning to find information quickly in a text.
  3. Read texts looking to see connections between the purpose of a text and its layout and organisation.

If they are a regular reader, they should practise:

  1. Using clues from the text to work out what the writer means even when it is not stated directly.
  2. Using a range of reading strategies when reading, such as speculating what might be the reasons why the text is as it is; predicting what might happen, questioning why the writer has chosen words or events; using empathy to try to see things from the point of view of the writer or the characters.
  3. Finding the main ideas in a text and support them with evidence.
  4. Explaining why they like or dislike a text.

If they are able to read well and enjoy reading they should practise:

  1. Commenting on the way a writer puts across a point of view in a text.
  2. Commenting on the way the writer’s choices affect the reader’s response.
  3. Using a short, well-chosen quotation within a sentence to show that they can refer closely to a text.
  4. Showing they understand in written work about a text that it may have more than one meaning.

What do the very best readers do?

To score the very top marks: students normally can do all or most of the following:

  1. Follow some themes and ideas throughout a whole text.
  2. Understand how the small decisions a writer makes can contribute to the bigger picture in a text. E.g. use of symbolism or specific words / phrases.
  3. Use key (technical) vocabulary when commenting on a writer’s techniques.
  4. Pull together information from a range of non-fiction texts and decide which parts of it might be relevant when writing about the text.
  5. Select and read independently a range of fiction and non-fiction texts.
  6. Evaluate a range of information in order to decide whether it is reliable.
  7. Evaluate their own reading habits: e.g. my strengths as a reader are …and areas I would like to develop as a reader are…
  8. Make and sustain detailed links between texts, including those written in different times and from unfamiliar cultures.
  9. Write critical responses that are well-argued and securely rooted in evidence and take into account the possible views of others (e.g. demonstrate some reading of critics, anticipates other people’s views)

What advice can you give me on how to help my child with writing?

First off, writing no longer means handwriting as beyond KS2 there are no marks for handwriting although clear presentation is always helpful to anyone reading someone’s marks. Writing in this case means the ability to put together thoughts into appropriative sentences and paragraphs. The best way to see what your child can do is to ask to see a number of their exercise books. The first targets: students should be able to

  1. Plan and organise their writing so that a reader will be able to follow it easily from beginning to end.
  2. Join ideas in sentences using other connectives as well as and, but, then, so.
  3. Add detail and interest to sentences by the words used.
  4. Use a range of strategies to improve my spelling: e.g. look/ say/ cover/ spell, look in a dictionary, use a spell-check.
  5. Begin to use paragraphs/sections to organise their writing using topic sentences to help readers make sense of the text. E.g. There are four main reasons why the animal was scared. The first one is …

Next step targets: students should practise

  1. Show a reader how they have organised their ideas by using paragraphs.
  2. Vary sentences in length and structure. (using and, but, because)
  3. Use commas correctly in long sentences. (in a list and to divide up clauses)
  4. Choose words for accuracy and impact in descriptions and in reports.

If your child is already quite a competent writer they should practise:

(these skills are roughly equivalent to D grade GCSE writing)

  1. Identify their most common spelling mistakes and find their own way to reduce them (dictionary, spell-check, spelling tests etc)
  2. Plan their writing so that they know how it will develop all the way through.
  3. Add more detail to their writing to make it clearer and more interesting.
  4. Use a wider range of connectives to show the links between ideas.
  5. Choose the kind of sentence to write by thinking how it will affect a reader.
  6. Choose more words that will have an impact on a reader because of their shades of meaning and/ or sound quality

Better writers should practise:

  1. Planning their writing so that they are using an appropriate style for the purpose and audience written for.
  2. Always using paragraphs and try to link them together clearly.
  3. Choosing to write a range of different kinds of sentences that will give their writing specific effects. E.g. short sentences for dramatic effect.
  4. Using commas and other punctuation e.g. ! ‘ ? Correctly in longer sentences to help the reader follow the meaning.

Students aiming at B grade standard should practise:

  1. Sustaining an appropriate style right throughout their writing and adapting the conventions of the text type where this will add originality and interest.
  2. Linking paragraphs together so a reader can see clearly how a piece of writing is developing.
  3. Connect the sentences within paragraphs so that meaning and purpose are clear.
  4. Choosing words carefully and ambitiously so that their writing is precise and has an impact on the reader.
  5. Writing with a reader in mind, using the conventions of text types flexibly.
  6. Organising paragraphs so a reader is led clearly towards the ending.

The very best writers should practise:

  1. Widening the range of writing that they do well to include formal essays and balanced analysis as well as more creative tasks.
  2. Using the full range of punctuation to create an effect on their reader.
  3. Maintaining the quality of writing when working independently and under pressure of time.
  4. Organising paragraphs in a range of ways depending upon the audience and purpose of the text.
  5. Confidently using a variety of sentences to create effects, add interest and emphasis.
  6. Use commas, semi-colons and colons effectively to allow a reader to follow arguments/ideas.
  7. Use sophisticated and appropriate vocabulary to suit the audience and purpose.