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Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Secondary education

Urgent. Can someone pls explain the English GCSE speaking assessment

47 replies

PikachuSayBoo · 30/10/2016 22:09

Dd is supposed to be doing it on Tuesday. but has done fuck all.

She says she has to talk for between 3 and 10 minutes. There has to be three sections, but she doesn't know what the sections are.

She says she can pick her own topic.
But doesn't know how to structure it.

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QueenofQuirkiness · 30/10/2016 23:18

I'm not sure how helpful I can be, but DD1 did hers last month. I don't know anything about three sections, however DD did hers in the form of an argument about a serious topic, so perhaps the three sections are for, against and judgements. I'm under the impression that it's best to do the talk about a controversial subject, and also to learn the talk so that you don't need to rely on your notes. Some examples of talks in DDs year were about:
Animal testing
Euthanasia
Drugs in sport
Human rights issues
LGBT issues/ homophobia
EU Referendum/ Brexit
Islamophobia
Mental health
I hope this gave you some idea about the premise of the talk and there will probably be more accurate information on the website for the exam board.

PikachuSayBoo · 30/10/2016 23:26

Thanks. Dd reckons she's going to talk about whaling.

No way will she learn it by Tuesday though.

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Guiltypleasures001 · 30/10/2016 23:32

I don't think she needs to know it off by heart, she can have either the full,script or reference cards

Work on the basis of what the argument or question is about is whaling ethical? and how she intends to make her argument, it for and against then the actual argument, followed by conclusion.

Or I could be wrong

Leeds2 · 30/10/2016 23:47

When my DD did it (she is now in first year at uni), they had to speak about a topic that interested them, and three or four of them did it each lesson over a number of weeks. Cant remember what DD talked about, but I know one of the girls was chosen to speak on 31 October because she was talking about witchcraft. I also remember one speaking about Bill Gates, and one speaking of UK misconceptions about Africa. As far as I recall, they didn't need to set out a for/against/summing up agenda, but if she is speaking about whaling that might be a good thing to do.

PikachuSayBoo · 30/10/2016 23:57

Thanks everyone. I have just finished two sides of a4 about the arguement for and against whaling. I'm so bloody cross with her that Ive ended up writing this.

She might not use it. She might look at it tomorrow and scream that Ive done it all wrong but at least it sums up the main points about whaling.

Glad she doesn't have to know it off by heart.

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eyebrowsonfleek · 30/10/2016 23:58

Agree with QueenofQuirkiness although ds said that the most popular were education related.
No idea about 3 sections but ds managed to bullshit through his after about an hour of practice. The hardest part was working out a topic.
Ds was going to do a speech on how the minimum wage being set by age rather than experience or ability was unfair but decided against it as he couldn't convincingly explain why it was good. His final talk was based around drones and the need for laws to protect owners and the public.
He discussed the argument for then the argument against and concluded with his personal opinion.

PikachuSayBoo · 31/10/2016 00:01

I am going to do a conclusion that the current compromise where industrial whaling is banned but local indigenous groups are allowed to hunt a set number per year is a good compromise.

Dd went to bed crying because I shouted at her so much!

So now I feel bad for shouting but I am at the end of my bloody tether.

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PlaymobilPirate · 31/10/2016 00:03

Why on earth are you doing it for her?

PikachuSayBoo · 31/10/2016 00:15

Because if she spends tomorrow evening writing it she is going to have no time to learn it and I'm worried she's going to fail her GCSE.

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PikachuSayBoo · 31/10/2016 00:16

At least now she has some stuff to read on the bus/at break tomorrow. Who knows she may want to write something else.

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eyebrowsonfleek · 31/10/2016 01:17

It doesn't count for her final grade but the speaking grade is printed on the certificate.

I think you're crazy to write it for her. If she gives a damn, she'll sort something out. They'll be in uni before you know it and you can't come to the rescue

DoctorDonnaNoble · 31/10/2016 05:51

The speaking doesn't count for the grade (a Govian decision) there is no need to do it for her. The different boards have different requirements

pieceofpurplesky · 31/10/2016 06:26

Doctor under the new spec all pupils must do S&L assignments but they do not count for anything. All boards

PlaymobilPirate · 31/10/2016 08:14

All you've taught her is that she doesn't have to try...

DoctorDonnaNoble · 31/10/2016 08:15

I know that. But the requirements within the task and indeed the mark schemes will be different between boards.

WhirlwindHugs · 31/10/2016 08:18

Don't do it for her ffs. She has enough time to get her act together.

LadyPenelope68 · 31/10/2016 08:27

They will have talked in detail in lessons about how to structure their spoken piece. If you've written it yourself, it will likely be totally different to that type of structure, plus as an adult writing it, you may have used language that your DD's teachers will know straight away (from her work in class) that she hasn't written it herself. If the teachers suspect this, then they may well mark her down - this has happened several times in the school I teach in, and at my DS's school.

gillviola · 31/10/2016 09:48

They also have to be able to answer questions about their talk which would be very difficult to do if they did not write it themselves.

eyebrowsonfleek · 31/10/2016 10:53

I told ds to pick a subject that interested him because it might make the research and tone of his voice when presenting, more interesting. (and score higher?)

RalphSteadmansEye · 31/10/2016 12:12

It doesn't count towards the overall grade anymore - just a separate mark or grade on the certificate.

I wouldn't have helped her with it. It'll probably be pretty obvious to the teachers and she'll have to do it again, anyway.

BossWitch · 31/10/2016 12:23

It is an entirely pointless and useless part of the gcse. It does not count towards her grade. It will be a separate certificate - which no one will ever ask to see.

She needs to be able to talk about something relatively complex (whaling a good choice) in a way that interests and engages her audience. She needs to be able to answer questions after the talk in some depth and detail. She can have prompt cards, visual aids, but can't read off them. She should not try to learn it word got word but she should know the structure and key points so that she doesn't get lost / rely on notes.

She will be recorded doing it (new rule - all recorded and sent away to exam board) so it might be worth getting her to practice in front of a camera. She'll be presenting to other people (probably the whole class) not to camera, but it might be useful for her to record herself just to get used to it and to see what's good, what's not.

Get her to think about rhetorical devices if she's bright - she should be able to throw in some rhetorical questions, listing, parallel phrasing, alliteration etc.

Don't do it for her. "Work or fuck it up" is a lesson most people need to learn, this is a safe failure, if you see what I mean. She'll feel a twat stood in front of her mates and teacher doing badly, and it doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things.

PikachuSayBoo · 31/10/2016 12:52

Thanks. I binned what I wrote last night. I was having a panic that this was going to be a major part of her GCSE grade. I am seriously hoping she fails her mocks to give her a kick up the arse.

She says the only lesson where they were told how to structure this was the one day she was off sick.

She reckons she spent the whole lesson before half term with her hand up and the teacher never came.

I don't believe a word of it.

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PikachuSayBoo · 31/10/2016 12:53

Could she literally pick anything, like Minecraft? I'm sure she could stand up and talk about Minecraft for hours with no preparation at a decent level.

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LooseAtTheSeams · 31/10/2016 13:18

She could talk about Minecraft being dangerously addictive!
As others have said, the grade for speaking and listening is separate to the overall mark and can't affect it. For some students, it would be useful to get a good mark for it to show they are articulate/have presentation skills etc. If she passes the speaking and listening but doesn't pass the written GCSE, she can still carry the S&L grade over to any resits, so it really is worth her doing this reasonably well once and for all! But a lower grade in S&L won't pull down her GCSE mark.

ElornaElephant · 31/10/2016 13:25

I'm glad that you threw away what you wrote for her - please don't do that - if she fails her GCSE then so be it, that's her fault and she has to live with the consequences. As a side note, towards the end of her GCSEs she has to sign a document stating that the work that she produced is entirely of her own doing and that she was not helped by anybody - so by doing work for her you're basically asking her to lie!

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