Help with Nat 5 English Texts please!

[NotiaScotia]

Can someone please help me out with some queries on Nat 5 English? My DD is in S4 and has recently studied Ian Crichton Smith’s short stories. They studied the Merchant of Venice and some Romantic poetry in S3. They’re currently doing World War 1 poetry including Dulce et Decorum Est.

I’ve been on the SQA site and looked for the set texts but can only see Scottish Set Texts. I can see how Crichton Smith fits under the ‘Prose’ section but am struggling to find what other set texts there are to choose from.

I asked my DD what they’re doing for the exam and she wasn’t entirely sure. So I thought I’d email the school for clarification. I got a reply saying that they are doing: Scottish Text: Ian Crichton Smith short stories; Critical Essay: Keats poetry, The Merchant of Venice, Dulce et Decorum Est (1 of which they’ll do in the exam) When I told my DD that the Merchant of Venice and Keats could come up in the exam they were surprised and said ‘I thought that they were just stuff we studied in S3 and had nothing to do with Nat 5’. I sense they’re not really grasping what the exam will entail

They’ve already completed their ‘creative portfolio’ - I’m not sure what this entailed? Is this something that goes towards the final exam? I understand the RUAE elements. I also know she’s got to submit a persuasive essay too.

I’m not from Scotland and am unfamiliar with the exam system. I did GCSEs where English Literature and English Language were two separate exams.

I was actually a bit annoyed today because my DD came back from school saying Mrs X (her English teacher) said she got a ‘panicky email’ from your Mum about the exam and that DD should learn to ‘communicate’ with her Mum better! I’m not impressed by that comment - my DD clearly didn’t have a proper understanding of the content and I just sent a very simple query asking for clarification on the texts. I resent the fact that a teacher has made my DD feel embarrassed about her Mum’s attempt to help them 😡. I almost told my DD to tell her teacher that she’d followed her advice and communicated her comment back to me and that I wasn’t very impressed but I resisted

Anyway if your child is doing Nat 5 English this year or you’ve been through the process recently I’d be interested to hear what your child studied. I’ve been on BBC Bite Size and find that enormously useful but any other suggestions for websites and resources would be helpful too.

Realistically any English student capable of doing a decent job at the 70% non portfolio marks will be equally capable of getting similar or more marks in the portfolio. Not convinced "extra" help makes much difference.

Not convinced "extra" help makes much difference.

I have no problem with extra "help" tutoring before an exam, but this is different, it is a "professional" blatantly reading the essay and telling them exactly what to change to get the extra marks. Maybe giving them an extra 5% to their overall mark?

It accounts for 30% of their grade and going into the exam with almost 30% under your belt won't be the difference between a pass and fail, but could be the difference between an A and a B and getting the grades needed for uni ahead of another child who did the work independently.

ER and ED schools and children already have advantages with less social issues and class disruptions, more opportunities and subject choice. Do you really think it is fair they actually cheat on top of that?

DSs went to a primary that had a very polarised catchment. Quite a rough council estate and a fairly expensive new build estate and not a lot in-between.

My DSs are very aware of the advantages they already had over some of their classmates (though it may not have always felt like an advantage to them to have the greater scrutiny on their activities at the time!). It's not that the poorer kids weren't loved, but in general some came from more chaotic households. I'm not being a snob here as I have direct experience of being raised in similar environments.

So, I can't help but agree with you Broken. Obviously there is an element of allowing some grace from some universities in terms of reducing the grades required, but I think there needs to be more support initially for pupils that may be having to work more to support themselves and who have parents who can provide limited academic support.

Broken my scepticism is more that if they need help to get the extra 5% in the portfolio then they are unlikely to get anywhere near the 40% still required from the rest. My perception is that the portfolio is the easiest, least technical part of the English exam. It is also the most subjective area.

Of course I don't think cheating is fair. I just don't think the children benefit from it in this particular instance. I think, if anything, it is likely to undermine their confidence and application for the rest of the paper. (I am not a teacher so I may well be wrong).

Agree with you howabout and the main body of the exam. My poor ds a few years ago now did very well in the exam but much less well in his portfolio. ( feel bad now as I didn’t really proof read it and he was later diagnosed with dyslexia at uni). Dd on the other hand had amazing portfolio marks( I did “ help” with checking spelling and making her read her work aloud to herself as she had been diagnosed with dyslexia). However she also achieved similar marks in the exam.
If there are huge discrepancies ie great portfolio marks but poor exam marks would that not surely raise questions??

I'm just gobsmacked the teacher responded to you. We can't email teachers direct. On the couple of occasions I've asked the admin person to pass an email on, it's taken literally months to get a response. I have no idea what's going on in the classroom.

We cant email teachers directly. But we can email or phone the pupil support teacher or head of year. And if its a subject matter we can phone / email the HoD.

Any time I’ve had an issues I’ve heard back pretty quickly. Ive never had anything urgent but if i did I’d expect to hear from one of them within a day.

For routine things “ I’m worried about Jimmys chemistry marks “ then I’d say its not urgent and I’d expect to hear back within a few days. We can then end up playing phone tag for a few days but thats not their fault.

Months is shocking.

I don't think I'd like parents to contact me directly. I think that degree of separation prevents "reactionary" messaging- and I say that as a mother of 4. I know that in England it is the norm to be contactable and some of the stories in the Education Boards are horrible parents emailing at midnight or weekends then going tonto when they don't get an instant reply. Pupil Support PTs get the management time (and pay) to facilitate this replies- I don't . Quite happy to respond to queries raised via the appropriate channels at appropriate times.

Lidlfix, I think it would be a brilliant idea to have all of ds's teachers on WhatsApp to ask random questions, keep us posted with regular updates (weekly will do) on individual children and get super fast answers! You would love it too, honestly you would, it would be like your own local mini mumsnet (except you wouldn't be anonymous)! You must only have, what, 70-100-ish pupils, wouldn't take up too much of your evenings!!! 😜

Yay a teacher WhatsAp would be fab Honestly I don't want to be THAT parent but I do get frustrated when I can't get a straight answer from my DD about when she has to have something finished by, or what exactly she has to learn for her exam etc. I wish I didn't have to bother contacting the school but the information isn't anywhere else on the school website. I end up looking up other schools' websites and then feel jealous when they are obviously much better than my own child's school!

Thanks for all your input. It's very much appreciated. I have a question on Nat 5 Art and Design. But I'll create a new post. I'm going to be all over this board like a rash I can tell!