Nat 4/5 question please for any more knowledgeable parents than I

[Iwonder777]

My dc just got nat 4 English and maths in s4.

Now in s5, dc is going for nat 5 in both.

What will this entail?

Dc has additional needs and requires me to understand more fully so I can preempt support, but schools understandably have bigger fish than my questions to fry just now.

Thanks tons for any help.

English- folio of writing, worth 30 percent of overall grade. Two pieces of writing of equal weight- one personal/ creative and one informative/argumentative. This is worked on over the year and submitted around April. Each piece should be around 1000 words.
Close reading is first exam paper- it’s a passage with questions where they analyse the language and are asked to show their knowledge of language by using their own words/ giving meanings of words/phrases. This is out of 30 and worth 30percent overall.

Paper two is a critical essay- they write an essay on a text studied. They have no notes or access to the text studied. This is out of 20 and worth 20percebt of overall grade.

The second part of paper two is the Scottish text- they study a set text (could be poetry, a book, a play) then they have an extract in front of them and they answer questions on it. They are then expected to draw comparisons between that extract and the other texts studied. This is worth 20 percent too.

I can assist you with what English N5 entails but with a big health warning that SQA might change what exams look like next year to reflect that not all learners were able to access remote teaching in May, June when the courses would conventionally begin.

Folio 30% two equally weighted pieces . One broadly persuasive in nature ( but could be two sided or even a report) , the other creative/ reflective . Possible 15 marks for each so a great chance to have a cushion prior to the exam as these are marked and given in-depth feedback on from teachers.

Paper 1 RUAE Reading for Understanding Analysis and Evaluation 30% . Close Reading in old money, a passage to read and questions to answer. Traditionally taken from decent quality journalism.

Paper 2 Critical Reading 40%
Section 1 Scottish Set Text
20% The first 12 marks from an extract from a text taught in class . A list of all the N5 texts can be found on the SQA website. 8 mark question demands that the candidates show knowledge of other texts or other parts of a large text depending on the genre which share commonality.
Section Critical Essay 20%
Nice open questions that the candidates answer on a text covered in class , usually character or theme or message,
Or experience or scene but they cover a variety in class so are well prepped. Must answer on different genres in each section of this paper.

One internal unit spoken language so maybe a talk plus a listening assessment or the teacher might set up a task that enables them to assess both. Straight pass or fail. Retakes allowed.

If that through up more questions about support etc ask away. Happy to help.

I found the bright red publishing course book (not the study guide) good for some more details of the course and especially for RUAE revision. Ds used it and made up ruae mind maps from it. There are a few examples to work through and online answers to show what is expected.

Some good hints for the different types of essays too. It is quite a meaty guide when you first look at it, but to through it bit by bit starting with ruae now and you'll get into it.

For maths the schools usually provide lots of practice resources, if not ask for them (and answers to mark). If they don't teejay books are good.

Thanks so much, I will read through your replies. Currently they don't mean too much to this old lady

I'll be back soon 😁