Prelims 2022/23

[CrabbitBastard]

DD is now in S4 and has been told her prelims will be starting at the end of November which seems a bit earlier than I remember? Is this normal? Will they get any study leave and if not, how should she be studying?

I know past papers are more for the final exams than for the prelims. She says Bitesize is shite but she does always do her homework and I got her some 'how to pass' books. She also plans to start a 'study club' with her pals where they take it in turns to go to each others houses to study. I'm a bit worried they will mess about although tbf they do tend to all get good grades in tests so far. I've told DD if I get any hint that they aren't really studying, then the study group stops!

Any one else's DCs preparing for prelims? Any tips from teachers?

What about the past paper books for sale?

I wish we could get past prelim papers too!

There is really no point in buying a book when they're all available on the website for free. Unless the book gives sample answers perhaps? Prelims are by and large taken/adapted from actual exams too.

Your dd sounds like she will do very well, I wish my own dc were as studious!

Get your DD to check if the poem is for the critical essay element of the prelim or if it is for Scottish Set Text. If they are being taught a poem for critical essay it is possible that they may only do one. If it is got SST they will do 6 as we won't be told (assuming no drastic changes in circumstances) what exam poem will be. They might not have covered them all and so can drop heavy hints for the prelim as we usually buy them in so know the content in advance.

Are you an English teacher @Lidlfix ?
I asked DD about English this morning on the school run and she told me she's having problems with her N5 teacher who apparently is making them focus on 'own word' questions which DD says they've already covered 'loads of times'. DD says other N5 classes have been given an 'essay plan'? but her teacher refuses to give one.
DD says she's worried about a 'lack of consistency' between classes (her words) and that she asked another English teacher about it. This other English teacher apparently told DD there have been complaints about her teacher before (surprised they would tell a student that but DD isn't the type to lie) but they can't change DDs class.
DD is going to try to speak to the head of English today, she tells me, to see if he can give her any idea of what she is to do so I'm quite proud of DD for showing initiative, especially as she used to absolutely hate reading and resist it when I tried to buy her books and get her to read! She also tells me that the other English teacher thinks DD is capable of an A which I'd be over the moon about considering what I just said about her old hatred of reading, but we will see!
I'm not sure what the 'norm' is - are they meant to get an 'essay plan' at this stage? What should they be doing at this stage?

I am. Shockingly unprofessional of the other teacher to discuss a colleague with a pupil in that way.

Own words questions make up a significant amount of marks in N5 RUAE so it is worth investing time in ensuring that the class understand them but should be providing extension tasks for those who have confidently mastered them.

I teach essay planning skills rather than giving plans. That goes for critical essay and broadly discursive for Folio. Because teaching how to plan a response allows the pupils to become confident in facing a range of essay questions not just the one you have given a plan for. For Folio there (should) be a range of topics and stances within the class so no one plan that will fit.

There are a few parts of the English course and teachers might teach in different sequence, and different ways and there might not be consistency between classes. Ds has just left school and noticed this too, but it doesn’t mean it is a bad thing - watch out for your dd perceiving different is always worse. 110% agree with Lidfix spending time on "own words" is important as it is a key skill that will gain marks especially for RUAE and Scottish Text questions.

For the critical essay part, ds was never given an essay plan, so that is not unusual. They were taught how to structure a paragraph in a critical essay, how to write a plan and they did one in class for one question, but otherwise they wrote their own plans at home as part of their revision (one with 3-5 paragraphs for a character question, one with 3-5 paragraphs for a setting question, introduction plan, conclusion plan etc) and then as part of his own revision worked out how to adapt his plans to different questions. Your dd learning the skill of writing her own essay plans in NAT5 will stand her in good stead for the more challenging Higher.

Thank you both so much, that makes a lot of sense.
DD was studying with a friend the other day and they were both talking about their essays (DD says hers is on 'feminism' - not sure if broadly or more specific, will try to find out). Anyway, her pal who is in the same class, had some sort of template document in front of him, so I did wonder what DD was on about regarding not having an essay plan as that template did look like they had SOMETHING. Maybe she's just exaggerating, who knows.
She got 55% for her Chemistry assessment and apparently was the only one who passed because her S3 teacher didn't cover the topic properly.
Reading this back, DD doesn't seem too fond of any of her teahers does she?

Yeah I think you're in for a bumpy ride if dd is going to be second guessing all of the professionals who are teaching her.
it will increase her anxiety for one thing if she can't trust in the process.

It can also be a tactic, if they are finding the work harder or stressing out at the thought of official exams, to absolve themselves of their own personal responsibility if they don't get the grades. Seen that with ds too and he needed help working out what he could do at home to gain confidence in English.

Try to get her to work out where the gaps/her weaknesses are and constructively ask her teacher for support, and to be a bit more independent and use revision guides/scholar/internet/MN for ideas or to help clarify specific areas she hasn't grasped.

ds spent a ridiculous amount of time preparing for his English Higher as it was his weakest subject but it paid off. It is one of the subjects if he had worked out what he actually had to do earlier for each aspect, instead of procrastinating, it would have been better to start revision sooner so he could prepare rough critical essay plans, finesse them, then practise as many past paper questions as possible.

My boy is in s5, I can’t remember if he got study leave for prelims. Isn’t that terrible

Don’t think so as they were all very close together. S4 ones were early Jan and I think s5/6 ones were late Jan.

DD has a design and manufacture test on Monday. We had an argument as she's spending all weekend with her pals and I'd like her to study a bit.

She insists she has NO notes to go over, NO jotter to look over and doesn't know what the topic for the test is. I said she must have SOME notes but she says no? I said try looking on bitesize etc but she hates that site.

I'm now worried that maybe I am being too strict and expecting too much from her at this stage of S4. It doesn't help that DH is too soft on her and caves easily.

I never interfered with my dc's studying techniques. In dds case she never did any except for homework she had been set. She has been diagnosed with ASD at the age of 18 and this is just the way she learns. She is going into 2nd year at Uni so it works for her.

Ds does homework plus study work if he feels he needs it. He works in a totally different way to dd and thats ok.

I'd let your dd find her own way of working. At the end of the day you can guide them but can't force them into studying if they don't want to.

Is your DD a bit overwhelmed by S4 and the prospect of her exams? This is the mum in me asking not the teacher. I have the battle scars of my 4 DDs' exam years to testify to the varying ways they coped (or didn't) with the stress.

There seems to be lots of deflection going on sub par English teacher, not taught a Chemistry topic properly, no notes or notification re D & M test. Is this her way of preempting a disappointing result? Maybe suggest looking at SQA past papers for questions in the topics that have been covered so far to see if she could answer them. If the test is tomorrow maybe just some gentle not too time heavy revision today.

I feel for you both .

That lassie will be the death of me, I swear.

The latest is that her Maths and her D&M teachers both think she will get an A1 (not sure what that is, 85% and over/).

There's some grade prediction report coming out with level she is working at and predicted grades, and they've told her this.

Told her that's great but I would also be happy for her just to pass, and reminded her she still needs to work for those grades, to which I got an eye roll.

If she's not complaining about a teacher, she's suddenly a teachers pet!

There are bands for the grades so A band 1 and A band 2 with different marks needed for each. Ds got 7 As but 6 were band 1 and 1 was band 2. He only found out the bands when he got back to school and asked the individual teachers what he got. The results they receive online and in the post just give A B C etc not the bands.

If they sign up to mySQA they can get results by text/email by 8am on results day.

I think it's just as stressful for the parents!
I'm striving for the balance of letting her be and trying to make sure she realises how important it is. I did make her a beautiful exam timetable in rainbow colours which seemed to go down quite well 😆
Mine was really self-motivated over lockdown so I made sure to praise her for that then.
We bought lots of nice stationary this year..different coloured revision cards etc.
She is generally good with revising for tests and asking for help if she needs it.
I'm trying to be casual about it all, I think they already get a lot of the chat at school.

Predicted a mix of A1s and A2s with one B3 (business mgt).

It does feel quite soon to be making predictions and I'm worried DD will feel a failure if she doesn't get those grades now!

It is too soon. I hate being asked to give anything more than a tracking grade at this point. It can give false hope, demotivate, harm pupil teacher relationship, cause complacency. I cannot comprehend why management teams are so wedded to predicted grades this early.

However, hope your DD is happy with them and that she's been made aware that the conversations around what to do to stay at that level are far more valuable at this stage in the courses.

I’m not keen on them being given predicted grades. Ds3 was predicted all A’s and then was disappointed when he got 6A’s and 2B’s. It’s taken him a few weeks to feel happy with his results when he should have been delighted on the day. He thought about an appeal however as he’s happy now he’s going to leave it.

Ds has ASD and I have just left him to study in his own way. He hates any pressure. It worked fine for the Nat 5’s so 🤞 for Highers.

DD has just said that they are getting 2 weeks study leave for the prelims although its just something she's heard and nothing proper has been announced. I've never heard of this before. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, more time to study is good, but on the other, I worry kids will just see it as a holiday if there are no classes / supported study etc. Are other schools doing this and how does it normally go?

My son has been given a target grade of 5 As, tbh early on in the term after 7 As at Nat 5 I wasn’t sure he would get anything else. I’ve made sure to remind him that this is in no way a guarantee, the only guaranteed grade is the one he gets in the exam, it’s only what he “could” get.

Those of you who teach English, are there any study guides etc for The Lighthouse? Apparenty this will be in the prelim.

Havent heard of The Lighthouse so assume it is for a critical essay and not a set text.

Tbh we bought ds revision guides for nat5 and higher for his critical texts and both times they were never used, he found too much information overwhelming so based his essay plans around them.

Some teacher links from various schools -
https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/misscpacker/2015/09/13/nat-5-the-lighthouse/.
https://englishperthacademy.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/3-thelighthouse-revision.doc
https://missduncanenglish.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/the-lighthouse-notes.doc

Thank you!