What literature is on the Scot’s curriculum?

[Rainydaydelight]

My nieces (11 & 13) are moving to Oban later this year. DB and DSis in law keen for them not to fall behind. Can anyone advise what literature texts are studied at secondary? Are there any that are compulsory? For example kids have to study a Shakespeare (usually Romeo and Juliet or Macbeth) in English secondaries. DB hoping to give DN13 as much prep as possible. TIA.

Do you mean literature in the Scots language? Or the English literature that kids study as part of the curriculum?

Have you read the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence (CfE)? That’s a good place to start. If the children are currently in English schools you will find Scottish education very different.

Sorry I meant the English literature they study*
They are currently in y7 and y9 in an English secondary so it’s going to be a big adjustment for them.
That’s brilliant! Thank you. I will have a read.

There are set texts at National Five and Higher English which you can see on sqa website, but it will depend which the school/department choose to teach. Often it's up to the teacher to choose from what is available in the bookstore, so Shakespeare may or may not be taught. I taught Midsummer night's Dream at S2, Macbeth at S4 and Romeo and Juliet at S5. In the past I have taught Hamlet at S5 but time restraints made R&J a better option. It will depend what they have available and what level the children are at. Some classes are mixed ability, some can be broad banded with roughly the same level together. The best plan looking ahead, is to encourage the girls to read widely, fiction and nonfiction. Improve their vocabulary by reading pre 20th century work but encourage them also to read articles from newspapers on subjects which interest them. Talk to them about opinions and ask them to support with evidence from quality texts. I would think the best plan is to contact the school and email the head of department for suggestions.

They are unlikely to study shakespeare unless perhaps going to a private school.

In preparation for exam years, get them familiar with:
poetry - Norman McCaig and Carol Ann Duffy.
fiction - Cone Gatherers by Robin Jenkins, Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
drama - mary queen of scots got her head chopped off by Liz Lochead

As for non Scottisih literature, I think recently its been things like The Great Gatsby, of Mice and Men, and I think there was some Philip Larkin poetry.

Sunset Song … I laughed the other day at a comment a friend of mine (male, late forties) made in a Facebook reminiscence about our school days

”How to turn an adolescent boy off literature for a couple of decades - make him read a book about a young woman coming of age in turn of the century Aberdeenshire”

I said that we girls were not massive fans either..there was an awful lot of herring.

I hated it at first, hard to read, then I saw the film and was hooked, the film helped a lot (and the play!) to understand it.

The silver darlings - now that has a lot of fucking fish in it (shit shit book)

Actually having just checked I’ve realised that it was indeed The Silver Darlings we read that had all the fish in it! (My friend did not go to same school as me).

I answered my questions on the Great Gatsby and Julius Caesar.

They are unlikely to study shakespeare unless perhaps going to a private school

What an odd comment. I teach Shakespeare most years in a comprehensive state school in inner city Glasgow. Everyone gets it, despite their lower income bracket.

Nat 5 - Norman Mccaig
higher - Carol Anne Duffy
Adv H - Sylvia Plath

in my DDs school
there is a list on the SQA website for all levels!

Not an odd comment at all.

My DD hasn't had it yet, nor has any other the other year groups at that school, or any of her friends, nor has any relative or friend's children currently at school or left in recent years. Yes I've checked.

DD goes to a west of scotland low achieving high school. The aforementioned children of relatives and friends go to schools in low achieving / high achieving areas and none of them have done shakespeare yet.

Reason for asking people is I hated Shakespeare so wanted to know if DD would do it. (I loved English apart from Shakespeare).

Your school must be the exception.

I taught Shakespeare's plays too in a comprehensive school. He's not just for the privileged few. I was a marker at Higher English for many years and marked many essays on his plays from a variety of schools.

I have kids in a high achieving state school. One is in S6 and didn’t study any Shakespeare and he did Higher English. The other in S3 has yet to study Shakespeare.
I have to say that they seem to spend more time analysing films than books! Very odd.

Our state school did Merchant of Venice at S3 but quite superficially and didn’t study it for any of their exams. One of mine did Romeo and Juliet - watched the film but again didn’t study it for their exams and I’m not sure they even read the whole play. Higher English consisted of Great Gatsby and 6 poems by Norman MacCaig - quite ‘light’ but then they have to do a portfolio essay and analyse and answer questions on an unseen text - so it’s actually literature and language combined. Think these are two separate subjects/exams in England?

I'm also an SQA marker and I mark a lot of Shakespeare.

So perhaps your anecdotal schools are the exception.

Ds was of mice and men and sailmaker in S4
Sorley McLean poems and the yellow wallpaper in S5

Different classes in the school did different texts, it was each teachers choice what to teach

Another who definitely did Shakespeare at a (extremely poorly performing) Scottish secondary, albeit on the “old” Higher system.

It's a big mixture of Scottish writers and English writers. All three of mine have done Shakespeare, not private school! DD did Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, DS did Merchant of Venice, older DS didn't do Higher English but did Midsummer Night's Dream for Nat 5.

I really think it's pointless getting them to familiarise themselves with texts when every school will have their own range of texts which they use. The way the exam questions are phrased they can be applied to many different novels - so rather than "describe the characterisation in The Great Gatsby" it's more "Describe themes of conflict and how these are explored".

Do not inflict The Cone Gatherers on anyone. That's child cruelty. Honestly, you'd be much better just encouraging them to read widely and from a range of different authors and genres.

Honestly there’s no need to bother with this.

By which I mean the schools will provide the texts in the exam years. No need to make a 13 year old read the N5 English texts until they are actually sitting n5 English. Just let them read what they want as that’s the best thing for them generally and helps with the RUAE

As for Shakespeare my eldest has just finished higher English and hasn’t done any.

I loved the cone gatherers. DS really enjoyed it too but learned a life lesson: don’t read the introduction until after you’ve read the book!

My children are at OHS (or were in case of DD).
DD did The Cone Gatherers and ds is doing that now too in S5. She also did that play about Italians immigrating to Scotland, I can't for my live now remember what it is called. She read of Mice&Men in S3 or S4 but her 3 years younger brother didn't, I think they might avoid it now. dd also read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde at school.
I'll ask them what poems they did but dd is at a music festival at the moment, I'll get back to you about it.

On the Shakespeare question: ds did Romeo&Juliet at Oban High school, he was supposedly a great Mercutio.

The thing about the Scottish texts, is that sqa change the texts from time to time. There's no guarantee that what someone did at Oban this year, will be on the list in the future. And teachers change what they teach too. Please stay away from texts. I think the play someone upthread was thinking about is Tally's Blood?

My 11yo (going into P7) has one set text and that is michael Morpurgos 'Aloneon a wild wild sea'.

They did 'Wonder' by RJ Palacio in P6.

My 13yo (going into S3) will be doing 'Romeo & Juliet', and 'To Kill A Mocking Bird'. He is in the middle set for English.

He did Merchant of Venice and Haddon's 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' in S2.

There are no 'set' texts in Scottish primary schools. Set texts refer to the sqa Scottish element at NAT 5 and Higher English.