so what do english teacher think about this? should i be worried?

[shelsco]

Ds1 in Year 11 and has just been told that the class (top set) do their controlled assessment comparing Romeo and Juliet to poetry next week. All the other classes have studied the poems and are doing the whole CA next week but DS's class have been told they will have to do the Shakespeare part now and the poetry part after December mocks. They don't even know names of poems. Their English teacher is off sick (which I'm pleased about as she wasn't good). It was another English teacher who told them they are behind and will have to do the CA in two parts. Ds and a couple of friends went to see head of English to ask names of poems they are studying and if there is a key scene to study in the play but she wouldn't tell them. This is wotlrth 25% of the English lit exam so i'm really worried.
Please someone tell me that i'm over-reacting! :(

I'm just a parent of a y11.
I would be concerned, and tbh can't see how that could work as described.

You can't write anything comparing 2 things if you only know about one of them.

My DD knows when her CA for this is (different play), and has been told the theme (or the actual question, I can't remember). Now she needs to prepare by looking for quotes, thinking how to structure etc, before she goes in to write it up. No way would I be happy if she had to start the writing before knowing the poems. Madness!

In your situation I would email head of English asking for clarification ASAP.

This can work, strange as it sounds. Your controlled assessment sounds like mine. It is in 3 parts: the Shakespeare, the poetry and then the comparison. The students will be required to explore how a theme is treated in the Shakespeare play for the first section and it will not make reference to any of the poems at this stage. The theme needs to be be tracked throughout the play so there are no set scenes. The dominant assessment objective requires comparison, so at the moment, it is not affected.

It is not an advisable way to do it, but I can see the reasoning behind it.

The problem is that without knowing the poems he can't be sure the line of argument will be coherent throughout the poems, unless its ok to just have a very vague link! This is definitely what they are doing and I think a lot of people have asked about it as we've just had a letter saying there will be a Year 11 question evening for parents to ask about exams and controlled assessments next Wednesday. By then he will have done the first part of it so it is a bit late really but I expect they'll just defend their actions. They aren't going to say of it's just damage limitation. Just hope DS's line of argument can be related to poems quite easily!!!

Clonakiltylil- when you say that the comapriosn is the dominant assessment objective, do you mean it is worth more marks. If so, do you roughly the breakdown. would be handy to have a rough guide as to how much the Shakespeare is worth.

Gosh, this all seems very disorganised!

DD, year 11, has already finished her CAs in Eng and Eng Lit. We were given all the information well in advance about when they would take place and what they would be about.

I would get in contact with HOD and request something firm from the school.

Have already been in touch with HOD and head regarding concerns. Think that is why teacher is on sick. she hadn't marked any work at all except their controlled assessment last year so I raised concerns with head. Next thing we knew she'd marked all books and gone on the sick. Not sure if long term sick or not.
Already have an ongoing 'situation' with ds regarding exam concessions. school have failed to follow any of correct procedures and gone against advice of specialist assessor and own LEA. (All before new head came).Because so many of their lies were in emails and basically incriminating, they have asked me not to correspond by email any more. They have said it is a whole school move but no letter has gone out as 'there will be circumstances where email is still appropriate'.
Anyway getting in touch with HOD or head is impossible. They don't ring back until days later and sometimes not at all. Parent Partnership tried to help but they didn't have their calls returned either.
To be fair, when I have spoken to head he was really supportive and said he has been brought in to turn things around. He knows there are issues. Problem is there are so many issues I think he has to delegate and then half of the people he delegates to don't do their job, or are more interested in covering up than putting things right!!

I can help you out if you let me know the exam board.

It's WJEC English Language and Literature(part of the Literature). Thanks clonakiltylil.

Agree with Coolas- glad a teacher is off sick?! Not the greatest attitude really.
Re: phone calls being returned a day or so later- not at all unreasonable if the teacher has a full timetable that day.
Addressing your qu, not the ideal way to do this CA though depends on ability of the class in part. A lot of students even if they have all texts in advance will still structure their CA in this way. For higher grades it is better to integrate and have a line of argument from the start. However, the logistical issues for schools with CAs are huge- and with a teacher off sick it seems as though this is just being managed the best way they can manage it. What scene of R and J is it? That may give some pointers to the most likely poems, and your DD could begin reading around at least.

If it is the balcony scene for example, poem choices are easy to guess at.

I teach this unit. To be fair, it works perfectly well as 3 mini pieces - Shakespeare, then poetry, then a comparison section.

If you can tell me what the theme is for R&J, I'll tell you which poems will almost certainly be studied.

Likely: Valentine, Carol Ann Duffy, Sonnet 18, How Do I Love Thee Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Possible: Cousin Kate, A Woman To Her Lover
Maybe: The Sun Rising, Whoso List to Hunt

Poss Porphyria's Lover (question depending)

Spring heeled has it

In an ideal world of learning, able students would read all those poems having studied the Shakespeare and then take their own line of argument, but this isn't likely given the situation.
Valentine compares extremely well with the balcony scene, especially with Juliet's language and attitude. I'd be amazed if they don't use it.
It sounds to me as though the English team and the HoD are doing their level best in a trying situation.
Hopefully you'll find it in you to thank them for their efforts!

Theme is treatment of women thanks sassy. And it is the top set which is why I thought a more integrated argument would be expected. Apparently it isn't a particular scene of R and J.

To clarify, I'm not glad the teacher is sick. I'm glad she's off because she wasn't actually teaching him what he needed to pass his exams. The teacher who has come in to take over is really helping them and they have a much better idea of what to do so obviously I would like that to continue.

Sorry missed last few posts somehow!

Thanks for the poems - that's really helpful. There seems to have been little mention of the balcony scene in the preparation so not sure if using it. Most of the prep seems to have been based around Capulet, although they also have to talk about Romeo and Paris.

I am very grateful to the staff who have had to sort it out at the last minute, just frustrated by the situation and the fact that it has gone unaddressed for so long. I am venting about what I am worried about but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate what his teachers are doing. I just wanted an idea of whether it would have necessarily have an impact on his eventual grade so I could prepare myself!

I am a teacher myself (not English) and slog my guts out day after day for other people's kids. Most of ds's teachers do the same for him. Unfortunately, his English teacher didn't and he is not really prepared so I feel worried.

Thanks for the advice regarding poems. I really appreciate it.

Sorry missed last few posts somehow!

Thanks for the poems - that's really helpful. There seems to have been little mention of the balcony scene in the preparation so not sure if using it. Most of the prep seems to have been based around Capulet, although they also have to talk about Romeo and Paris.

I am very grateful to the staff who have had to sort it out at the last minute, just frustrated by the situation and the fact that it has gone unaddressed for so long. I am venting about what I am worried about but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate what his teachers are doing. I just wanted an idea of whether it would have necessarily have an impact on his eventual grade so I could prepare myself!

I am a teacher myself (not English) and slog my guts out day after day for other people's kids. Most of ds's teachers do the same for him. Unfortunately, his English teacher didn't and he is not really prepared so I feel worried.

Thanks for the advice regarding poems. I really appreciate it.

If it's mainly capulet v Juliet scene then hmm I'm stuck- will they look at conflict poems rather than love poems?
If love poems then Cousin Kate maybe and Porphyria? And very probably A Woman To Her Lover? Whoso?
Have you looked at the WJEC website? They will have guidance on lit unit 3 and probably examiners reports and exemplars.

Thanks, yes I've looked their website but couldn't really find much that helped with this in particular. It gave possibilities but it would depend on the scenes you have studied I suppose. I thought I could try and help him but I don't really think I have the info or specialism.
The teachers must have a plan in mind so I'll just have to trust them and try and put things into perspective. I'll look through the themes of the poems this weekend and have a chat to see if ds can spot any common themes to help him work out what sort of line to take.
thanks for your help.