Help! Doing really badly in AQA English Language GCSE

[filchards]

7 weeks to put things right. Son is doing badly and is overwhelmed / discouraged / bewildered. Repeatedly failed by school. We now have a private tutor which I hope can make a difference but need to look at other ways for him to learn and practice skills. Paper 2 is particularly difficult - he's never learned how to do Question 5. He can't do any of it within the time limits. He has ADHD and has trouble focussing. The more stressed he is, the worse his focus. (He gets 25% extra time but it's not enough)

I have some official AQA books but could do with some short exercises to practice the necessary skills, so that he can do daily short bursts alongside the longer exercises. I feel this is the only way he can build up the skills he's missing.

That Venn diagram has some useful points but I imagine is overwhelming when a candidate is at your stage.

Paper 1 is fiction (write a piece of descriptive writing) and Paper 2 is non fiction ( write an argument).

I think planning helps but if even that’s beyond him how about coming up with a set opening sentence eg for Paper I ‘It was a day I will never forget.’ Paper 2 ‘I can’t agree with this statement’

That’s got pen to paper. Now try to continue that thought …

@BobBobBobbing - what is it with them, do you think? My son has ADHD and says he zones out (which his English teaching assistant verifies). And, with things he likes (computer coding, extra Maths) he is hyper-focussed. Everyone gets frustrated with him and it's clearly not entirely his fault. It's so frustrating because he is articulate and his scientific writing is fine (eg for Physics, which he wants to do at A level). Has no imagination at all therefore cannot write.

@Itstoday - yes - I'm now thinking his tutor needs to just give him some emergency sentence starters. She hasn't known him for long and he's brilliant in the lessons as she can coax him. She doesn't fully understand how bad it can be when he's on his own.

What annoys me with him, though, is that he avoids doing the extra work. I've bought loads of resources and I think just sitting down every day and writing ANYTHING about ANYTHING would surely give him some way out of the mental block. But he prefers to sit there doing Calculus which he won't need until university (although he won't get there without GCSE English). Arrggghh!

@theresnolimits - yes - that's the kind of thing I think he needs. Any idea how I go about sorting that out without completely confusing and frustrating him?

He's had so many teachers now: moved classes in English after he told his teacher to off (got suspended - I'm not excusing it - but sign of his immense frustration); has had interventions from a teaching assistant (lovely woman, very patient but not a teacher and she ran out of ideas - and sometimes patience - with him); online tutor organised by school (haphazard, sometimes didn't show up); ME throwing all sorts of revision books at him; and since Easter holidays a very good tutor (but only so much she can do, and I'm not sure she fully gets the paralysis thing - I'll talk to her before his lesson tomorrow). I think he's probably overwhelmed as I'm sure every teacher / book has a slightly different approach.

He’s diagnosed adhd isn’t he? Which means his brain runs on what is interesting and not what is important. So calculus interesting but not really important right now.
English not interesting but really quite important.
this is why adhd is so debilitating. It’s impossible to focus on what is important.
it helps me with my son to try and remember he can’t. He’s not choosing not to - he can’t.

believe me I feel your pain. My son’s brain still only lets him focus on what is interesting. Medication helps but he hates it so will only take in when it’s absolutely necessary.

Also abstract thinking sounds really hard for him. My son will just look at a long answer question and say "how do I know what they want me to write about?" he hates the lack of information or the need to infer something.
He gets really angry about it, like he is being tricked somehow.

His teachers say just write something, but he literally doesn't know what to write. Then we will look at the mark scheme and he'll get it as it is not abstract anymore but concrete.

Honestly I'd be thinking of getting some concrete things he can write. At the moment, he's not writing anything. So maybe if he had something he could write and then (hopefully) tweak in the exam.
Would that work do you think?

He's not going to suddenly get English between now and the exam, but he can memorise some sentences that he could maybe put in.

Also my son finds AI really helpful in helping him understand what to do and give him a structure. He can ask a direct question and it gives him a direct answer and if the answer isn't quite right he can change his prompt. None if these annoying humans who give him an answer they want rather than what he's actually asked.

My son is the same by the way. All he wants to do is code. There's a right and wrong answer, none of this wishy washy opinion, analysis and evaluation!

Start with the image. Put yourself in it looking out or outside looking in
jot down what you see
what you can hear
smell
touch
taste

use the best vocab you know
try to use a variety of sentences

That's where I always start with my students.
Only writing nothing will get zero

@filchards ds has dyspraxia, but he's asked about being assessed for adhd as well (I've got it and his little brother is being assessed for that and autism).

Physics, maths and coding are Ds's thing as well- he'd much rather do that than boring old English.

@Itstoday - yes diagnosed with ADHD. I fight his corner all the time with teachers who don't understand him but I'm absolutely at sea myself sometimes. I know it's not his fault but he seems to be his own worst enemy too.

Yes, he needs something concrete to write. Some way in. Any suggestions of where I can find ideas? Or model answers so that we can see what others have done (preferably those who got a 5 or 6, as there's no point him looking at 8s and 9s). I've heard of people literally memorising stories and then just changing them to fit the brief but I don't know how to go about this. I have various resources but they don't - basically - tell you how to (almost) cheat. We also need resources that aim to get a 5 or 6.

Part of the problem is that he's at a grammar school and they're all expected to get high marks so most of the last 2 years have just gone straight over his head. I'm sure if he'd been taught at a lower level from earlier on, he'd have engaged more. But can't go back and chance the past!

He is improving at the analysis type questions so that's not too bad. And he seems to be able to plan the answers to the longer questions. He's obviously learned the mechanics. BUT then can't make a start. The words don't come.

I've suggested students start with the weather ( pathetic fallacy) when they have a blank. Even if the image does not suggest it, it doesn't matter - the image is just a stimulus. Plan one positive weather starter and one negative- selection depending on what feels most appropriate when they see the task. Ideally they would come back to this as the final sentence to get some marks for structural cohesion. They could literally repeat it or, if feeling able, adapt it to create more of an ending.
E.g... start with: 'Dark clouds loomed overhead. Was the wind whistling or weeping? Rain threatened.' and then finish with 'Dark clouds loomed overhead' if it makes sense to, or a weather shift: 'The dark clouds had passed.' ( Simple sentences usually work well at start and end for clarity).
Obviously the bit in between needs writing and to 'fit' but this would work well enough to just get going and hopefully provide an end point too. Do the end as a single sentence paragraph to demonstrate a little more conscious structuring.

For Lang Paper 1 - the one with the picture that you posted (old man), he can pre prepare some 'scenes'. Get him to work with you on this:

Scene 1: an old man on a bench. What does he look like - describe his face, his hands, his clothes, his shoes. Use one simile, one metaphor and/or one form of personification. Now describe an expression on his face (sadness is easier than happiness!)

Scene 2: the old man sees a jogger running past. Describe the jogger - old or young, clothes, hair. Do they plod or speed past? Describe the jogger as an animal of some kind.

Scene 3: as the jogger disappears, a photographer takes a picture of them. As they look through the lens, describe the scene in the camera lens, and move from the jogger to the old man (this links it all together).

In the exam, he then has to link this to the picture somehow - if he gets a photo of an old man, great, start straight in. If he gets a busy street, one line about the busy street, then 'in a quiet corner, an old man watched the busy street from a rickety bench'. If it's a boat on a stormy sea, the old man remembers his days as a fisherman in scene 1. If a hillside path, a bird could swoop over that, then travel further and see the old man... etc

He can memorise scenes 1-3, then all he has to do is write a (tenuous) link to the picture.

This is what we teach y11 to do, and we get solid results and positive comments from examiners.

He has time as AQA lang is after half term. Good luck!

Ds1 said lit didn't go too badly. He managed to get something down on the page! Massive result, although we're still not expecting a pass.

What pp described above is our approach for lang- basically memorise a piece of creative writing that can be tweaked to the relevant pic.

@filchards do you know how to locate the past papers, mark scheme and examiners report/exemplar material?

Second, the venn diagram isn’t suitable for someone working at your sons level, it’s generic and therefore useless.

I imagine you would be delighted with a grade 4, so when you read the exemplars and examiners report look at the comments for answers scoring around that grade.

Most of all try not to panic and help your poor son not panic. It so is not the end of the world. He can resit his English as many times as his needs to, he can resit as a private candidate out of school and he can take functional skills instead. This exam isn’t the end of the line and maybe when his brains a bit more mature he will be better able to tackle an English exam.

For what it’s worth my child’s grades went from a scant 4 to 8/9s with medication.

@HairyKitty thanks for your comments. Unfortunately he needs a 5 for 6th form. So, getting less than that is really going to hamper the next stage of his education. He wants to do Maths, Further Maths, physics, comp.sci A levels.

He saw his tutor today and we told her about his blankness over the homework. She gave him yet more resources about planning. He didn't want to talk about it to us but tells us its all fine now. I've heard that before. I think he just wants to forget about it.

I worry that he's now had too much input from too many people and can't get it clear in his mind. Surely he needs lots of practice to build up those skills. I've been saying this for a year.

The resources are so confusing. So many words, boxes, shapes, colours. Surely completely the wrong thing for an ADHD brain.

Where are the materials for the kids who would be happy with a 5?

I find the reports and mark schemes so stressful I'm practically hyperventilating myself.

Where can I find model answers (grade 5)?

What about these example stories you can memorise?

And then I remember it was actually Paper 2 q 5 he was struggling with but going back to paper 1 q5 he can't do that either.

What.a.mess

@BobBobBobbing where can I find stuff for him to memorise?.

Op the image you posted (the old man) is paper 1 (creative writing) - there are some good ideas from @HereBeFuckery on how to tackle this.

I agree the Venn diagram is not great for your son. Could he draft some basic starter paras and characters or even the majority of a story and learn that? The exam is next week I think?

@filchards surely better if he writes it and owns it and memorises his own work?

@HereBeFuckery - I think though the picture is for writing a description of, not a story.

The story option is about something else.

Or have I also misunderstood?

@clary but the question says write a description of the man in the photo, not a story about him.

Well yes it'd be great to get him to write and memorise a story but he can't write stories. Which is why I'm asking about how he can construct one which he can memorise and adapt. Presumably lookinh at examples would help, but where? Nothing is too simple for him as he is absolutely hopeless.

You say he likes coding, can he try and tie in his writing to that? Eg. they want something unexpected. What if it is something unexpected in the coding. Can he describe how he feels when he codes etc.

@clary He is so hopeless he can't write starter paragraphs- he's going to have to spoon-fed. Which is what I wanted the tutor to do but she doesn't get how bad he is. Because when you sit next to him, he's a charming and articulate young man. Then he sits on his own to do the work and he's a zombie.

Exam is after half term. I'll have expired from stress by then, at this rate.

@filchards it does say write a description but it's a descriptive piece of fiction writing they want. It's misleading, as it's not supposed to be just a basic description. Have you looked at the mark scheme - it's woolly and vague but will give you some guidance.
If you do the written prompt for Lang 1 Q5, you should write a narrative story.

@HereBeFuckery - ah. Gosh. I wonder if he realises that. I don't know which of those options for q5 he'd generally go for.

We're really good at spotting remembered stuff that students have found and used. That's a very dangerous game to play.

This is how my son was tutored - get a story written then all he has to do is link it to the photo
He got a 7 from a predicted 4/5
This is good advice