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.

This is an incredibly helpful thread. How did your child get on in the end?

Firstly I'm NOT an English teacher and neither are my DCs this age.

This is what I'd do. I have a house full of ADHD.

Forget about the actual writing for now.

Forget about the second story option/ question.

Focus on the descriptor question.

Get a whiteboard, put it on the wall and STAND UP to do the work. This is very important.

Practice writing ideas/ key points in spider diagrams, lists or whatever.

Gradually start to turn these into paragraph plans.

Sometimes just do vocabulary lists.

Then do this on paper/flip chart style.

Only then, move on to essay writing.

Do this over several WEEKS.

Practice doing this verbally too... See a picture in a magazine? Get him to run through the process. On a billboard? Ditto. Take a still from an advert on TV. Same. Use your own pictures/prompts with the whiteboard.

For now, completely remove the 'sitting at a desk with a blank piece of paper' anxiety. Develop skills and confidence in the meantime. And then come back to it.

Sorry I've just realised the date on this!

Hello! These are great ideas and might be of use to others!

My biggest regret is that DS didn't get help earlier and that I didn't press school earlier and harder. Although I did try!

I'm happy to report that the kid with a blank piece of paper got an 8 in English Language. 10 sessions with a brilliant tutor gave him the confidence he needed. He's now at a different school doing A levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Electronics and is as happy as Larry!

@filchards such a wonderful update and a great result! Well done to him. I hope he enjoys his chosen A level subjects.

What a heart warming update. I have a year 9 student who I am very worried about. Can't seem to focus has been off sick is really behind and I am concerned he will just refuse school next week. Been trying to think what type of support I can put in place.

OP wow, well done to you and your son. Amazing result! I found this a very helpful thread. So thank you very much for coming back on and Happy New Year!