Can someone help me with English Lang please?

[Poppy802]

I'm trying hard to help my son. I've looked at his Mock Language paper. I'm looking at an 8 point question and he's got 1 mark out of 8.
The feedback is this:

Focus on behaviour
Write Less just PEA and compare

I said to my son do you understand her feedback and he said no he doesn't get it.
He doesn't feel he can talk to his teacher either.
How can I help my son with not long to go?
I've looked up PEA and can only see something about PEE? Is that the same?

I'd really appreciate some advice please 🙏

Genuine question: if it's so nailed down, and the same each year, why do teachers (schools, I guess) weave language and literature in together when they teach? Why don't they say "Today we're going to look at this skill which is needed to answer paper 2, question 2."?

This is pretty much exactly what DC's school does (certainly by the time they get to this point in Year 11!!). Separate English Language and Literature classes and a lot of sessions aimed at exactly how you answer question x on paper y.

It's very dull though. I'm fairly sure my DS had stopped listening by Year 11, which is probably the actual reason he didn't know how to answer the questions.

Genuine question: if it's so nailed down, and the same each year, why do teachers (schools, I guess) weave language and literature in together when they teach?
Why don't they say "Today we're going to look at this skill which is needed to answer paper 2, question 2."?

In my experience we do that even when weaving the two subjects together. They work well as two subjects, and teaching English Language as a series of questions structures one after the other is highly boring for teachers and students.
I also find that where a scheme of work is driven by paragraph structures rather than appreciating a range of texts, students focus on write a point sentence, now I write a quotation, now I'll say something about it and the focus is on following a writing frame, not generating interesting ideas. To get the higher bands the students need to be able to select the most interesting quotation and making thoughtful comments about the text, which you don't get if your teaching content is driven by PEA/SQUID.

Teaching English Language in a scheme with English Literature means that I can select relevant non-fiction that will enrich the understanding of the ideas in the literature texts. It means students can learn the structures from Paper 1 using fiction extracts that work nicely with the poetry anthology. It's an enjoyable way to teach and students end up, in my experience, more well rounded as a result.

To get the higher bands the students need to be able to select the most interesting quotation and making thoughtful comments about the text, which you don't get if your teaching content is driven by PEA/SQUID.

I think that is something I really noticed with college. Because their sole aim is to turn 3s into 4s they were really able to cut down advice to that required to pass. It meant there was less to remember.

That's really helpful, thank you.

I think that is something I really noticed with college. Because their sole aim is to turn 3s into 4s they were really able to cut down advice to that required to pass. It meant there was less to remember
Definitely.
I find the same when I went from teaching mixed ability GCSE to a GCSE and functional skills class.

It's a different teaching focus and the focus isn't about promoting a holistic understanding of English. It's about rote learning a set of structures that will probably get the candidate over the threshold if they make a reasonable attempt.

@Lougle

Genuine question: if it's so nailed down, and the same each year, why do teachers (schools, I guess) weave language and literature in together when they teach? Why don't they say "Today we're going to look at this skill which is needed to answer paper 2, question 2."?

That's exactly how it's set up in my school. We teach Lit as Lit and Lang as Lang.

Can anyone simplify exactly what's in paper 1 and 2 literature

For example paper 1 Question I should be looking at .....
And so on

You are all such a help thank you!

Watch Mr Bruff on YouTube

Our school doesn't have sets at all for English. Every class is mixed. So children targeting a 9 in the same class as children that may have a target of 4. This must make it more difficult do you think?

Me :)
I mark Lit too!
Paper one: Shakespeare and pre-1900 text
Extract linked to the whole text
AO1 - answer the question
AO2 - write about the methods used to present the thing
A03 - context

Paper 2: "modern" text, comparison poetry and unseen poetry

We also don't have sets!

Fab and English Lang?

Got interrupted part way through:

Paper 2 Lit:
Modern text - choice of 2 questions. AO1/2/3
Comparison poetry - compare the printed one to another of your choice. AO1/2/3
Unseen poetry A - AO1/2
Unseen B -AO2

I’m a secondary English teacher bored on maternity leave. PM me his exam board, the question and his answer and I’ll send you some more detailed feedback.

English language is a bit of a crap paper andVERY formulaic. You have to answer in the way the board wants in order to get the mark.