Odd question I know English specific exceptional reader year 11:kindly knowing answers only please...

[StrangeBrewlook]

Dd is an exceptional reader.. She always has been since reading clicked.

This is very outing hence name change for this: age 15 she's read war and peace peace, balzac, Anna kareina, tess etc.

Her other subject grades are hitting 9 and yet for English she's 7.

I've looked at some point recent essays and she's got one point ao3... One ao2 and one ao1.

Leaving her 2 marks off an 8.

Yes of course I will speak to her teacher but I'm also wondering if i should contact anyone else within the school to alert them to this what I would say is exceptional reading..

Something with the gcse English is not clicking. Her vocabs and spelling is always spot on.

Unfortunately she hates it and doesn't want to pursue it at a level but what a waste!

What should I do.

Also, my DS got two sevens in English and hasn't read a book voluntarily in his life. Hates reading anything- I couldn't even interest him in football magazines or books during his GCSEs. As others have said, it doesn't necessarily equal good grades in English.

I have a degree and a further degree in English and I have never managed to get more than a quarter of the way through War and Peace. As Alice said "No pictures and no conversations."

Yep.

then some of us went on to do Russian A level and even encountered Tolstoy in original language e mere year later…

I'm not sure why all the competive reading on here. I am an English teacher and have never taught a 15 year old who has read War and Peace. Ulysses ,once. Reading is a vanishing hobby, sadly, and what this girl is reading is streets ahead . I read War and Peace five years ago.

The ability to gain the very highest grades, at aged 15, is a separate issue.

i wasn’t really aware there was such a thing as an ‘exceptional reader’ at 15. By 15 you’d expect all children to be proficient at reading. Some enjoy it as a hobby and read more. I was the same- I was constantly reading and some of it was more complex text. I wasn’t exceptional- my peers could have read the same books. I just enjoyed them more because reading was my hobby.

enjoying reading and reading more complex books does not mean you should get the highest grade in English- as others have said, there’s lots more to an English exam than reading. She sounds like she’s doing really well though and you are rightly very proud of her. Please dont stress about her having one slightly lower grade when her grades are all really good.

I don't believe I ever mentioned to my English teachers what I was reading at home. So you can't possibly know that for certain.

I never felt unusual among my family and friends,.we all chatted about books and reading.

I've asked! I discuss what I read, and what they read...

That's fine, but it doesn't mean they are necessarily going to tell you.

Interesting @Piggywaspushed and very valid as you teach English! I imagine that those of us with the “I read the Brontes at 15” (me!) are actually ollllld and now taking on such classics at 15 is more unusual. It’s not unique tho. Dd read Les Mis at that age and she’s only 22 now.

I was trying to say, as others, that while it’s great she loves reading, it doesn’t in itself lead to a great Eng lit grade. Tho 7 is a great grade anyway.

I agree, I too am of the generation before smartphones (or even mobiles) where we only had books to keep us warm. My DD certainly reads a lot less than I did at her age. But she still reads, in between all the social media and Netflix.

i was a precocious and avid reader, ploughing through at least a couple of books a week from an early age (I also have crap eyesight from all that reading under the covers). But I hated English Lit and didn’t get a good grade, certainly not the equivalent of a 7. My DD got a better grade than me, despite reading a lot fewer books. If we use that piece of anecdata then it does tend to suggest that extensive reading does not automatically qualify you for a top grade but understanding the system does.

@Piggywaspushed I find it hard to believe you're an English teacher when your post is littered with errors.

Typing and teaching English are not the same thing. That said, I can't find that 'littering' to which you refer.

I've got a degree in English and German literature and everything. I know,right? Just hand them out like smarties.

I agree with Piggy.

I have to be incredibly accurate when writing at work.

When lying on the sofa recuperating from flu and wafting around on the internet on my phone I tend to only vaguely pay attention. Combine that with autocorrect and fat fingers and of course there will be errors.

Unfortunately she hates it and doesn't want to pursue it at a level but what a waste!

What's a waste? If she's getting 9s in other subjects and prefers them, she should do those. I was an avid reader (yes, I'd read W&P for the first time before 15) but 'only' got a B at o-level and wouldn't have dreamed of doing English A level because science and maths were way more interesting. Books were for leisure not for studying!

Yeh agree with @Piggywaspushed - my working role includes checking English and yet my MN posts (and on other SM) are probably "littered" with errors. Ooopsie! Actually no it's fine bc this is an internet chat, not the front page of The Guardian, or even worse, the poster advert outside Costa

Agree with Errol, I think this is the point I am trying to make too. I loved (and still love) reading widely.

But I have never felt it was a waste that I didn't do English lit a level.

I am sure I gained a wider vocabulary and knowledge from reading which stood me in good stead for my A levels, degree/post grad and career.

I also learnt, and still learn, so much from books.

But most of all I just enjoy them. I feel lucky to have a hobby I love that is essentially free. Earlier this year I was bed bound for months and escaping into books was just the most fabulous gift.

Quite separately I also really enjoyed and loved my A levels and subsequent career.

My love of books also meant I had a fab Saturday job in a library while I did my post grad degree -was excellent for book chat with colleagues and discovering new books

Actually no it's fine bc this is an internet chat, not the front page of The Guardian

You'd be fine with spelling errors and typos in the Grauniad!

haha yes true!

@PiggywaspushedI find it hard to believe you're an English teacher when your post is littered with errors.

Hahaha you'd be horrified by me then, @Cupcakekiller . English teacher, head of department, taught English at a University, got a couple of masters degrees and a PhD.... but social media posts full of errors. Shocking. Shouldn't be allowed online, obvs.

why does anybody need to be worried about grammar and spelling here, as long as they are communicating?

Its like a chat with a friend in the kitchen over a cup of coffee. No one in the world is going to be worried about speaking grammatically correct English and sounding the punctuation accurately in those circumstances, and no one cares on here either

Thanks for the back up, folks. I'm still slightly bewildered so would like my work back, with corrections as well as the existing feedback.

I don't profess to be error free and don't normally highlight people's mistakes, I just find it surprising that someone so highly qualified in the subject and who is immersed in use of the language every day would produce such a scrappy post in a thread about competence in English. 🤷🏻‍♀️

surprising in what way? everyone is entitled to their down time

But you haven't highlighted any actual 'mistakes'. Feel free. Genuinely interested. Bear in mind the intentional informal and conversational register online.