Writing Skills
How can I effectively help my child prepare for challenging
writing tasks?
GCSE English Language
Writing (50%): producing clear and
coherent text; writing for
impact.
• summary and synthesis; evaluation of a
• 20% of Writing marks for range of
writer’s choice of
vocabulary and sentence
structures, spelling and punctuation.
• vocabulary, form and structural features.
• Reading assessment based on unseen texts • Spoken language: presenting information
and ideas;
from all three centuries – fiction & nonresponding to spoken language; spoken
fiction including literary non-fiction.
standard English.
Reading (50%): critical reading and
comprehension;
Focusing on writing
• The new English Language GCSE will have a greater focus on making sure
that students are able to write clearly and accurately, in good Standard
English. There will be an increased emphasis on spelling, punctuation and
grammar including the use of vocabulary.
What do students need to focus on?
• Students will be asked to write for a range of audiences, purposes and
genres, often relating to what they have just read as part of the reading
section.
• Let’s take a look at an example of how to prepare students for the writing
section for Paper 2.
Planning effectively
• Whatever the writing task, it is important for students to effectively plan
before getting started. (Mind-mapping, bullet-pointing, listing – are all great ideas)
What can you do to help support your child in
preparation for writing?
• Encourage them to develop their own ideas and responses to what they read and
then use their spoken ideas to build written responses. Expose students to a wide
range of genres, forms and styles.
• Present students with a wealth of text types and styles. Include letters, essays,
journals, travel writing and autobiographical writing when teaching non-fiction.
• Practise drafting and editing in reaction to a statement. Widen vocabulary, vary
sentence structures for effect and explore various techniques to fit your TAP.
• ‘Reading and writing aren’t mutually exclusive: they are close
friends that rely on each other.’
AQA English Literature GCSE
Paper one: Shakespeare and the 19th century novel
Paper two: Modern text and Poetry
GCSE English Literature
Paper 1: Shakespeare and
the 19th-century novel
• 1h 45
• 64 marks
• 40% of GCSE English
Literature
• Section A: Shakespeare.
Answer one question.
• Section B: 19-century
novel. Answer one
question.
Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry
• 2h 15
• 96 marks
• 60% of GCSE English Literature
• Section A: Modern Texts. Answer one
question from a choice of 2.
• Section B: Poetry. Answer one comparative
question on a given poem, comparing it to
one other poem of your choice.
• Section C: Unseen poetry. Answer one
question on an unseen poem, then a
another question comparing the two unseen
poems you’re given.
What do I need to do to succeed in English
literature?
• The exams are closed book. Students need to learn a range of
quotations off by heart.
• A knowledge of literary devices and be able to explore their effects
(e.g. simile, metaphor, personification)
• Knowledge of the relevant social and historical context of the text
they are studying
• Resilience and a positive attitude
Assessment Objectives (AOs)
AO1 Read, understand and respond to texts.
Students should be able to:
• maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response.
• use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate
interpretations.
AO2 Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create
meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.
AO3 Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts
in which they were written.
AO4 Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose
and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation.
Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge. a squeezing,
wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and
sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire;
secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him
froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek,
stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out
shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his
eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always
about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one
degree at Christmas.
External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could
warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than
he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less
open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The
heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage
over him in only one respect. They often came down handsomely, and
Scrooge never did.
How does Dickens introduce the character of Scrooge?
Choose one line from your table to write up and double the
length of the explanation.
POINT – Sum up the character in one word.
Identify one device like, adjectives/verbs/
foreshadowing/ .
EVIDENCE - Find the quote that evidences this
one device and your sum up.
EXPLAIN- Say what the device means. Explain why
Dickens uses this device. What is its effect on you
or the reader? Explain what the one quote shows
us about Scrooge. Connotations of a certain word?
Predictions to be made from it? Evaluate if Dickens
achieves what he aimed to do.
Objective 3:
To evaluate the language devices and the effect on the reader.
What are the reader’s first impressions of
Scrooge?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Point
Quotation
Explain
Device used
Language/sentence structure analysis
Effect on the reader
Link to context
How does Dickens introduce the character of Scrooge?
You could comment on…
• Dickens’ choice of similes
• Use of verbs as adjectives
• Use of exclamatory at the beginning of the extract
• Use of pathetic fallacy
• The superlative description of his character-sets him up for transformation
Green penning
Strength:
Improvement:
English Language
Paper 2
NON-FICTION ARTICLES,
DIARY EXTRACTS OR LETTERS –
MODERN AND VICTORIAN
LINKED BY THEME.
English Language
What’s the paper all about?

This paper focuses on non-fiction and looks at writers’ viewpoints and
perspectives. The paper is 1 hour 45 mins and split into two sections:
Before the students start, they are advised to spend 15 m inutes reading the
passages and questions before they begin.
Section A: Reading.
Four questions.
Worth 40 marks.
They are advised to
spend 45 minutes on
Section A.
Section B: Writing.
One writing task.
Worth 40 marks.
They are advised to
spend 45 minutes on
Section B.
Question 1
 Read again source A
from lines 1 to 12.
 01 Choose four statements below which are TRUE.
 [4
marks]
 This question is
a simple question – but you must
remember, the question is only referring to lines 112!
Linking ideas across two very different
texts
Think about the similarities, but also
consider a range of differences
which link the two pictures together.
Question 2
 02
You need to refer to source A and source
B for this question. Use details from both
sources. Write a summary of the different
ways Milly’s vet and Mr Walker’s servant look
after the dogs.
 [8
marks]
Spot the difference
The vet is kind to Milly and treats her well. When he delivers eight puppies he makes a joke
and says ‘I’ll start on the other half now’. Mr Walker’s servant doesn’t really have to look
after the dog but does leave it shut in the stable for safety when he goes to Stockport.
The vet treats Milly as if she’s important, showing her the same care he would a human
being by deciding ‘to perform a caesarean’. When he delivers eight puppies he makes a
joke and says ‘I’ll start on the other half now’, so he’s keeping the atmosphere lighthearted and calm for Milly as she gives birth. People treated animals differently in the 19th
century and Mr Walker’s servant has a more distant attitude to the ‘small Dalmatian dog’.
He’s not outwardly affectionate with it but does deliberately leave it shut in the stable for
safety when he goes to Stockport in case ‘the dog should be lost on the road’. He may
genuinely care for the dog but it’s also possible he thinks he might lose his job if something
bad happens to it because he knows it is ‘much valued’ by Mr Walker.
Question 3

You now need to refer only to source A, lines 3 to 9.

How does the writer use language to show the behaviour of the puppies?

[12 marks]
Looking at examples…
1. David Leafe uses words like ‘tumbling’ to show the puppies are falling all over the place, and gives
us lots of details of how they behave, eg ‘nipping at her wellingtons’.
2. Leafe uses verbs like ‘tumbling’ and ‘scampering’ to convey the playful nature of the puppies.
There are sixteen of them and they run around the farm so quickly that they fall over each other. He
also describes how they behave with their owner, Becky, saying they are ‘darting between her legs’
and ‘nipping at her wellingtons’. The words ‘darting’ and ‘nipping’ emphasise their excitement, and
is typical of how puppies behave.
3. Leafe uses a number of present tense verbs to convey the excitable behaviour of the puppies.
They are ‘tumbling’, ‘scampering’ and ‘darting’, all verbs that demonstrate their eagerness to play
but lack of control because they are so young. The effect is reinforced by the use of complex
sentences with multiple clauses, suggesting their playful movements are continuous and everincreasing. The puppies chase around the farm so quickly that Leafe compares them to a ‘polka-dot
whirl’. This metaphor makes us think of sixteen Dalmatian puppies, twirling and spinning so fast that
their spots all blur into one and they become indistinguishable. Everything about the way they
behave is typical of mischievous puppies that never stay still.
4. David Leafe uses verbs like ‘scampering’ to give the effect that the puppies are excited and
running round the farm quickly. He gives a detailed description of how they behave, eg ‘endlessly
disappearing and reappearing’. This makes it sound as if they are playing.
Question 4 is extremely challenging!
Problems faced by students

The Victorian passage is daunting

Pupils aren’t exposed enough to the vocabulary employed by our
ancestors

Sentence structures are long and complex; this challenges pupils
reading skills

Pupils struggle to synthesis and link ideas from one passage to the
other

Under tight time constraints, they also struggle to analyse the power
and impact of the words and phrases
How can you help?

Encourage your child to read some famous novels from the previous
century – for example, Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens), Jane Eyre
(Charlotte Bronte), Woman in White (Wilkie Collins), The Portrait of
Dorian Grey (Oscar Wilde), A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)

Encourage your child to read non-fiction (newspapers, blogs,
magazines, Sunday supplements)

Remember – this is a two year course! It is not uncommon for pupils
to find this hard and challenging at the start of year 10. Your child
may have a target grade of an 8, but may achieve at 5 in year 10 –
this is not a problem or a concern!