INFORMATION FOR PARENTS
Changes to GCSE English Language
ENGLISH
and English Literature
As a department, we are hugely excited about the changes to GCSE English Language and English Literature. We feel that the removal of the controlled assessment for both of the GCSEs gives us the time and freedom to explore a greater range of texts and to instil a greater passion and enjoyment for our subject. At the end of the last academic year, we completely revised our approach to assessment and re‐
structured our units of work in Years Seven and Eight to ensure that our students are already being prepared for the rigours of the new GCSEs. We have decided to start GCSE in Year Nine. As a department, we have already been very impressed with the way in which your sons/daughters have applied themselves. They have coped extremely well with challenging texts. We are confident that together we can help your son/daughter reach his/her potential in English. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on the following email addresses: [email protected] ‐ Mr Mapp ‐ Team Leader [email protected] – Ms Abbott – Year Ten English Coordinator Why is English important? English is invaluable for students’ future. A good command of the spoken and written word will help students every day – and benefit all their other GCSEs too. English is a must have subject for college, university, work and life! GCSE English and English Literature will help students to: • work independently • be creative • think critically • communicate their ideas with confidence • think logically Further Education colleges, sixth form colleges, apprenticeships and employers will require a ‘high quality’ grade 5 pass in English. During the transition period a grade 4 pass may be accepted, however students should aspire to attaining grade 5 minimum to ensure access to Level 3 courses e.g. A Levels and extended Diplomas. Changes at a glance •
All exams will now be closed book meaning that students will no longer be able to bring the text into the examination hall and they will therefore have to remember quotations by heart. •
The grading system of A* ‐ G has been replaced with a new 9‐1system with 9 being the highest award. •
All controlled assessments have been removed for both English GCSEs meaning both awards are now 100% dependent on performance in exams. •
There are to be four exams in total; two exams for GCSE English Language and two exams for GCSE English Literature. •
There is now increased weighting for spelling and punctuation (now 20% of the marks). Changes we have already made to our approach All students now study ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in Year Nine to help ease them towards the more challenging language and themes of GCSE Literature. ‘’Animal Farm’ is also one of the set texts. We have already adapted the way we assess units in Year 9 to enable a smooth transition from KS3 to KS4. Unit assessments now require students to analyse unseen extracts and to learn quotations. What texts will your child study? ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare. ‘Telling Tales’ – AQA Short Story Anthology. ‘Love and Relationships’ – A collection of fifteen poems. Students will be provided with free copies of ‘Telling Tales’ and the anthology for poetry. We would advise that they buy their own copies of the other three texts in order to help them with their revision and exam preparation. Texts can be purchased from Waterstones, WHSmith or online via Amazon. What will the final examination look like? ENGLISH LANGUAGE ‐AQA (8700) Paper 1: Explorations in creative Reading and Writing (1 hr 45 mins – 50% of the GCSE). The exam paper is divided into two sections: Both sections are worth forty marks Section A requires students to read one literature fiction text and answer a variety of questions. Section B requires students to complete either a piece of descriptive or narrative writing. Students are assessed for content as well as SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar). Paper 2: Writers’ viewpoints and perspectives (1 hr 45 mins ‐ 50% of the GCSE). This exam paper is also divided into two sections: Both sections are worth forty marks Section A requires students to read one non‐fiction text and one literary fiction text. Students will have a variety of questions to answer. Section B requires students to complete a task linked to writing a viewpoint. Students will need to understand the features of writing to explain, writing to persuade, writing to argue and writing to instruct/advise. Speaking and Listening Although speaking and listening will no longer count towards the GCSE, it is still a requirement of the course. Students will be assessed on a presentation and will be given a certificate from the exam board. ENGLISH LITERATURE – AQA (8702) Paper 1: Shakespeare and the nineteenth century novel (1 hr 45 mins – 40% of the GCSE) This exam is closed book and is divided into two sections: Both sections are equally weighted. Section A will focus on ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The exam will have an extract from the play. Students will need to write in detail about the extract and the play as a whole. Section B will focus on ‘A Christmas Carol’. Students will have an extract and will need to write in detail about the extract and the play as a whole. Paper 2: Modern texts and poetry (2 hr 15 mins – 60% of the GCSE) The exam paper is closed book and divided into three sections: Section A looks at ‘Animal Farm’. Students will need to write a response to an essay question. This question is worth thirty marks plus an additional four marks for SPAG. Section B will focus on the poetry anthology – ‘Love and Relationships’. Students will be required to compare two poems from the anthology. This question is worth thirty marks. Section C is the unseen poetry. Students will answer a question on an unseen poem and then compare the unseen poem to another unseen poem. This question is worth thirty two marks. What can you do to support?  All students will study the same literature texts so any revision guides for these texts will be of benefit – students could pre‐read character and theme summaries in advance of studying in class. The York Notes on ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘Animal Farm’ are excellent revision tools and can be purchased from book shops such as Waterstones or online via Amazon.  From February half term, we will be sending home every half term a leaflet on what we will be teaching during the half term.  All English staff are setting weekly homework on ‘Show My Homework’. All set homework is linked to the skills which are needed for the exam and it is vital that students complete this work. Students should spend at least one hour per week on their English homework.  Regular reading is the key to success at GCSE, not just in English but for all other subjects. Exam papers will require students to have a reading age of fifteen/sixteen years. Additionally, reading helps students become better writers as they will be able to use more ambitious vocabulary, sentence structures and punctuation in their work.  Encourage your son/daughter to read as widely as possible. The following texts will be beneficial:  Newspapers (online as well as paper copies). Papers such as ‘The Guardian’, ‘The Times’ and ‘The Telegraph’ will be used in the actual exams.  Websites (such as the BBC).  Biographies and autobiographies.  Fiction. The LRC has a wide range of novels and students can borrow books. From February half term, we will be providing students with SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) activities which can be completed online or in a workbook.  Encourage your son/daughter to use a thesaurus (this can be an online thesaurus) when completing any written tasks for homework. This will help students to develop their vocabulary skills.  YouTube has the cartoon films of ‘Animal Farm’ (1954 and 1999) and various versions of ‘A Christmas Carol. This can help students with their understanding of the plot, characters and settings.  Students will have access to GCSE Pod which contains a number of videos which can help them with their studies.  The following websites are useful tools to help students: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zr9d7ty ‐ BBC Bitesize site which has revision material organised in sections and also video clips. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/ ‐ BBC Bitesize sites for GCSE English Literature. This site currently has a lot of information on ‘Animal Farm’. http://www.englishbiz.co.uk/ ‐ Englishbiz contains guides on a number of relevant topics and is useful for the different types of writing. http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/english ‐ Although this website is aimed at adults, it is brilliant for SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) and has a number of quizzes which can be used. Students can identify their areas of weakness and complete activities which will aid their understanding. https://www.youtube.com/user/mrbruff ‐ Mr Bruff constantly updates his YouTube site with videos on the key texts, A* answers and how to answer exam questions. There are some superb videos on ‘A Christmas Carol.’ If you have any concerns, please email your child’s English teacher directly or Ms Abbott: 10X1/10Y2 – Mr Compton – [email protected] 10X2/10Y1 – Ms Salter – [email protected] 10X3/10Y3 – Ms Abbott – [email protected] 10X4 – Miss Mills – [email protected] 10Y4 – Mr Melton – [email protected]