National 5 English Help Your Child to Pass

The Final Exam Paper 1 – Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation 30 marks A detailed reading of two texts, connected by subject, with questions covering the 3 skills. Paper 2 – Textual Analysis of ‘Set Text’ (Drama: Sailmaker; Bold Girls. 20 marks Poetry: Jackie Kay) Answering analysis questions on the play or poetry studied in class. - Critical Essay 20 marks Writing a critical essay on literature studied in class.

Coursework Portfolio of Writing 30 marks - One Personal, Reflective Essay (or short story) - One Discursive Essay Each folio piece is worth 15 marks. This Portfolio is submitted to the SQA in April. It must be completed for pupils to take the final exam. This folio is worked on throughout the year and the aim is for pupils to submit an example of their best written work. This process is supported and monitored by pupil’s teacher.

Internal Assessments The Spoken Word Pupil’s talking and listening skills are assessed through group discussion. Reading Assessment Pupil’s reading skills are assessed through a close reading test. Both assessments must be passed for pupils to take the final exam. The assessments are marked internally.

How to Pass What your child needs to do…

Plan time throughout the week to meet the demands of the increased workload and homework when sitting National 5 English. More time is needed to complete homework tasks, especially when it comes to longer tasks such as writing an essay, redrafting a folio piece or completing a close reading paper. Classwork needs to be consolidated and revised at home. This means using class notes to prepare and create study notes, making study cards, creating mind-maps, flow charts – whatever is most suitable for each individual. Pupils should be clear that they need to revise what is learned and studied in class as well as complete the homework tasks that are specifically set for them by their teacher. Pupils are encouraged to start revising now in preparation for the Prelim Exams at the end of January.

Encourage your child to…. Read as widely as they can. National 5 reading texts are always quality non-fiction texts often from newspapers like The Guardian, The Scotsman, The Times, The Spectator etc. Most are available online. Reading fiction as well as non-fiction will directly support pupil’s learning and help them to improve their reading skills. Skills needed at National 5 include: The ability to follow and summarise an argument. To have a wide vocabulary To understand the use of figurative language and word choice. To recognise tone, opinion and attitude

Encourage your child to… Attend supported study National 5 supported Study starts on Monday 26th October and continues until the beginning of December. The first 4 sessions are on Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation. The final two sessions are on Textual Analysis skills. There will be further supported study sessions after the Christmas break as well as Easter School and Masterclasses prior to the final exam.

Encourage your child to… Use Edmodo This is an educational website where teachers can create virtual classrooms for their pupils and post homework, resources, tasks, notes… All pupils have access to the ‘classrooms’ created by teachers in the department and a wide variety of resources are available to support pupils.

Encourage your child to… Ask for help and support from their teacher if they don’t understand something or are finding something difficult or confusing. Questions, difficulties and confusions are all part of the learning process and their teacher will be happy to help them. The department also has plenty of resources to help and support pupils with all the ‘difficult bits’.

Useful Websites Other things to do when your child is stuck…

SQA website for Higher English www. sqa. org SQA website for Higher English www.sqa.org.uk : search National 5 English for past papers and marking schemes as well as candidate advice. BBC Bitesize - www.bbc.co.uk › Bitesize › National 5 › English › Revision and notes on reading, writing and literature, especially poetry. The National Parent Forum of Scotland- www.npfs.org.uk/national-5-revision-in-a-nutshell/ This site has a range of close reading practice papers and past papers suitable for National 5 English(as well as other subjects) . It also has a list of further useful websites and advice for parents and carers to help their child with the exam process. There are study guides that you can buy but they are quite expensive and not always great. Practice papers or past papers are probably a better investment but many are available online (as noted above).

Final Advice Make a timetable Allow sufficient time for homework and revising from now onwards Ask for help and support Don’t leave everything to the last minute And spend lots of time working hard and studying………… the truth is it will pay off in the end.