As a Teacher of English for over 12 years and mother for over 8 years, I know all too well how demanding life can be. As parents, we are constantly being reminded of the importance of literacy and Maths in ensuring a bright and successful future for our children. Well here, I’ll write specifically about the English Language GCSE. If you are the parent of a school-age child, it’s never too early (or late!) Read on to find out:
- What the requirements for the English Language GCSE examination are.
- How you can prepare/support your child at home.
Let’s Break it Down
The English Language GCSE consists of 2 exams sat on two separate occasions, each lasting 1 hour and 45 minutes. Whilst there are a range of exam boards (AQA, OCR, Edexcel) all Language exams require students to successfully hit 6 Assessment Objectives (plus 3 for Spoken Language presentations conducted in school). The reality is, you can support your children in developing these from a young age and in creative ways. I’ll list the objectives and provide some suggestions for supporting your children in line with the exam criteria.
The English Language GCSE Assessment Objectives
Zara’s Top Tips
These are not exhaustive, but will go some way in providing recommendations for ways to engage with your children, and encourage their engagement with the English Language GCSE assessment objectives.
AO1
Watch the news/documentaries as a family. Encourage your children to summarise the stories, events, facts and ideas in a concise way.
Question your children about the novel they are reading/studying. Ask them to support their comments with clues from the text. A discussion may go something like this:
Parent: What page are you up to of your novel, son?
Child: Page 87.
Parent: Who’s the main character?
Child: A boy called Bruno.
Parent: How would you summarise his personality in two words?
Child: Naïve and kind-hearted.
Parent: Interesting, why did you say naïve?
Child: Well because he doesn’t seem to understand that his mother has been crying, even though her eyes are red.
Parent: Ah, can you read me the section that shows his innocence?
Child: (looks in novel) Here, on page 47 it says…
Parent: Awesome. Do we know anyone who reminds you of Bruno? How so?
Sounds idyllic, I know... But the more you dialogue like this, the more natural it will become. And you don’t really need to have read the novel yourself to be able to drive this kind of discussion. Your child’s responses will lead your questioning.
AO2
Find a politician’s speech on YouTube. Listen to it together and discuss how he or she has used words and what effect it has on the listener. Speeches could range from those from Martin Luther King to George W. Bush to (dare I say it) Donald Trump.
Have a family film night with popcorn and all the frills. Discuss the camera shots and angles. What does the camera focus on and why? How does the director want the audience to feel?
AO3 & AO4
During dinner, talk about a controversial topic. Say, Social Media, youth violence or immigration laws. Discuss issues openly, sharing different perspectives. Encourage understanding of other people’s viewpoints, even if you ultimately disagree with them.
Read/watch and discuss the same issue/topic from two different news outlets. Discuss the differences in the way the topics are presented. Take The Sun and The Guardian, for example. The way they write about Meghan and Harry may differ somewhat! Discuss how effectively the writers have communicated their ideas.
AO5 & AO6
When watching family episodes, invite your children to write a review or summary of the programme.
Purchase your child a plush diary - one that they will enjoy writing in. Invite them to reflect on their day daily. Invite them to write and illustrate - to jot ideas, to write stories, to create shopping lists.
Assign your children the task of drafting letters to companies and service providers on your behalf. It is important that our children recognise the difference between formal writing and a colloquial style of written expression.
Read newspapers as a family. Discuss the content but also the organisation of the article. Aim to read both tabloid (for example The Daily Mirror) and broadsheet (for example The Guardian) papers.
Write your child a note/letter with mistakes in it. Challenge him/her to correct your spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. Every child likes to be in charge and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding.
Final Tips for English Language GCSE Success
My final tip to help your child ace the English Language GCSE Exam would be to foster a reading culture in your home from a young age. Read mainly fiction but also non-fiction materials. Your child will need to be comfortable reading and understanding 19th Century (by Charles Dickens, for example) through to 21st Century texts.
Until your child is intrinsically motivated, it will make sense to offer extrinsic prompts. There is enough out there to dissuade your child from education/critical thinking, so do what it takes to encourage him or her, offering rewards along the way.
About the Author
Mrs Zara Muirhead, MA, is an Intervention Specialist and the Founding Director of Love Literacy. To find out how Zara can help your child, visit their website and watch this YouTube clip. If you are considering intervention for your child, you will find here 10 benefits of extra tuition.
Ally Ibi
Thank you so much for this simple but rich advice, I tried it on my children and could see how beneficial maintaining dialogue and questioning understanding can further their ability to communicate.
Zara Muirhead
You are most welcome. Perhaps scheduling family time in a shared diary could be an intentional way to ensure this is prioritised. However you do it, enjoy the process.
Warm regards,
Zara
Erum
This is quite amazing, I have been doing all this with my 11 and 12 year old boys and it has helped them a lot, not just improving their English but also their observational skills and now they can’t watch any program without critically analysing it.
Ronke O
Excellent Advise Zara.
Will definitely put this to practice with my son.
Zara
You are most welcome, Mum. I’m proud of your son and his efforts.
Warm regards
Zara