Dear
Parents,
I thought that it might be helpful to send home some
information about your child’s work in my English
set so that you can support your son or daughter ( and me!
) in our common goal of improving his/her performance in
English. Your child has six lessons and two preps each
week. Sometimes it may be necessary to deviate from the
norm but, as a general rule, your child’s six
lessons in English will be divided thus…
Two lessons on a
major piece of writing. After the lesson is taught, each
pupil will begin his/her major piece of writing in class
and will complete it for prep.
One lesson on
spelling, figures of speech /grammar. Each week a group
of spelling words and a “Word of the Week” and
“Scots Word of the Week” will be set for prep
after this lesson and tested in the next class. In
addition a lesson on figures of speech and, later in the
term, grammar will be taught and consolidated by means of
a worksheet to be completed for prep. This worksheet will
also provide space to test that the spelling words have
been memorized. Finally, your child will be asked to
complete a box to tell me what personal reading has been
completed this week. This box should also be signed by a
parent who is able to confirm that this reading has been
completed. I believe that reading should be something
which is enjoyable and do my best to suggest reading
material to suit individual tastes but it is of enormous
help to me if parents try to encourage children to
undertake some reading (perhaps three or four times a
week) at home as there is, unfortunately, not enough time
at school for personal reading.
One lesson on
Reading Passport. Your child will be given a sheet with
eight tasks to complete in the course of the term in
order to achieve a gold award… which should be
everyone’s aim! Many of these tasks can be completed
in class during the lesson devoted to Reading Passport
but pupils are asked to read and discuss newspaper
articles at home with an adult and your help with this
task would be greatly appreciated. Pupils will also be
asked to read a novel at home and, by signing the box on
the Worksheet each week, you can ensure that your child
is making steady progress on this task. In Form 8 it is
not always possible to set aside one lesson a week for
Reading Passport as there is a great deal of work to be
covered in the C.E. syllabus and, therefore, sometimes
poetry will be studied instead of Passport in this lesson
as it forms a considerable part of the syllabus.
Two lessons on a
class novel. Each term a novel or play will be read in
class. There will be follow up work on this, which will
be completed in class.
The English syllabus
for Common Entrance is demanding and requires pupils to
be familiar with a wide variety of genres. The
combination of Passport and tackling a major piece of
writing each week will prepare them for the papers they
will eventually tackle but it is essential that each
pupil focus fully in class and demand the highest
standard of himself / herself in written tasks, so that
he/she will be satisfied with his performance in this
crucial subject.
Should you have any
other questions or concerns, please feel free to speak to
me.
M. Wright
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