Higher 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’ (Poetry of MacCaig or Duffy) 20 marks Answering analysis questions on one poem out of 6 studied and writing a ‘mini-essay’ on two or three of the poems. - 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 at Higher. 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 have other work to do for their subject apart from the homework tasks that are specifically set for them by their teacher. Pupils are encouraged to make their own notes on the class literature and set texts – this could be chapter summaries or notes on character, theme, key events, key images, evaluations and opinions on texts they are reading.

Encourage your child to…. Read as widely as they can. Higher 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. Skills needed at Higher include: The ability to follow and summarise a complex 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 Higher 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 Higher English for past papers and marking schemes as well as candidate advice. BBC Bitesize - www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/english/ Revision and notes on literature, especially poetry. The National Parent Forum of Scotland - www.npfs.org.uk/new-higher-revision-guides/ This site has a range of close reading practice papers and past papers suitable for Higher English (as well as other subjects). It also has a list of further websites and advice for parents and carers to help their child with the exam process.

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.