SENIOR PHASE ENGLISH Thurso High School

THURSO HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH DEPARTMENT S Guthrie- Teacher of Advanced Higher, 55EN1 CFE Higher English and 4EN1 N5 English S Richardson-Teacher of 6EN Higher English and 4EN2 N5 English J Adams –Teacher of 55EN2 CFE Higher/N5 English and Advanced Higher H Perrie –Teacher of 51EN2 CFE Higher/N5 English and 4EN6 N4 English K Aitken-Teacher of 55EN3 N5 English and 4EN4 N5/4 English A Wallace-Teacher of Advanced Higher and 4EN1 N5 English K Mackay (Depute Rector) Teacher of 4EN5 N4 English

SENIOR PHASE COURSES National 4 National 5 CFE Higher Advanced Higher

COURSE CONTENT AND STRUCTURE National 4,5 and CFE Higher English all include the following key units: Creation and Production Writing and Talking Analysis and Evaluation Reading and Listening

CREATION AND PRODUCTION WRITING AND TALKING N4/N5/HIGHER Candidates will be required to show a secure level of literacy by writing a discursive style piece of writing. Candidates will also be required to take part in an assessed talk activity.

ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION N4/N5/HIGHER Candidates will take part in a reading activity which will assess their skill in analysing and evaluating an unseen pieces of prose, literature or poetry. Candidates will take part in a listening assessment activity in which they will have to listen and watch a documentary, trailer or clip to assess the language and content of the media.

COURSE ASSESSMENTS Pupils must pass all of the course assessments in order to achieve a pass or sit the final exam. National 4- In addition to the assessments National 4 pupils must also complete a secure Added Value Unit. National 5-In addition to the course assessments pupils must also complete a writing folio to sent to the SQA CFE Higher English-In addition to the course assessments pupils must also complete a writing folio to be sent to the SQA.

WRITING FOLIO National 5 and Higher pupils complete a writing folio. The folio must include: One Creative/Personal piece of writing One broadly discursive piece of writing 30% of Final Grade

WRITING FOLIO ADVICE Your class teacher will mark your folio pieces and offer you advice and feedback. Your teacher will mark your piece closely twice It is then up to the pupil to continue to re-draft and improve their writing folio to ensure that it is the best example of their work.

WRITING FOLIO Pupils should be completing and perfecting their writing folio at the moment. It is the single most important piece of English course work. It should be a true reflection of their skills as a writer. Their final drafts should be complete by Christmas.

N5/HIGHER FINAL EXAMINATION Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation This section of the exam is similar to the Close Reading element of the old style Higher course. It requires pupils to read passages and answer questions on the language, tone and imagery in the text. 30% of Final Grade

READING FOR ANALYSIS, EVALUATION AND UNDERSTANDING National 5 1 hour The national 5 exam requires pupils to read one passage and answer questions on the language, content, imagery and style of the passage. CFE Higher -1 hour 30 minutes The Higher exam requires pupils to read two passages and answer questions on the first passage. Pupils then have to compare both passages and write an extended comparison of the two pieces of text.

*NEW EXAM ELEMENT* THE SCOTTISH TEXT All National 5 and Higher candidates will study a ‘Scottish Text’. This text is chosen from a prescribed list of options written by the SQA. They will study this text in an in-depth manner in order to analyse it closely on the day of the exam.

CRITICAL READING This section of the exam is divided into two sections. Section 1 looks at the analysis and examination of the Scottish Text. National 5/CFE Higher -1 hour 30 minutes

NATIONAL 5 SCOTTISH TEXTS STUDIED IN THURSO HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

HIGHER SCOTTISH TEXTS STUDIED IN THURSO HIGH SCHOOL ‘Sunset Song’-Lewis Grassic Gibbon Don Paterson-Collected Poems Norman MacCaig-Collected Poems Carol Anne Duffy- Collected Poems ‘The Cone Gatherers’ Robin Jenkins

CRITICAL ESSAY Pupils have 45 minutes to write one essay on their chosen genre. Drama OR Prose OR Poetry

CRITICAL ESSAY SECTION This section is very similar to the original Higher exam. Candidates are required to write an essay on one of their chosen texts. This text must be from a different genre than their Scottish text. Pupils will study their Scottish text in addition to at least two other texts from different genres.

CFE HIGHER/NATIONAL 5 TEXTS CFE HIGHERNATIONAL 5 ‘A Man for All Seasons’- Robert Bolt Drama‘Kestrel for a Knave’- Barry Hines ‘The Great Gatsby’-F.Scott Fitzgerald Prose‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Harper Lee ‘Smeddum’ Short Story Lewis Grassic Gibbon‘Lord of the Flies’ William Goudling ‘A view from a bridge’-Arthur Miller Drama‘Of Mice and Men’ John Steinbeck Seamus Heaney-’Digging’ and ‘Follower’ Poetry‘Macbeth’ William Shakespeare ‘Othello’- William ShakespeareEdwin Morgan ‘Glasgow 5 th of March

WHAT SHOULD MY CHILD BE DOING FOR ENGLISH HOMEWORK?

HOMEWORK 1 Developing, re-drafting and perfecting their writing folio.

HOMEWORK 2 Re-reading their class text(s)

HOMEWORK 3 Completing and adding to their notes and annotations.

HOMEWORK 3 Completing set class homework

HOMEWORK 4 Reading quality journalism to enhance language and vocabulary skills

HOMEWORK 5 Practice essay questions and plans

HOMEWORK 6 Watching quality documentaries on TED talk and making notes on ‘Audience’ and ‘Purpose’

HOW CAN I HELP THEM WITH THEIR ENGLISH HOMEWORK? There are lots of ways to support your child through Senior Phase English. Miss Perrie and Mrs Aitken are going to talk you through some of the simple ways you can encourage your child to study and succeed in Senior Phase English. We will also hear from former students who will talk about how they approached their studies.

COMMUNICATING WITH THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT We will communicate your child’s progress in English throughout the year in a variety of formats. School Target letters and Senior Reviews Parents’ Evening(s) Report Cards English Department progress letter(s) Suggested change of level letter(s)

TRACKING IN THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT The Engish Department has a rigorous tracking system to ensure that all pupils are making the best possible progress in their chosen level in Senior Phase English. If a class teacher feels that a pupil is not making adequate progress in class they will be ‘flagged’ up to the Principal Teacher of English, Guidance and in more serious cases the year head or Head Teacher. A red flag will be given if pupils: Consistently fail to hand in homework or course work Display a negative attitude towards the course work and class work Disrupt other students from their course work Are struggling with the challenging level of presentation at National 5 or Higher

COMMUNICATING WITH THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT If you are keen to communicate with the Thurso High School English Department please do so through our link Senior Manager Mr C Omand or through your child’s guidance teacher. Mr Omand will then communicate to the Head of Department (Miss K Shanks) We still have our English Department website on the THS site but it is currently under construction. We are considering starting our updates again for Senior Phase classes but are looking for your feedback on this idea.

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