How to use Persuasive devices: A Guide for GCSE and iGCSE English students
Transactional writing is a vital skill that students must develop to excel in their GCSE and iGCSE English Language exams. Whether it’s composing persuasive letters, emails, or reports, the ability to employ persuasive techniques effectively can make all the difference in achieving outstanding results. Not only that, it’s an essential […]
Harnessing the Power of Self-Guided Lessons for Effective GCSE English Revision
Exam revision is a critical phase in the journey of GCSE and iGCSE English Language students. While one to one and group tuition plays a valuable role, self-guided lessons are equally important for exam success. By taking charge of their own learning, students can tailor their revision process, develop independent […]
How to plan your way to success in iGCSE and GCSE Transactional Writing
I’ve had so many debates with students during my One to One Tuition English lessons this week about the importance of planning – the most common counterargument is that ‘planning is a waste of time.’ Students from Hong Kong to Hastings, Singapore to Sudbury have argued their case with me […]
Why giving weak model answers is sometimes the best way to support GCSE English revision
It’s an easy trap to fall into – we may think that the best way to prepare for your exams is by studying full mark model answers. However, this approach may not always be the most effective – there are many reasons why exploring lower mark answers can be just […]
Seven Steps to Success: How to revise for GCSE English Language
GCSE exams are one of the most important milestones in a student’s academic career and with so much riding on the importance of our GCSE English Language grade, effective revision strategies are essential to student success. But what is ‘revision’? It’s no wonder that students become overwhelmed and lost at […]
Practice makes perfect? How to use past exam papers for effective GCSE English Language revision.
GCSE English Language Exam With only around twelve weeks remaining before the start of the 2023 GCSE Exam series (That’s around 8-9 weeks of actual school, if we include holidays….) all students should now be beginning to think about their revision strategy. We all know that revision is a critical […]
Improving punctuation – a quick win to elevate GCSE Imaginative writing.
It may not be the most interesting lesson we’ll ever teach – I would certainly welcome any ideas on how to deliver an all singing, all dancing, lesson on punctuation – but as teachers of GCSE English Language, it’s important to help our students understand the power of punctuation in […]
Scaffolding independence – how to use model answers to develop GCSE Imaginative Writing
The Christmas lights are still shining and we’re all hopefully winding down as the finish line is in sight (although spare a thought for us poor souls in The North who don’t finish until 23rd December this year – I have no idea what we did to offend the person […]
Showing, not telling – old news or an imaginative writing essential?
As a wonderful mentor sagely advised – there’s nothing new in teaching, just a cycle of approaches that become more and less fashionable over time. I blame her for my hoarding tendencies as she also gave this as a reason to ‘never throw anything away’ – something I quite literally […]
The ‘The’ Problem
Top of my hitlist this week (and possibly my whole teaching career) has been sentence starters. My aim? To banish ‘The’ and ‘I’ from the openings of our imaginative writing responses and enlighten students on the vast array of alternatives that are available to them. Applying some thought So often, […]
The Problem with Planning
This week, I’ve met a new intake of GCSE students – to ease them in and build confidence, we’ve been focusing on imaginative writing skills. With most exam boards attaching nearly 50% of total marks to the section B writing tasks, grades can be won and lost on this one […]