KES Birmingham

[fm]

Yes, I have had a few pupils who have failed the KE grammars and passed KES.

[JaneEyre]

Despite my efforts, I really struggled to improve it and could not understand why the huge amounts of reading seemed to have no effect! (He was level 4 writing at end of KS2 ). I put it down to him having a more mathematical/scientific mind and limited imagination. His teacher mitigated the pain by pointing out that Michael Rosen had taken the KS2 exam and also gained level 4. However since he started at KECH, his writing has improved beyond recognition. I am not sure what the English dept is doing there (brain transplants?) but it has certainly worked - I thought it would take years of hard graft to get him to an acceptable standard but he is getting there already.

I imagine that his wonderful progress this year ARE the result of your hard work during the former years. Then maybe he has a great teacher this year and the penny has dropped... but would his progress have been possible without the input you gave him the former years?
I do think that in English, things are not as straightforward as with maths, i.e. a lot of hardwork giving immediate results. I also used to be a great reader and my composition have never been great So it seems there isn't a real link between the amount we read and our level in writing... May be some teachers could tell about their experience or the stuff they learn at uni on this matter?

[JaneEyre]

The quality of his essay writing has improved ten fold through this year coupled with the fact that he has read only 3 books in the same period, (hates reading!!). I am one of those that does not 'force' him to read simply because everyone else is reading.

Plz, no-ball, would it be possible for you to tell us what ressource you used to improve his writing?
Thanks in advance

[no_ball]

Now that results are out of course. His essay writing has improved ten fold through sheer practice. One title per week over 50 weeks. The school he is at does zero essays. So I had to step in.

We practised ldifferent styles of writing:-
1. Letter to a friend or a newspaper
2. Essays (Fiction mostly)
3. Journal (or diary entry)
4. Continuation of a paragraph

I am not a subsciber of a child learning 3 or 4 model essays for possible use. This restricts creativity and spontaneous writing style; I am sure a switched on examiner will spot this.

What I did do though was for us to pick 4 or 5 good words and try and work them into any essay. Important to know what they mean.

What is also strange is that DS is not a natural reader; possibly 4 or 5 books in total this year. His favourite was diary of wimpy kid I think and thats about all.

Hope this helps.

[DadTutor]

Isn't it so annoying that the art of writing letters, essays, and fiction have been lost in the education system over the last couple of decades? The politicians and many in the education sector have broken many aspects of education that did not need fixing. The desperation of parents to send their children to the best schools is a dire reflection on what has happened. Give schools back to the Heads and parents I say, take it away from politicians and their destructive ideology.

[no_ball]

I totally agree. The education system in this country has gone to the dogs.

My DS is petrified to deviate away from what is taught at school, the age of creativity and imagination is fast being replaced by following process and procedure checked by targets monitored by civil servants.

[DadTutor]

I totally agree. The education system in this country has gone to the dogs.

My DS is petrified to deviate away from what is taught at school, the age of creativity and imagination is fast being replaced by following process and procedure checked by targets monitored by civil servants.

Indeed.

The number of photocopy handouts for homework, sometimes badly copied too...and in juniors if I remember right, we didnt have much homework at all, it was all about letting the child develop their natural skills of communication and free thinking...

The politicians and educational meddlers have destroyed what was perfectly ok...look how many scientists, engineers etc etc this country has produced in the past...the educational system was the envy of the world, and now its a means of ticking boxes and feeding our children a narrow, politicised view on many topics.

[um]

I am also surprised at the near complete lack of grammar and punctuation taught in state primaries - including excellent ones. Most year 5 children are unable to explain what a preposition or adverb is, how and when to use an apostrophe, and regularly confuse basic homophones. Then there is their spelling!
The Yr 5 children I know who I help with literacy, are all bright children from excellent schools...I do sometimes wonder what they are doing in them for 35 hours a week
But then, (although I am happy with my son's school overall!), I saw the following sign across the school walls and noticeboards a few weeks ago: "Used uniform sale on, take entrance just passed music room"
Fortunately my own son noticed this error and then attempted to share the joke with his friends by asking them to look at the sign and point out the mistake. They couldn't

[um]

Just to add to that - I was looking at the government student support website this evening to understand how financial support now works for University students, when I came across this howler in the FAQs:

If I work part-time while I study does this effect my support?