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Essay writing etc in secondary school

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 6:25 pm
by fatbananas
Can someone tell me: do students get given lessons/ tutorials in essay writing skills for, say, humanities and arts subjects or presentation of science experiments? At primary there has been no guidance for writing a story, or a diary entry etc and I'm having to help DC myself, with the help of CGP booklets etc :roll:

Can someone reassure me that this is part of the education my DC will receive at secondary?

Re: Essay writing etc in secondary school

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 6:29 am
by KB
Assuming your DC is going to a half decent secondary school then worry not.
It depends on how good the teacher/department is but IME much of year 7 is devoted to getting the basics right.
Some staff actually provide a summary/bullet point check list and if not its a good idea to make one themselves. It can be used when planning a piece of work as well as checking afterwards. They can also add points using targets set when work is marked.

Re: Essay writing etc in secondary school

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 1:21 pm
by fatbananas
KB wrote:Assuming your DC is going to a half decent secondary school then worry not.
It depends on how good the teacher/department is but IME much of year 7 is devoted to getting the basics right.
Some staff actually provide a summary/bullet point check list and if not its a good idea to make one themselves. It can be used when planning a piece of work as well as checking afterwards. They can also add points using targets set when work is marked.
I've no idea which secondary he'll be attending at the moment - his 11+ is this September :shock: - but you're beginning to put my mind at rest, KB, so thanks! :)

Re: Essay writing etc in secondary school

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 2:16 pm
by mystery
Yes, hopefully. But if not, those GCSE revision guides are full of how to do it.

It doesn't make a great deal of sense though does it - my children seem to have spent their whole literacy lesson life doing "genre writing" but my year 5 still muddles up fiction and non-fiction, couldn't lay out a letter to save her life and the only persuasive writing she knows how to write is please, please, please, please, please can I have a mobile phone?

Maybe she doesn't listen or it doesn't sink in. I guess, with practice, over time it becomes second nature. 6 more years to GCSE so they might be able to structure a piece of writing reasonably well by then.

You have changed school Fatbananas. Out of curiosity, did the approach to teaching writing change?

Re: Essay writing etc in secondary school

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 2:38 pm
by fatbananas
Approach to writing is the same: inconsistent and I think one teacher, in particular, feels very out of her depth. The spelling on DS's report ...

I hadn't thought about the GCSE guides. Can't believe I'm now going to spend a fortune on those, to add to my 11+ collection :oops: :roll: :lol: