{"id":203,"date":"2012-02-22T15:48:55","date_gmt":"2012-02-22T15:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/SNHEnglishWebsite\/welcome-to-the-english-department\/"},"modified":"2014-12-02T22:37:39","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T22:37:39","slug":"welcome-to-the-english-department","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/SNHEnglishWebsite\/useful-information\/welcome-to-the-english-department\/","title":{"rendered":"Advice for Parents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Does English Matter?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Being able to read, speak and write in clear English is the key to success in many aspects of life and work.\u00a0 Skills in English are important in many school\/college\/university subjects and essential in many occupations. English teachers provide pupils with meaningful reading, writing, talking and listening opportunities.\u00a0 This will enable pupils to develop and improve communication skills and help you to enjoy and further appreciate the English language in prose, poetry and drama.<\/p>\n

How Can Parents Support their Children in Developing their Skills in English?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Talk to Your Child<\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

This may sound obvious but if you talk to your child about texts they are studying in class, their grades\/progress in their critical essays\/writing pieces, you may be able to tell if your child is struggling but is perhaps reluctant to ask for help.\u00a0 Discussing with your son\/daughter a novel that is being read as part of coursework could demonstrate to you whether or not he\/she is confident in his\/her understanding of it.\u00a0 Can he\/she fluently explain the key scene(s) of the text and why these scene(s) are so important?\u00a0 Can he\/she confidently discuss the development of the main character(s)?\u00a0 Has he\/she understood the significance of the setting of the novel?\u00a0 An informal conversation with your child will allow you to quickly pick up on just how confident he\/she is about texts explored in class.<\/p>\n

If your child is lacking in confidence in his\/her discussions with you, revising notes at home will help to develop and consolidate their awareness of key elements of the text being studied.<\/p>\n

The Importance of Language<\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Close Reading is a vital element of studying English at all levels and one which most pupils find extremely challenging.<\/p>\n

To help you son\/daughter develop the necessary skills in Close Reading, it would be extremely useful to choose a newspaper article with him\/her from a quality broadsheet eg The Sunday Times \u2013 the News Review section has many suitable articles \u2013 and to read it through together.\u00a0 Chat to your son\/daughter about the main points raised in the article, the point of view of the author, how paragraphs are linked, the meaning of difficult\/unfamiliar words, the tone of the article, interesting word choice used to create a particular effect, the significance of the title\/headline of the article and use of imagery.\u00a0 You could also ask your son\/daughter to identify the main point(s) in each paragraph and techniques the writer uses to conclude the article.<\/p>\n

This will allow your son\/daughter to study\/revise Close Reading skills with your direct support and input in a less formal setting and will assist him\/her to improve his\/her skills throughout his\/her school career.\u00a0 Carried out once a week, over time, this will have a very positive impact on your son\/daughter\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n

Further support and advice can be found on:<\/p>\n

www.bbc.co.uk\/bitesize\/intermediate2\/english\/<\/a> <\/cite><\/p>\n

www.bbc.co.uk\/bitesize\/higher\/english\/close_reading\/\u200e<\/a> <\/cite><\/p>\n

www.sqa.org.uk\/pastpapers\/findpastpaper.htm?subject=English<\/a> <\/cite><\/p>\n

www.rhsenglish.com\/p\/s5s6-nq.html<\/a> <\/cite><\/p>\n

Private Reading:<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Fundamental to everything covered in the English curriculum is an awareness and appreciation of language.\u00a0 This can best be fostered by independent and private reading.\u00a0 That is why such emphasis is placed upon it by English teachers to all year groups.\u00a0 Pupils who independently and regularly read challenging<\/span> texts will improve their performance in English. <\/cite><\/p>\n

Most pupils need to consciously foster the habit of reading.\u00a0 With busy lives, it may be difficult to fit this in.\u00a0 That is why it is important for parents to both monitor and support their son\/daughter\u2019s reading habits.\u00a0\u00a0We in the English Department recommend that each pupil, in every year group, should aim to read a challenging <\/span>text for around 30 minutes per day.\u00a0 For some pupils they may have to work up to this, but it is well worth doing for the rewards that can be reaped in terms of language development.\u00a0\u00a0One way of helping your child to fit this in to a busy day is to encourage them to retire to bed 30 minutes before his\/her usual time and spend this 30 minutes on reading. <\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing you have something good to read before bed is among the most pleasurable of sensations.\u201d \u2014 Vladimir Nabokov <\/cite><\/p>\n

If your child is a reluctant reader, you could reinforce advice given by English teachers and urge him\/her to make full use of our well-stocked school library. \u00a0Our fulltime librarian, Mrs Baird, is only too happy to chat to pupils about books they may enjoy. \u00a0In addition, you could make regular trips to your local library with your son\/daughter, helping him\/her to choose books, discussing choices with him\/her and participating in their attempts to cultivate this important habit. <\/cite><\/p>\n

Of course, if your child sees you reading at home, it may also put them in the mood!<\/p>\n

Reading Lists for Teenagers:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/teen-books<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/culture\/books\/bookreviews\/9189047\/25-classic-novels-for-teenagers.html<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.reading.org\/resources\/booklists\/childrenschoices.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.booktrust.org.uk\/books\/teenagers\/booklists\/244\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.reading.org\/resources\/booklists\/youngadultschoices.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

Writing:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Expressing ideas via the written word is, of course, essential in English.\u00a0 All year groups are expected to develop writing skills through Reflective\/Persuasive\/Discursive and Creative writing.<\/p>\n

Encourage your son\/daughter to keep a writing diary where he\/she can record snippets of ideas for good writing pieces which he\/she may later develop as a writing piece for his\/her folio.<\/p>\n

Fundamental to developing writing skills is the development of reading skills.\u00a0 Good writers are always keen readers and vice versa.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the key to being able to express your ideas clearly in writing, to ensure that punctuation is correct, that spelling is accurate and that ideas are expressed with clarity and power, is to ensure that reading becomes ingrained in our day to day lives.<\/p>\n

For help with how to improve handwriting visit:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/kidshealth.org\/kid\/grow\/school_stuff\/handwriting.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTo learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.\u201d \u2014 Victor Hugo <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why Does English Matter? Being able to read, speak and write in clear English is the key to success in many aspects of life and work.\u00a0 Skills in English are important in many school\/college\/university subjects and essential in many occupations. English teachers provide pupils with meaningful reading, writing, talking and listening opportunities.\u00a0 This will enable pupils to develop and improve communication skills and help you to enjoy and further appreciate<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":825,"featured_media":0,"parent":598,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-203","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/SNHEnglishWebsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/SNHEnglishWebsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/SNHEnglishWebsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/SNHEnglishWebsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/825"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/SNHEnglishWebsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/SNHEnglishWebsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":697,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/SNHEnglishWebsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/203\/revisions\/697"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/SNHEnglishWebsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/SNHEnglishWebsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}