THS Languages

After a very busy month with Prelims and our Literacy pilot we were delighted to welcome the start of February.

Prelim Results

All of the young people in S5-6 should now have had their assessment results back and will have the opportunity to discuss these with their teachers in the days ahead.  There will also be an opportunity to discuss results and next steps at the S5-6 Parents’ Evening next week on Thursday 12th February.

National 5 Folios 

We are in the final stages of completing these with the young people and have to the commend our N5 candidates who have worked so hard on these.  Once the final touches have been added these will be packed away and sent to Qualifications Scotland where they will be externally assessed.

Higher Folios 

These are ongoing and there is still an opportunity for young people to attend folio clinic on a Friday afternoon where they can work on their own or they can book for support from a member of the English staff.

Modern Languages Assignments 

The National 5 students are working on the final stages of their assignments so that these can be completed shortly.  Again these are send to Qualifications Scotland for external assessments.  Well done to the Higher Spanish students who have already completed these.

Talking Assessments 

N5 and Higher Spanish students are preparing their talk assessments which are undertaken in school and scores sent to Qualifications Scotland. Watch this space for finalised dates.

Interventions 

Every year we offer a range of supports for our young people preparing for exams in both English and Spanish.  As well we folio clinic and supported study which operate on a sign up basis we also offer targeted workshops for young people whose teachers feel they would benefit from an intensive workshop.  This week we start with S4 N5 Scottish text.  Emails will be issued to parents inviting young people to come along and class teachers will also speak to young people inviting them along.

If your young person is not invited but would like to attend please ask them to come and speak to me (Mrs Burton).

Literacy Pilot 

Our young people in S1 and S2 are loving the opportunity to work with a wide range of texts while they explore Climate Change and its impact.  As we move on to the writing the young people are showing just how much they’ve learned both about Climate Change and writing !  We can’t wait to show off what they have produced.

Welcome

Today we welcomed two student teachers into the Faculty.  Lucy McMullan joins the Modern Languages staff while Amy Orrick joins the English team.  We are delighted to welcomed them both and look forward to working with them in the months ahead.

As ever if you have any questions or suggestions then please get in touch !

Mrs Burton

 

 

S5/6 Prelims

After a busy few weeks all S5/6 Prelim papers in English have been marked and all our internal quality assurance completed.   Young people should get papers back this week.  Please take time to discuss these results with your young person and think about what is best for them moving forward.  As ever if you require any information or help with this Parents’ Evening will be on Thursday 12th February, or you can contact the Pupil Support Teacher responsible for your young person.

All young people will engage in learner conversations with their class teacher in the days ahead to discuss results and future progress. We will also go over the Prelim in class to allow young people to evaluate their own performance.

Spanish results  should  be available by the end of the week as the exams only took place on Wednesday and Thursday of last week.

Higher Candidates should now focus on their folio of writing which is due by the middle of February and which is worth 30% of the final award.  Folio clinic is available every Friday from 1pm – 2.30pm to allow young people to work on their folio.

In class S5-6 classes will move on to study a second literary text for critical essay in the final exam.

National 5 Folios are due this week so these should be being finalised currently.

S4

National 5 Folios are due this week so these should be being finalised currently.

Some young people are finishing off Literacy unit assessments to ensure as many young people as possible achieve the Level 5 Literacy Award this session.

Our S4 classes are all working on a literary text with a view to writing an extended critical essay on the text.  Our N5 students will use this in the final exam, while our N4 students will use it to produce their Added Value Unit which is the largest assessment at N4.

Welcome

Today we are delighted to welcome Rebecca Cope to the English Department to cover for Miss Moore who has been absent since before Christmas.  Miss cope comes to us from Caldervale HS and we are delighted to welcome her to the Team.

Trip !!!

Many people have been asking for details of a trip to Spain which was mentioned earlier in the year.  We are waiting on the Travel Agent coming back to us with prices for later in the year.  As soon as we have this information we will get it to you.  Thank you so much for your patience.

NLC Literacy Pilot 

We are loving having Mrs Darroch and Miss Marshall  from NLC’s pedagogy team working with us on our non-fiction Reading and Writing project on climate change.  Staff and young people are thoroughly enjoying this new way or working and we can’t wait to share the results with you !  Watch this space for examples of what our young people have produced.

If you have any questions or suggestions then please feel free to contact me NLBurtonM@northlan.org.uk   Thank you for your continued support of your young person and their work in Languages and Literacy.

Mrs Burton

S4 Progress Report Results 

Our S4 students will this week receive the results of the recent Progress Assessments.  Following this they will engage in learning conversations with their class teachers to discuss next steps on the journey towards the SQA exam diet.  If you have any concern, or wish to discuss, your young person’s result then please speak to the appropriate. Pupil Support teacher.

S5-6 Prelims 

With the Prelim diet starting on Monday 12th January we would encourage our young people to undertake some revision over the holidays, balancing their studies with time to relax before the exam diet.  English students have a critical essay to complete for Monday 5th so they can get individualised feedback prior to the Prelim.  It is important this homework is completed and handed in on time.

British Council – Reading for Pleasure Project

The Languages Faculty are very excited to announce that we have recently been paired with Wirgan Middle School in Morocco, as part of a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ programme designed by The British Council, an organisation that promotes the English language worldwide.

Miss Murphy, from the Modern Languages department was lucky enough to be selected to attend a training event held in Marrakech last week, along with twenty-four other teachers from the UK and twenty-five teachers from Morocco. The Moroccan Government are keen to develop French as their official second language and this project is part of that initiative. Also present, was the UK Ambassador to Morocco, as well as the Moroccan Ministry of Education. The partnered schools will complete a project together between December and March, to encourage teenagers to read for enjoyment and to foster cultural links. Watch this space for more news of the work undertaken by our young people to foster links with their partner school in Morocco, particularly given last week’s World Cup draw !

Thanks 

This has been a very busy year for the faculty at an exciting time for us.  I wish to thank all of our parents and carers for their tireless support.  Have a happy and holy Christmas and we look forward to working with our young people and their families in 2026.

Mrs Burton