VERULAM SCHOOL

ENGLISH FACULTY

ENGLISH LANGUAGE GCSE

UNIT 1

REVISION HANDBOOK

Section A: Reading OVERVIEW OF THE QUESTIONS

Question 1—Summarise, infer and comment on key points in Source 1. (8 marks)

THIS IS AN INFORMATION RETRIEVAL QUESTION

Band 4 (7-8 marks)

offers evidence that the article is fully understood

shows a detailed engagement with the text

makes perceptive connections and comments about people, places and events

offers appropriate quotations or references to support understanding

Question 2—Comment on presentational and linguistic features of Source 2 ( 8 marks)

THIS QUESTION WILL ASK YOU TO DISCUSS THE EFFECT OF

THE HEADLINE AND THE PICTURE IN A TEXT

Band 4 (7-8 marks)

offers a detailed interpretation of the effect of the presentational features

links the presentational features to the text with perceptive comments

offers appropriate quotations or references to support comments

Question 3—Select, explain and interpret parts of Source 3, using appropriate supporting reference or

quotation. (8 marks)

THIS QUESTION IS ASKING YOU TO USE INFERENCE AND TO EXPLAIN WHAT IS BEING SAID.

TIP: USE THE WORDS FROM THE QUESTION TO BEGIN YOUR ANSWER.

Band 4 (7-8 marks)

engages, in detail, with the text

offers perceptive explanations and interpretations of the text

employs appropriate quotations or references to support ideas

Question 4—Compare the different ways language is used for effect in Source 3 and Source 1 or 2. Give

examples and analyse effects. (16 marks)

THIS QUESTION IS WORTH TWICE AS MUCH AS THE PREVIOUS QUESTIONS; MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE

ENOUGH TIME TO ANSWER IT FULLY

Band 4 (13-16 marks)

offers a full and detailed understanding of the texts in relation to language

analyses how the writers have used language differently to achieve their effects

offers appropriate quotations or references in support of ideas with perceptive comments

focuses on comparison and cross-referencing between the texts

PRACTICE PAPER ONE:

TEXT A – BARNARDO‘S LEAFLET, TEXT B – HOW TO BE A WOMAN, TEXT C – I‘M AN

EMBARASSING PARENT

TEXT B

Below is an extract from How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. In this passage, she describes her experience of being a mother.

It‘s the silliness – the profligacy, and the silliness- that‘s so dizzying: a seven-year-old will run

downstairs , kiss you hard, and then run back upstairs again; all in less than 30 seconds. It‘s as urgent

an item on their daily agenda as eating, or singing. It‘s like being mugged by Cupid.

You, in turn, observe yourself from a distance, simply astonished by the quantities of love you

manufacture. It is endless. Your adoration may grow weary but it will never end: it becomes the fuel

of your head, your body and your heart. It powers you through the pouring rain, delivering forgotten

raincoats for lunch-time play; works overtime, paying for shoes and puppets; keeps you up all night,

easing cough, fever and pain – like lust used to, but much, much stronger.

And the ultimate simplicity of it is awe-inspiring. All you ever want to know – the only question that

really matters- is: are the children all right? Are they happy? Are they safe? And so long as the answer

is ―Yes‖, nothing, ultimately, matters. You come across this passage in The Grapes of Wrath, and go cold

at the truth: ―How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but

in the wretched bellies of his children? You can‘t scare him - he has known a fear beyond every

other.‖

There is a black and white picture in my hallway, of me, Nancy and Lizzie in the bath, when Nancy

was eight months old, and Lizzie two-and-a-half. I am gently biting Lizzie. Nancy, in turn, is

gumming my face. All eyes are on the person taking the picture – Pete, who was, as the slight camera-

wobble shows, laughing. There we are – a tangle of half shared DNA, all interlocking with each other;

all being watched over by the one who loves us best. If I had to explain to someone what ―happiness‖

is, I would show them this picture.

‗It‘s biting some kids in a bath, as their dad shouts ―Bite your mum‘s face! It‘s more sensitive there!‖,‘ I

would say.

TEXT C

I'm an embarrassing parent-and proud of it! (Keith Kendrick)

I was in my element. I'd just scored my third strike in a

row at the bowling alley and was so chuffed I started

dancing a jig. I sidled over to my rivals and jabbed my

finger towards them.

"Who are ya? Who are ya? IN. YOUR. FACE. Loo-zer-

ers!" I chanted.

Only to be greeted by the open-jawed horror of a half a

dozen tweenage girls – my stepdaughter Daisy and her

friends.

And then, to ice the cake of embarrassment, I put my

arm around her and belted out a heartfelt 'Happy

Birthday' in my finest operatic baritone. I got a round of

applause from our neighbours in the next lane but

Daisy's toes curled so much I swear they touched her

shins.

She shot me a look that mixed a cocktail of

mortification, despair and pity. And then fled, hands on

hips, yelling: "You are sooooo embarrassing."

Of course, I knew it. I am an Embarrassing Dad – and

I'm proud of it.

The things that used to bind us – the cuddle at the school

gate; an 'I love you' call from the car as we pass them with

their friends; a twist-and-jive at a wedding reception – are

now things that create a chasm as wide as the Grand

Canyon. And oh, what fun it is to exploit them to their

maximum cringe factor!

I have never worried about embarrassing my children –

stepdaughter, Daisy, and my sons, Tom, seven, and Sam,

four - in public. When we're in the car, I play air guitar on

the steering wheel to bands like AC/DC and Iron Maiden.

This is especially effective when one of them has a friend

along for the ride.

Admittedly, though, I have occasionally overstepped the

mark. At my kids' school summer fair, I donned a giant

padded sumo wrestler costume and then launched into an

attack on an 11 year-old boy with the words: LET'S GET

READ-DYYY TO RUM-BBBBLLLLLLE.

Moments later, I was flattened by the pre-teen and left

there floundering like a fish on a slab, My stepdaughter

turned on her heel in disgust muttering: "Weirdo."

But, surely even I don't compare to my friend John? This 44

year-old former amateur league footballer was so frustrated

at his 12 year-old son's inability to get the ball in a Sunday

morning football match that he ran onto the pitch, tackled

a defender and scored a goal - only to be shown a red card

by the referee.

So why do we do it?

My own theory is that what has been inflicted on the son

i.e. me, must be inflicted on the son's son. It's a generational

thing, a badge of ancestral honour. We've all at one time or

other been subjected to trial by Embarrassing Dad in front

of our friends, or worse, girlfriends. My dad took great

delight in showing poor girls photos of me sitting on a

potty – as a toddler, I hasten to add.

And then, of course, there's the neuro-science explanation:

somewhere, in a tiny part of our brains, lies a microscopic

cluster of cells called 'Deluded' which cause us dads to

believe we're cool.

This summer, my friend Mark went to the Latitude festival

with his two teenage sons. On stage, a band called The

Vaccines were playing (no, he hadn't heard of them either).

At first, he stood with his sons, listening to the music. But

as it progressed, he began to nod his balding head to the

rhythm, which progressed to him tapping his feet – and

then doing that thing that is the hallmark of the

Embarrassing Parent. He started dancing. DANCING!

When the song had finished, and the crowd cheered, Mark

looked to his left and right to receive recognition of his cool

credentials from his 14 and 15-year-old boys. Except they'd

disappeared. When he caught up with them they simply

said: "Dad, can you just not dance again? Ever? Please?"

On further reflection, they said: "Better still, just stay in the

tent until it's time to go home."

We know they're only joking, don't we, dads? We know

we're cool. But we also know that however embarrassing

we may be, some other kids have it a lot, lot worse.

Yes, dear children, at least your dad's not my friend Peter.

He's a nudist.

(WWW.PARENTDISH.CO.UK)

PRACTICE PAPER TWO:

TEXT A – THE MOZART EFFECT, TEXT B – CHER LLOYD REVIEW, TEXT C – GEORGE

HARRISON ARTICLE

The Mozart effect: Classical music and your baby's brain by Danielle Sweeney

Listening to classical music may soothe your baby and turn her into a classical fan later in life, but it won't make her smarter. Researchers at Appalachian State University believe that they've debunked what has been called the Mozart effect, a temporary increase in intelligence experienced after listening to a piano sonata written by the famed composer.

The Mozart effect was first reported in 1993 by scientists at the University of California at Irvine, and replicated by the same group in 1995. The study (which did not look at the effect of Mozart on babies) found that college students who listened to a Mozart sonata for a few minutes before taking a test that measured spatial relationship skills did better than students who took the test after listening to another musician or no music at all.

The effect in the students was temporary (it lasted only 15 minutes) and has always been controversial. Nonetheless, the media and politicians hopped on the Mozart effect bandwagon, claiming that listening to the music offered numerous benefits and could alleviate physical and mental health problems.

The notion that babies would be smarter if they listened to classical music was born out of this hype. One year, the governor of Georgia mandated that a classic music CD — which contained the sonata and other pieces and was donated by Sony — be given to all new babies when they left the hospital. Despite popular sentiment, the evidence that listening to classical music made anybody smarter was tenuous at best. The lead researcher in the original U.C. Irvine study himself said in a Forbes article that the idea that classical music can cure health problems and make babies smarter has no basis in reality, even though he believes that listening to a Mozart sonata can prime the brain to tackle mathematical tasks. The researchers at Appalachian State University were unable to duplicate the original "Mozart effect" results and found that the presence or absence of classical music didn't significantly affect student performance on tests. Their results were published in the July 1999 issue of the journal Psychological Science.

www.babycenter.com

TEXT B

George Harrison: Musician, Mystic,

Gardener, Film Producer - 10 Years

After His Death, We Remember

'The Quiet Beatle'

Caroline Frost

George Harrison died 10 years ago today. His great friend, motor-racing legend Jackie Stewart, recently tried to express what this loss still meant to him.

Stewart was speaking in a documentary by Martin Scorsese charting Harrison's life and death (George Harrison: Living in a Material World). Stewart explained how the world of motor-racing had forced him to experience grief at first hand many times, but how the loss of the Beatles' lead guitarist had somehow left a deeper and longer-lasting wound than all of these.

And Stewart added, "And I wasn't even one of his closest friends. I bet if you were to ask dozens of people, they would say the same thing." Stewart's words are testament to the scope of interest and influence Harrison enjoyed in his life. Far from being just "the Quiet Beatle", Harrison took paths encountering everything from Eastern mysticism to motor-racing, via film production and even gardening.

His road to global fame and wealth was shared for the most part with his schoolmate Paul McCartney - from Liverpool's renowned Cavern, the training ground of Hamburg's neon light district to the craziness of Madison Square Garden. The song-writing skills of John Lennon and McCartney always took centre-stage, but Harrison's songs Something and Here Comes the Sun are an indispensable contribution to the Beatles' legacy.

He was also the Beatle who, in the midst of all the euphoric attention surrounding the band, sought a quieter place for contemplation with Eastern mystics, introducing the other three to the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and learning the sitar at the knee of Ravi Shankar.

With the folding of the Beatles, Harrison could have been forgiven for packing away his guitar and counting his millions. Instead, he continued to be creative, enjoying a solo worldwide hit in 1970 with My Sweet Lord, and later jamming with his pals Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty as The Travelling Wilburys.

His production company Handmade Films (founded 1978) was behind many of Britain's most influential and enduring pictures (for example Withnail and I, Brazil, Mona Lisa), including backing the Monty Python team's successful foray onto the big screen.

And he even went where few would dare, steering newlyweds Madonna and Sean Penn in Shanghai Surprise.

His ever-hectic career was a world away from the serenity of Harrison's Gothic pile, Friar Park, in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, where he was often photographed lovingly cultivating his huge garden. He was as likely to invite Hare Krishna members to stay as he was racing drivers and rock stars.

His deep belief that nothing can be permanent or possessed was personally tested in 1974 when his first wife Patti Boyd embarked on an affair, and later went off with, his great friend Eric Clapton. Asked about this at a press conference very soon after, Harrison reflected, "He's a great friend of mine - better him than someone else."

Harrison himself later found lasting contentment with his second wife Olivia, who proved her mettle when the couple were attacked by an intruder in their home in 1999. Although Olivia fought off the attacker and saved the life of her stabbed husband, their son Dhani later reflected how much this trauma took out of his father, already suffering from cancer.

Olivia Harrison also described how that was the night her husband, who had always been deeply philosophical, properly began to question whether he was in a fit state, spiritually, for what lay ahead of him..

Ironically, this man who had been blessed with material gifts and rewards beyond measure in his material world, became increasingly defined by the dignity and grace with which he prepared to leave it all behind. Ten years later, it is clear that it is this gentleness and quiet sense of purpose which has kept his place dear in the hearts of his family, friends and fans as much as his music and creative talents.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

TEXT C

Album Review: Cher Lloyd - 'Sticks + Stones'

No more than roadkill beneath X-Factor's wheels

Album Info

Release Date: November 7, 2011

Producer: The Runners, The Monarch, Shellback, Max Martin, RedOne, Toby Gad

Label: Syco

Fact: The album features collaborations with Mike Posner, Busta Rhymes and Dot Rotten

5/10

I like The X Factor. With apologies to our editor, Krissi Murison, who once went on telly to explain why she thought the programme represented everything that was wrong with the UK music industry, it‟s a great programme, thanks very much. The merciless editing, the crocodile tears, the APOCALYPTIC! PRESENTATIONAL! STYLE! – there‟s something about the show that defies all notions of taste and makes suckers of us all. Trouble is, though, the crown looks to be slipping. A couple of weeks back the tabloids splashed with headlines about the programme‟s ratings plummet. That news comes like manna from heaven for those who claim the show pollutes the charts and puts the squeeze on genuinely sourced talent („free range‟ pop stars, if you will). But where does all this leave 2010 finalist Cher Lloyd, the feisty 18-year-old with a dubious „flow‟? Potentially, as a meat chop tossed into a tank full of circling sharks: and the initial signs, we‟re sad to report, aren‟t promising. On her debut album‟s cover, Cher sits upside down (she‟s different!) while trussed up in tights adorned with computer keyboard symbols (she‟s got the „edge‟-factor!). It all kicks off with „Grow Up‟, a grossly irritating slice of tweenish ragga-pop driven home with are-we-there-yet insistency and, improbably, Busta Rhymes on „Ft‟ duties. “We’re gonna be the generation that makes

everything explode/And when I say explode, I don’t mean that we’re using bombs!” raps Cher, perhaps rightly doubting our ability to distinguish between reality and metaphor – and gifting us one of the year‟s worst lines in the process. It‟s the first of a clutch of tracks here to spew forth a litany of annoying vocal tics in lieu of an actual song. Chief offender in this respect is the still-hideous „Swagger Jagger‟ and „Playa Boi‟, which has the temerity to crib from Neneh Cherry and is about as urban as khaki pants bought from Next by your mum. Still more loathsome is the album‟s calculated dip into bulldozing dubstep territory on „Dub On The Track‟, but when „Sticks + Stones‟ stops charging about the place like a six-year-old in a Spider-Man jumpsuit with a faceful of Wotsits, there‟s evidence to suggest Cher is actually quite good at this pop malarkey. „Want U Back‟ is a sassy bit of bubble-drunk pop from Britney songwriter Max Martin, while „End Up Here‟ finds Cher adopting a Beyonce-aping vocal style with not-at-all-bad results. A death-knell for pop creativity, then? Er, not really. Still, Cowell‟s juggernaut may be stalling, and on this showing, Cher‟s not proved herself nimble enough to be more than roadkill beneath its wheels. Alex Denney (NME Magazine)

PRACTICE PAPER THREE:

TEXT A – BILLY CONNOLLY TRAVEL WRITING, TEXT B – CHARLEY BOORMAN TRAVEL

WRITING, TEXT C – SYNOPSIS OF ELLEN MCARTHUR TRAVEL WRITING

TEXT A

Below is an extract from Billy Connolly’s Route 66; his account of his 2,278 mile journey along the length of the road

by custom-made trike. Here he describes what the road means to him.

Like the Silk Road or the salt and spice roads through Africa, the Pan-American Highway or

the Trans-African Highway, Route 66 is one of those wonderful trails that will always exist.

It‘s been called a road of dreamers and ramblers, drifters and writers. Well, I want to be a

part of that. I want to sit on my bike and ride Route 66. I want to go to Santa Fe and New

Mexico. And I want to sing the song as I head down through the plains of Illinois and

Missouri, the Oklahoma and Kansas prairies, the Texas Panhandle, the deserts and

mountains of New Mexico, Arizona and California. I want to sing along to Chuck Berry, the

Rolling Stones, Nat King Cole and all the other guys who have recorded Bobby Troup‘s

fabulous song. And when I do it, I want to be singing at the top of my lungs as the miles pass

beneath my wheels.

More than anything, I want to reconnect with old small-town America. Like a lot of Britain,

much of it has been smothered under a beige blanket of franchised coffee shops, fast food

palaces, faceless shopping malls and edge-of-town superstores with uninspiring,

unimaginative corporate brand names above their doors. That‘s not real America. It‘s the

creation of blue-suited marketing and advertising executives. Real America is to be found in

all those small towns that have been bypassed by the freeways. That‘s where I hope to find

the fragments of thirties, forties and fifties Americana that I love. Funky neon signs enticing

travellers to pull in at motels and diners. Or the giant oranges that used to lurk along the

highways of California, selling ice-cold, freshly squeezed juice to thirsty motorists. At one

time there was a chain of them across the state and they did a roaring trade. In the days

before air-conditioned cars and express freeways, a single stand could easily go through six

thousand oranges in a week. Now there‘s just one left on Route 66 - and I want to see it

before it‘s too late.

Representing freedom, migration and the empty loneliness of the American heartland, Route

66 is one of the essential icons of America – not just for Americans, but for anyone who, like

me, is fascinated by the United States. Snaking across eight states, its concrete and asphalt

was a ribbon that tied the nation together and enticed millions of Americans with a romantic

ideal of adventure and an exodus to a better life.

TEXT B

Below is an extract from By Any Means by Charley Boorman. The book tells the story of his trip with his friend Russ

Malkin “by any means” other than plane from Ireland to Australia. This passage describes the first leg of the journey

from Ireland to the Isle of Man.

The alarm woke me at four-forty-five a.m. At least I think it did. I don‘t know if I actually got

any sleep; the night was full of drums and flutes; disco music pounding into my room*.

Bleary-eyed but excited I met Russ and Mungo downstairs and the three of us made our way

to the harbour.

I needn‘t have worried about the size of the boat. We would be sailing on the Q-Varl of

Ramsey, Isle of Man, one of the largest scallop vessels out there. The skipper was a white-

haired, bearded guy called Raymond Hatton, who spoke with a broad Lancastrian accent.

He‘s been in the merchant navy before becoming a scallop diver and buying his own boat. In

fact it actually belonged to the whole Hatton family, which meant that if he wanted some

time off either his son or his grandson Danny could run the crew. This seemed a great idea to

me. He introduced us to the five crewmen. One of them- a tall, lanky guy- seemed familiar. I

soon realised why: this was Conor Cummins, a road racer who also rides short circuit in the

British Superstock series. He‘s lapped the Isle of Man at an average speed of 126.4 mph, only

six miles an hour slower than John McGuiness‘s lap record. I had thought Conor was part of

the regular crew, but it turned out that his cousin worked the boat. Conor told me that when

he found out we‘d be aboard he decided to come along for the craic.

After requesting permission to board we took a look around. The boat was blue-hulled with

a white wheelhouse; a dredging arm on each side with ten enormous chain-link scallop nets.

It was tall, I mean high in the water, three decks: one for the gear, another where they sorted

the catch and the fish deck where the bagged scallops were stored.

The channel was narrow and we sailed with the tide because Raymond wanted plenty of

water under the keel. It still looked very difficult to me: we had to zigzag to make it beyond

the tight harbour walls before negotiating a sandbank. It was a masterful piece of captaincy,

all performed against a backdrop – street lights reflected in the still water, the town

dominated by low cloud draping the Mountains of Mourne. I stood on deck thinking: ―This

is it.‖ We were leaving our fist block of land, heading out ona brand new journey.

Russ came over. ―They say there‘s a bit of weather out there: that‘ll be a laugh.‖

I looked sideways at him. ―Will they give us breakfast, d‘you reckon?‖

* There had been an Orangemen march and celebration in the hotel the night before the journey.

TEXT C

Full Circle

Ellen Macarthur

Hardback : 02 Sep 2010

£20.00

» Buy now

Synopsis

In October 2009 Ellen MacArthur, one of the greatest sportswomen in the world, announced her retirement from competitive sailing. Many were in disbelief. How could the woman who had fought so hard to set so many records give up racing? But Ellen had found an even tougher challenge than sailing solo round the globe.

Now Ellen is ready to write about her incredible last ten years, including the trip which changed her life.

She speaks honestly about the trials of fame after coming second in the Vendee Globe in 2001; about her frustrations in missing the record for the West-East transatlantic crossing by just 75 minutes in 2004; the dramatic capsize and dismasting she experienced prior to her record attempt, and then the ultimate triumph of her spectacular, record-breaking, non-stop solo circumnavigation of the globe in 2004-5, sharing every painful and exciting moment of her 71 days alone at sea.

And of course she tells of the fateful trip to South Georgia in 2005 which caused her to decide to leave competitive sailing behind for ever and focus all her ambition and energy towards a new and much bigger race . . .

Ellen's searingly honest story is a story of triumph over incredible adversity and will inspire others to follow in this remarkable woman's wake.

PRACTICE PAPER FOUR:

TEXT A – UNHEALTHY FOOD, TEXT B – BOARDING SCHOOL, TEXT C – REVIEW OF

‗EDUCTING ESSEX‘

Unhealthy food 'returning to

school' warn caterers Unhealthy snacks could be returning to schools in England, caterers are

warning.

Six years after the Jamie Oliver campaign and

the introduction of strict nutritional

guidelines, caterers say they are getting

requests for fatty foods and sweets.

They say the requests are from some of

England's new academy schools, which do not

have to follow the guidelines.

The government says it trusts schools to act in

their pupils' best interest.

And it says it has no reason to believe that

academies will not provide healthy, balanced

meals that meet the current nutritional

standards

The Local Authority Catering Association,

which has 700 members across the UK, said it

was concerned that there could be a return to

unhealthy eating in schools.

Linda Mitchell, from the association, said:

"Our members are telling us that they have

been approached by academies to relax the

rules and as providers to hundreds of

thousands of schools we are concerned.

"They are being asked to put confectionery

and other snacks back, especially at mid-

morning. It is the return of the sausage roll to

schools."

She said caterers were mostly being asked to

put snacks in to vending machines in schools.

"It's a very small step before you are seeing the

introduction of confectionery and fizzy drinks

back in to those machines."

Jamie Oliver led a campaign for healthy school meals

She suggested schools might be under

pressure from pupils and parents to re-

introduce certain foods and that some might

be tempted by the high profit margins she said

there were on sweet or fatty snacks.

After the campaign for healthy school lunches

led by the TV chef Jamie Oliver, schools in

England had by law to meet stricter

nutritional guidelines.

Sweets, crisps and fizzy drinks disappeared

from vending machines, which were removed

or else dispensed healthy snacks.

Under regulations in England and Northern

Ireland – and guidelines in Scotland and

Wales – schools should:

restrict the amount of fatty, sugary

and salty foods on the menu

increase the use fresh fruit and

vegetables

ban the sale of sweets, crisps and fizzy

drinks

In England, local authority schools also have

to supply meals which comply with strict

nutrient standards.

From 2013, Wales intends to enshrine its

guidelines in the law too.

A spokesman for the Department for

Education in Westminster said the school

food regulations were the ―benchmark of high

standards‖.

―We trust schools to act in the best interest of

their pupils – they know the importance of

healthy school dinners and the benefits they

bring,‖ he said

―We have no reason to believe that academies

will not provide healthy, balanced meals that

meet the current nutritional standards. In fact,

the School Food Trust tells us that some of the

best schools in terms of attitudes to food and

meals are academies.‖

He added that the government was asking the

School Food Trust to carry out a small study

of some academies to look at their approach to

providing healthy school food to pupils.

25th November 2011

www.bbc.co.uk/news

Does being packed off to boarding school scar children for life? By Amanda Lynch 11th February 2010

Nina Raouna clearly remembers her first day at boarding school. Aged seven, she was taken by her mother up a long, tree-lined drive, smartly dressed in a polka dot skirt, with her long curly hair neatly brushed.

'In front of us was a country house,' she recalls. She was led by the hand into an oakpanelled hallway.

Her mother spoke to a lady she did not know, and then, with only her trunk next to her, she found herself alone.

'I looked out of the window and saw my mother's car driving away. The sensation of abandonment has never left me.'

Nina, now 31, from North London, says the repercussions of being sent away to school have had a deep impact on her life.

'I can trace many problems back to that feeling of abandonment,' says Nina, who is single and works in artist management.

'I ran away from school, started smoking and got into drugs. I was often suspended and had to be collected by my long-suffering mother.'

Nina whose mother is an author and whose father works in the music industry, says she understands why her parents sent her away. They had separated and she was a difficult child, badly affected by her parents' divorce.

'I think my mother thought boarding school would give me stability,' she explains. 'But I just felt as if I must have done something wrong to be sent away.'

Nina, who says she now has a good relationship with her parents, says it's ironic that many people still see her as having had a 'privileged' upbringing. 'That makes me laugh,' she says. 'I had a hard time coping.'

Tonight, Channel 4 is showing a controversial documentary

called Leaving Home At 8, which follows the progress of four

eight-year-old girls sent to board at Highfield School, in Liphook,

Hampshire.

While the girls struggle to keep a brave face at first, almost all are later shown crying for their parents. Their mothers admit the situation is distressing, but they believe it is in their child's best

interest to board.

Around 90,000 children attend boarding school in the UK, and, for most, it remains a mark of privilege - boarding school fees cost between £16,000 and £25,000 a year.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Educating Essex, final episode, Channel 4, review Josephine Moulds reviews the final episode of Educating Essex, Channel 4's fly-on-the-

wall documentary about a secondary school in Harlow.

5 03 Nov 2011 www.telegraph.co.uk

The eyeliner ran and the mascara smudged in this last episode of Educating Essex, as the pupils bid a teary farewell to the institution that saw them through their teenage years.

―All these people we‘ve battled to get into school for the last four and a half years, cry because they‘re leaving,‖ laughed their bespectacled head, Mr Goddard, one of the stars of this brilliant documentary chronicling life inside a well-run comprehensive in Harlow, Essex.

The series concluded with a look at two of his most challenging pupils: Vinni, a sharp-edged lad who chose to go into care because of a fractious relationship with his mother; and Ryan, a charming 15 year-old with Asperger‘s Syndrome, and wonderfully expressive eyebrows.

―Some kids take disproportionate amounts of your time,‖ explained Mr Goddard with a sigh. ―And Vinni has, without a shadow of a doubt.‖

We saw him playing up in class time after time, trying to avoid detention, and the crunch point when teachers decided to concentrate only on the subjects he might pass.

The sad thing was that he clearly wasn‘t stupid. An excellent scene saw Vinni teaching a friend, also banished from class, about rhetorical questions.

―That‘s like me saying to you, ‗Do you want to succeed in life?‘ and then just walking off. ‗Do you want to do this stuff, or just be a bum?‘‖ It was clear he had borne the brunt of many a rhetorical question.

He even got a C in the English language GCSE they made him take early for fear they would lose him by the end of the year. To say he beamed would be an exaggeration but you could definitely see those train-tracked teeth as he gave a hint of a smile.

―I‘m going to phone my mum and tell her,‖ he said, and for a few seconds you dared to hope it would all work out all right.

But this was not the stuff of docu-soaps, all happily stage-managed for a feel-good finale. Vinni started bunking school, failed to turn up for his maths exam, and unsurprisingly found out on results day that he‘d ―done quite bad‖.

―He‘s a young person that has been let down and I‘m part of that,‖ said Mr Goddard, waving away the camera, as his nose turned red.

You could only hope Vinni was watching and is in a better position now than where we left him, looking on wistfully as his schoolmates arrived for the Prom he was not allowed to attend.

His story was lightened by Ryan, whose wide-eyed innocence led his teachers to worry about how he would cope with the world.

Through him, we gained an insight into special needs teaching. Alongside the regular curriculum, Ryan was taught about life skills, such as how to react if he were to witness a robbery. Approaching the robber is not, apparently, the way to go.

But with Ryan it was all about the feel-good factor. He had Mr Goddard in tears too, when he gave an impromptu speech on leaver‘s day.

―These two years were the best two years of my life. I‘m surrounded by people who support each other and do their best, their very hardest and who like each other… like a big family,‖ he said with artless charm that melted his audience of rowdy 15 and 16 year-olds.

It reminded you what documentary is all about: celebrating the highs and lows, the drama of the everyday, without the need for a script.

I hope they don‘t go back for another series, although the popularity of this one will no doubt leave Channel 4 clamouring for more. But that would spoil it, making stars of next year‘s pupils and teachers, while this was honest TV shining a light on the much-maligned education system. Top quality stuff.

PRACTICE PAPER FIVE:

TEXT A – TWITTER, TEXT B – FACEBOOK ARTICLE, TEXT C – WHAT IS FACEBOOK? GRACE DENT: WHY IT'S TIME TO JOIN

THE TWITTER REVOLUTION THE WRITER & AUTHOR TALKS SOCIAL NETWORKING

As Guardian columnist Grace Dent releases her book How To Leave Twitter (and it‘s revealed that we send the equivalent of a 10

million-page book‘s worth of tweets every day), she explains why we all need Twitter in our lives...

―If you can‘t see the joy in Twitter, then quite frankly you‘re doing it wrong. Don‘t come to me a boo-hooing my beloved Twitter is

‗full of twits‘ and ‗just people twaddling about breakfast‘ and then admit you‘ve not so much as attached a photo to your account.

Or that you‘ve never followed any funny, clever, warm tweeters, then pitched in with a rollicking mass snark about Cher Lloyd‘s

new song, whether it‘s ‗tights or bare legs weather‘ and who needs to shut their cakehole on Question Time.

Twitter is like a mirror, whatever you show it, you‘ll see reflected back in your timeline. If you‘re

sociable, chatty and warm you‘ll amass hundreds, nay thousands of like-minded natterers, only

too keen to dole out advice on how to revive a spider plant, which nail varnish doesn‘t chip, or

send you a YouTube clip of an obese cat from Russia jumping into a very small box.

"Life without Twitter feels very dull indeed. Like wading through glue, last in the loop."

I love Twitter as it never sleeps. While I type columns in the middle of the night as my British friends snooze, my newsfeed fills up

with American tittle-tattle, TV reviews and breaking news. If you‘re the nosey parker type, you soon realise that Twitter knows

everything before you do, that‘s why it‘s so fiendishly addictive. With all Twitter users there is a definite tipping point between

‗not understanding‘, then suddenly ‗getting it‘ and then finally life without Twitter feels very dull indeed. Like wading through

glue, last in the loop to know.

And yes, sure, Twitter has ranters, hecklers, braggers and dullards too, but that‘s what the ‗Unfollow‘ button is for. If a Tweeter

raises your hackles, the splendid thing is one click and you can shoot them off into cyberspace. Boom, gone! If only the same could

be said for the pub bore pulling up a bar stool to torture you with his views on fly-fishing or your Facebook chum from school

with 345 pictures of her new baby, which she clearly cannot see resembles John Prescott.

Perhaps Twitter is for Twits, but I‘m happy to be one of those 140-characters typing, backchatting chumps. If you‘ve got anything

to say to me, then tweet me.‖

How To Leave Twitter: My Time As Queen Of The Universe by Grace Dent is out 21 July (£7.99). Follow Grace on @gracedent

www.stylist.co.uk

TEXT B

More Facebook Friends, Fewer Real Ones, Says

Cornell Study

By Ned Potter, ABC News

We may "friend" more people on

Facebook, but we have fewer real

friends -- the kind who would help

us out in tough times, listen

sympathetically no matter what,

lend us money or give us a place to

stay if we needed it, keep a secret if

we shared one.

That's the conclusion made by

Matthew Brashears, a Cornell

University sociologist who

surveyed more than 2,000 adults

from a national database and found

that from 1985 to 2010, the number

of truly close friends people cited

has dropped -- even though we're

socializing as much as ever.

On average, participants listed 2.03

close friends in Brashears' survey.

That number was down from about

three in a 1985 study.

"These are the people you think of

as your real confidants, your go-to

people if you need something,"

Brashears said.

Brashears asked people online from

a database called TESS -- Time-

Sharing Experiments for the Social

Sciences -- to list the names of

people with whom they had

discussed "important matters" over

the previous six months. He

reports the results in a forthcoming

issue of the journal Social

Networks.

Forty-eight percent of participants

listed one close friend when asked,

18 percent listed two and 29

percent listed more. A little more

than 4 percent didn't list anyone.

What's going on? Brashears said

his survey can't tell us conclusively,

but his guess is that while we meet

just as many people as we used to,

we categorize them differently.

Does that mean we're more isolated

in these times when we seem to

meet more people online than in

person? (How many of your

Facebook "friends" are really

friends of yours?) Defying some of

the stereotypes of the digital age,

social scientists say Facebook may

actually be healthy for us. Keith

Hampton at the Annenberg School

for Communication at the

University of Pennsylvania wrote a

report for the Pew Research Center

in which he found that "Internet

users in general, but Facebook

users even more so, have more close

relationships than other people."

"Facebook users get more overall

social support, and in particular

they report more emotional

support and companionship than

other people," wrote Hampton in a

blog post. "And, it is not a trivial

amount of support. Compared to

other things that matter for

support -- like being married or

living with a partner -- it really

matters. Frequent Facebook use is

equivalent to about half the boost

in support you get from being

married."

But online contact and personal

contact are different. While

Hampton reports we know more

people because of Facebook and

similar sites, Brashears reports

there are fewer whom we choose to

trust with our most intimate

worries.

"We're not becoming asocial," said

Brashears, "but these people give us

social support, and they give us

advice.‖

TEXT C

What is Facebook?

Facebook started in the United States as a way for some

college kids to stay in touch when they had left campus

- and it’s evolved since then to become one of the largest

social networks in the world. Here’s how you can get

involved.

Guy Clapperton | 9th September 2010 Facebook is a vast, sprawling network and you can make whatever you want of it. You sign up by putting some details, and preferably a photo of yourself, on the Facebook website. Then you‘re ready to start posting a few updates. These updates are statements about what you‘re up to, links to interesting stuff you‘ve seen elsewhere on the web - it‘s up to you. As word gets around that you‘re online, you‘ll find old friends start to get in touch. They may have heard about you being on Facebook or they may have found you after doing a search. Facebook itself will send notes on people you might know, based on the fact that you went to the same school or college or shared an employer (you only have to put up as much of this sort of information as you want). Word of caution Be a little wary about the information you share on Facebook. If you display your town, date of birth, marital status and other personal facts, someone might be able to get enough information to steal your identity (it‘s unlikely, but be careful). You might want to go into your profile page (it‘s easy to find once you‘ve signed up, there‘s a tab on the homepage) and make sure you‘re not sharing all of your information with everyone who happens to log on. Soon you‘ll be in touch with a lot of people, exchanging views and information on your page (or ‘wall‘ as Facebook calls it) and vice versa. If your friends are online when you log on, you‘ll find a list of them to one side of the screen and you can send instant messages. You can also put pictures of yourself up. Want to share holiday snaps with your aunt who lives in Australia? No problem, upload them and share them with her. There are other things Facebook adds on - you can play games across the internet, you can tell it which book you‘re reading at the moment, you can rate films and get recommendations. You can join groups of people with similar interests, you can join Facebook groups representing your favourite TV or radio programmes and chat to like-minded people about them. It all starts with a simple sign-up to the most basic stuff, which enables you to make announcements and engage with people online. Catching up with old friends, making new ones, sharing an interest with a group of people or sharing your photos with someone the other side of the world - it‘s only as limited as you want to make it. (BBC Webwise)

Question 5—Writing to inform, explain or describe

25 minutes (16 marks)

EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

1. Many people are drawn to dangerous sports and challenges, from climbing mountains to

jumping off them. Write an article for a magazine aimed at outdoor enthusiasts in which you

explain why this is the case and give your views.

2. Write a letter to your town council telling them about the lack of facilities for young people

in your area, describing your plans for a new youth centre, and explaining how this would be

of benefit to all.

3. Write a review of the most memorable holiday you have had. Describe the main events and

give your opinions.

4. Write an article for a teenage magazine, explaining how to be fashionable. You can choose to

write about clothes, music or lifestyle.

5. An older couple you like and know well have recently moved abroad. Write a letter to inform

them about what has been happening locally since they moved away. Aim to include

information that will interest them and write in a way that will entertain them.

6. Write a report for a school magazine describing a trip you have been on.

7. Write a report for a school magazine informing the readers of an unusual event that has

happened.

8. Write an article for a magazine explaining the attractions of the most amazing place you have

ever visited.

9. In a letter, you are informing a pen friend about the things in daily life that can make you

angry.

10. Write a section of a local guide book to inform visitors about what it has to offer.

11. Write an article in which you explain how to lead a healthy life.

12. Write a review which describes your least favourite television programme.

13. Write an article for your local newspaper in which you explain how to cope if you lose your

job: how to make their money go further, how to find another job, or how to use any spare

time they might have.

14. Write a letter to the Minister for education explaining your views about the current

education offered to Key Stage 4 students and suggesting ways it could be improved.

15. Imagine you have been having problems with neighbours. Write a letter to your local council

asking for help and support and explaining what the problems have been.

16. Write a report for your school magazine describing a recent sporting event.

17. Write an article for your school magazine explaining your ideas for ways schools can address

the issue of bullying.

18. Write a report for a travel magazine about places to visit near you, explaining why the area is

interesting for everyone.

19. Write an article for a year 7 brochure informing new students about their first term at your

school, from the perspective of an older student.

20. Write a letter to a friend explaining why a recent holiday was so memorable.

21. Write about a time in your life that you felt particularly proud of yourself. Explain why.

22. Write a letter to parents explaining to them the ways in which they could improve their

child‘s exam performance.

Question 5—Writing to inform, explain or describe

MARK SCHEME

Band 4 (13-16 marks)

Communication

writes in a way which shows clarity of thought and communicates in a convincing and/or compelling way

engages the reader with detailed and developed ideas, perhaps abstract concepts

makes and sustains the purpose, intention and objective of writing the article, e.g. by affecting the reader, evoking response

writes a formal article, the tone of which is appropriately serious but also subtle, employs e.g. reason, some sophistication

uses linguistic devices such as the rhetorical question, hyperbole, irony, in an effective and appropriate way

shows control of extensive vocabulary with appropriately used discursive markers

Organisation of ideas

writes a whole text in continuous prose

employs paragraphs effectively to enhance meaning including, e.g. the one sentence paragraph

uses a variety of structural features, e.g. different paragraph lengths, indented sections, dialogue, bullet points, as appropriate

presents complex ideas in a coherent way

Skills

uses complex grammatical structures and punctuation with success

organises writing using sentence demarcation accurately

employs a variety of sentence forms to good effect including short sentences

shows accuracy in the spelling of words from an ambitious vocabulary

uses standard English consistently

Question 6—Writing to argue or persuade

35 minutes - 24 marks

EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

1. Write a speech for school pupils in which you argue for or against the raising of the school

leaving age.

2. Write the opening paragraph of a teenage magazine article in which you argue that living in

the country is better than living in the town or city, or vice versa.

3. Write a paragraph for a speech in which you attempt to persuade local business people to

sponsor you and several other young people to spend a month in the Amazon jungle. You

must make this sound like a journey that will develop the kind of skills and attitudes that

business people would value.

4. A local paper has printed a letter in which an older reader accuses today‘s young people of

being lazy, selfish and disrespectful, and only interested in watching TV. Write your own

letter to the paper arguing that she is wrong.

5. Write a letter to a newspaper arguing either for or against the idea : the internet is a great

resource and does more good than harm.

6. Write an article for a magazine arguing for or against the idea: the government should give

grants to ensure that every home in the UK has high speed broadband access by 2016.

7. Write a persuasive letter to your Head of Year about a part of your school that needs

updating or improving.

8. Write a letter to a friend who is considering entering for a difficult race, persuading him or

her on whether or not to do so.

9. Write an article for a national newspaper, persuading readers to watch less television and,

instead, to do things which are more productive or creative.

10. Write the text of a speech in which you argue that ‗there is no place like home‘: either

because it is the best place or, perhaps, just because there could not be another place like it.

11. Write a letter to an elderly relative, persuading them to install security equipment around

their home.

12. Write a letter to your head master persuading him to extend the lunch time break.

13. Write an article for a newspaper persuading the readers to support your plan to raise money

for a skate park.

14. Write a letter to your local council to persuade them to provide a good range of leisure

facilities for young people.

15. Some people think that schools should be closed and all subjects taught via computers.

Write an article for a school newspaper, arguing either for or against this idea.

Question 6—Writing to argue or persuade

35 minutes - 24 marks

MARK SCHEME

Band 4 (19-24 marks)

Communication

writes in a way which shows clarity of thought and communicates in a convincing / compelling way

engages the reader with detailed, succinct argument, a range and variety of persuasive ideas, abstract concepts, vivid detail, e.g. makes a moral appeal, invokes finer feelings

makes and sustains the purpose, intention and objective of the writing, e.g. by specifying outcomes, considering implications

writes in a formal way employing a tone which is appropriately serious but also manipulative and subtle, uses e.g. assertion, reason, sophistication

uses linguistic devices such as the rhetorical question, hyperbole, irony, satire in an effective and appropriate way

shows control of extensive vocabulary with appropriately used discursive markers e.g. ‗ Surely it is reasonable to expect….‘, ‗Taking the global view…‘, ‗One alternative position might be..‘ etc.

Organisation of ideas

writes a whole text in continuous prose

employs paragraphs effectively to enhance meaning including, e.g. one sentence paragraphs

uses a variety of structural features, e.g. different paragraph lengths, indented sections, dialogue, bullet points, as appropriate

presents complex ideas in a coherent way

Skills

uses complex grammatical structures and punctuation with success

organises writing using sentence demarcation accurately

employs a variety of sentence forms to good effect including short sentences

show accuracy in the spelling of words from an ambitious vocabulary

uses standard English consistently