Essay Writing Support Pack for GCSE English Language

10 practical, accessible sessions designed to develop the skills needed for successful essay writing at GCSE English Language. Embed into a scheme of work in the run-up to exams, or dip in and out for innovative, pick-up-and-teach activities.

An excellent resource which targets an often undervalued and rarely well-taught set of skills

L Deighton, Director of English & Peer Reviewer
Sessions cover:
  • Unblocking Understanding
  • Superb Structure
  • Powerful Paragraphing
  • Varied Vocabulary
  • Splendid Sentences (Part 1)
  • Splendid Sentences (Part 2)
  • Quality Quotations
  • Interesting Introductions
  • Crafting Conclusions
  • Excellent Editing
  • Each session includes:

    • Detailed teacher’s notes to minimise your planning time and ensure that learning is applied, checked and revisited.
    • Stimulating worksheets:
      1. Assess prior knowledge – pupils consider what they already know and what they need to do to improve, encouraging responsible and independent learning.
      2. Build towards mastery of the skill – structured and progressive activities cover all aspects of essay writing, including structure, vocabulary, quotations and editing.
      3. Apply learning – plenary activities encourage self-, teacher- or peer-assessment.
    • Plus! Teacher tips, prompts and scaffolding ease lower-ability students into writing, while extension tasks cater for and challenge the most able.

    What do teachers say about this resource? (8232)

    Wow! This is an excellent resource which targets an often undervalued and rarely well-taught set of skills. It is clearly well researched and logical in its approach. The resources are easily usable and each lesson is very clear... [I liked the] clearly explained lesson rationale [and] logically sequenced lessons... It focuses on making students good writers and helps students to understand how to write well, but also to value writing well. It prepares students for the demands of the new GCSE specifications by teaching the skills and offering a high level of rigour.

    L Deighton, Director of English & Peer Reviewer

    There are some really creative and useful resources… the author has worked really hard on this and is clearly an experienced teacher… I liked the links between pedagogy, classroom teaching and classroom resources – these were clever and allowed for a progressive way of teaching… I like the structure of this resource and that these technical aspects of writing are coming after the creative elements. I think that fits with how we should be teaching writing.

    N Maloney, Teacher & Expert Reviewer

    An extensive resource which offers a vast number of ways to teach pupils writing skills. It provides materials to suit all ability levels of pupils [and] would be easily adaptable for all exam boards... Each unit begins by assessing prior learning – this will allow pupils to consider what they already know and what they need to do in order to improve. It will encourage [them] to be more responsible and involved in their own learning. The variety of activities in each unit allows for intervention, extension work, consolidation, etc. The opening section clearly outlining exam requirements could be used for classroom display... There are plenty of resources for teaching in class, but there are also plenty of opportunities to use it for intervention classes or for last-minute revision prior to the exams... It is particularly useful to have so much current classroom material gathered in one place... The resource would save teachers a vast amount of preparation time.

    S Freeburn, Teacher & Peer Reviewer