Happy New Academic Year! Four Weeks In

So how are your teens bearing up? Are they easing into the longest term of the academic year, or has it been a bumpy start? It's a massive adjustment, particularly after such a long break from any kind of study routine.

This is my third year of tutoring and, goodness, what a whirlwind it's been. I'm astounded by the number of young people knocking on my virtual door looking for help with English Language. Truly astounded.

My students fall into three groups:

• Resit students. These are students who achieved a grade 4 but need a 5 or above for their chosen courses.
• Year 11s. They're keen to get to grips with the qualification before mocks arrive.
• Year 9s and 10s. This is my fastest-growing group, and they're looking for confidence-boosting and a solid foundation.

Here's what has really struck me with my new Year 11 and Year 12 students. When I ask what they're working on in school, the answer is usually, "Well, we're doing Romeo and Juliet at the moment," or, "I'm trying to memorise some of the poetry from the anthology."

Lovely, but I specialise in English Language, so how is that going?

"Erm..."

How often do you do it in school? Is there a fixed routine?

"Not really."

If I asked how confident you are about the structure of Language Papers 1 and 2, how would you fare?

"Erm... I'm not really sure."

Seriously?

To be fair to schools, there's an awful lot of Literature content to get through, and it tends to take over. But what about English Language? Without that grade, a student's next step after GCSE can stall completely. One very clever parent spotted this and said, "My daughter doesn't need her head full of poetry and Shakespeare, so I'll keep her focused on English Language instead." Smart. She doesn't have to sit Literature, so she isn't.

Here at Achieve English, I'm busier than ever. I had a 100% success rate in this summer's examinations.  It makes me very happy to hear about their successes and see their smiling faces.  It's all done with laughter and confidence-building, plus a little gentle nagging. And after marking 300 exam scripts, I promise you pick up some valuable insights.

If you'd like to give your child a boost, or simply want them to have some dedicated English Language teaching time, get in touch:

Free Google meet call
or by email info@achieve-english.co.uk

I don't have many spaces left (one or two at most), but a few more will open up after the November resits.

Good luck, and I hope the new academic year has been kind to your family so far.
🐿️🥬🍂