← All subjects · AQA 8700 · Untiered

GCSE English Language

204 days to the exam
2027-05-24

Spec conquered

6%

5 weeks under the aimline · progress and forecast →

Lower-tier secure

4/126

topics secure or better

Latest paper

No full paper logged.

Unfinished work

1 open

Session 135 · 10 days: Two closing lines (what I did / what's next) not written at the 11:40 stop. Writing-block items still owed from 20 Oct: new line for each speaker in her story passage; harbour piece's planned last line and a five-minute reread.

Practice the whole board →

Runs

3

all time

Attempted

5

all time

Accuracy

60.0%

last 10 runs, pooled

Accuracy trend

Accuracy trend — Accuracy across the last 3 runs100.0% TO BEAT25 Sep2 Oct5 Octbest yet!
Chart data
RunAccuracy
2026-09-25 Retrieval warm-up — maths, lit, lang, CS (Lang share)50.0%
2026-10-02 Retrieval warm-up — lit, CS, lang (lang item)100.0%
2026-10-05 Retrieval warm-up (mixed) — Lang share: word-connotation-effect, structural shift50.0%

Strands

Spoken Language endorsement
0/8
Paper 1 reading
0/24
Technical accuracy (AO6)
2/20
Paper 2 reading
0/23
Writing (AO5)
2/41
Exam craft
0/10
Not started Gap Developing Secure Exam-ready

Every topic

Spoken Language endorsement

E1 Presentation prepared (topic, structure, notes)□E2 Presentation delivered with Q&A (centre-administered)□E1.1 Topic chosen (5–8 min, a viewpoint)E1.2 Presentation planned & organised persuasivelyE1.3 Rehearsed ×3 with timing, no scriptE2.1 Delivered in a formal setting (centre)E2.2 Responds to questions & feedbackE2.3 Spoken Standard English throughout

Paper 1 reading

R1 P1 Q1: multiple-choice retrieval (4)!□R1.1 Q1 MCQ: read lines first, one answer eachR2 P1 Q2: language analysis (8)!□R2.1 Q2: word/phrase → connotation → effect!□R2.2 Q2: feature/technique → effect (no spotting)!R3 P1 Q3: one structural effect across the source (8)□R2.3 Q2: sentence forms as languageR4 P1 Q4: evaluate a statement (20)□R2.4 Q2: stay inside the given linesR5 P1: reading & annotating the source in 15 min□R2.5 Q2: terminology accurate, judiciousR2.6 Q2: Level 3 unaided ×2R3.1 Q3: name one structural effect!□R3.2 Q3: track it start → middle → endR3.3 Q3: structure not languageR3.4 Q3: Level 3 unaided ×2R4.1 Q4: inference justified with evidenceR4.2 Q4: take a view on the statementR4.3 Q4: 'this works because…' evaluationR4.4 Q4: methods inside the evaluationR4.5 Q4: nuanced view (partly true)R4.6 Q4: Level 3 unaided ×2R5.1 P1: read & annotate source in 15 minR5.2 P1: fiction reading — openings, perspective, atmosphere

Technical accuracy (AO6)

T1 Sentence demarcation & comma splices□T2 Punctuation range used accurately (; : —)□T3 Sentence variety for effect□T4 Spelling incl. ambitious vocabulary□T5 Paragraphing at shifts of time/place/idea□T1.1 No comma splices!□T1.2 Demarcation consistently secure (L3/4 gate)!T2.1 Semicolon correctT2.2 Colon correctT2.3 Dash & parenthesis correctT2.4 Apostrophes & quotation marks accurateT2.5 Punctuation range with high accuracy (AO6 L4)T3.1 Simple/compound/complex varietyT3.2 Short sentence for effectT3.3 Varied sentence openersT4.1 Personal common-error spellings clearedT4.2 Ambitious vocabulary spelt correctlyT4.3 HomophonesT5.1 New paragraph at every shift!□T5.2 Standard English, agreement, tense consistency!

Paper 2 reading

V1 P2 Q1: four true statements (4)□V2 P2 Q2: summary / synthesis of both sources (8)□V3 P2 Q3: language in one source (12)□V4 P2 Q4: compare writers' viewpoints & methods (16)□V5 Reading 19th-century non-fiction□V1.1 Q1: check statements against the linesV2.1 Q2: focus word identified and keptV2.2 Q2: summarise one text without liftingV2.3 Q2: synthesise both (point/A/B/inference)!V2.4 Q2: infer, don't paraphraseV2.5 Q2: no language analysisV2.6 Q2: Level 3 unaided ×2V3.1 Q3: 12-mark language — three developed points!V3.2 Q3: Level 3 unaided ×2V4.1 Q4: each writer's viewpoint in one sentence!V4.2 Q4: perspectives first, then methodsV4.3 Q4: both sources every paragraph, connectivesV4.4 Q4: tone/form/audience/purpose as methodsV4.5 Q4: Level 3 unaided ×2V5.1 19th-c non-fiction: vocabulary & long sentencesV5.2 Non-fiction forms & conventions recognisedV5.3 Bias & unsupported statements identifiedV5.4 Reading for purpose: usefulness & relevance

Writing (AO5)

W1 Descriptive writing: one mood, chosen senses□W2 Narrative opening: hook, character, tension, stop□W3 Five-minute plan (mood/structure/scene/senses/last line)□W4 Structure choices: zoom, shift, cyclical□W5 Transactional: form, audience, purpose & register□W6 Transactional: line of argument & counter□W7 Sustaining crafting to the last paragraph□W1.1 Descriptive: one mood word chosenW1.2 Descriptive: chosen non-sight senses!□W1.3 Descriptive: image as inspiration, not checklistW1.4 Descriptive: imagery crafted with purposeW1.5 Descriptive: one setting, one time, no plot!W1.6 Descriptive: AO5 L3 upper with promptW1.7 Descriptive: AO5 Level 4 unaided ×2W2.1 Narrative opening: hookW2.2 Narrative: one character via detail!W2.3 Narrative: tension implied, stop on a questionW2.4 Narrative: perspective & tense held!W2.5 Narrative: an opening, no rushed endingW2.6 Narrative: AO5 L3 upper unaided ×2W3.1 Five-minute plan on the page!□W3.2 Task focus addressed (AO5 cap)!W4.1 Structure: zoom in → zoom outW4.2 Structure: a shift that changes the scene!□W4.3 Structure: cyclical ending!□W4.4 Paragraph rhythm wide/detail/change/returnW5.1 Transactional: form conventions (letter/article/speech/leaflet/essay)W5.2 Transactional: tone & register matched to audienceW5.3 Consistent point of view & tenseW5.4 Write in a new form from given informationW6.1 Transactional: one-line thesisW6.2 Transactional: three arguments with examplesW6.3 Transactional: evidence/quotation cited pertinentlyW6.4 Transactional: counter-argument answeredW6.5 Rhetorical devices with purpose (question/antithesis/parenthesis)W6.6 Emotional impact created deliberatelyW6.7 Transactional: call to action / final imageW6.8 Transactional: AO5 L3 upper unaided ×2W7.1 Crafting sustained to the last paragraphW7.2 Vocabulary ambitious and accurateW7.3 Discourse markers integrated

Exam craft

X1 Timing across a whole paper□X2 Handwritten stamina: 45 min continuous□X3 Self-check in the last 5 minutes□X1.1 P1 timing held (15/5/10/10/20/45)X1.2 P2 timing held (15/5/10/12/18/45)X2.1 45 min continuous handwritingX2.2 Full 1h45 paper by hand (monthly from Feb)X3.1 Last-5-minute self-checkX4.1 Order of attack decided and rehearsedX5.1 Q4 and Q5 never blank

Loose ends

Secure means it held up independently, not that it is finished. Feed these into starters rather than reteaching.

R1 P1 Q1: multiple-choice retrieval (4)
One unaided 4/4 in the multiple-choice format (7 Oct). Paper #10 (21 Oct) 2/3, the 'today' qualifier missed. Secure needs a second unaided full-marks MCQ on a different source on another day.
R2 P1 Q2: language analysis (8)
Both halves were named in the instruction and the check; retest with no step named. Same suggestion reused on all three.
R2.1 Q2: word/phrase → connotation → effect
Whether the suggestion differs per quotation when three are asked for; 'a living thing' x3 today.
R2.2 Q2: feature/technique → effect (no spotting)
Count of reader lines when no check is named.
R3.1 Q3: name one structural effect
Sentence 1 gives the lines but not what is happening at that moment; reader effect was given for the ending when the middle was asked. Next: a fresh extract, what / where / why written as headings first, unaided.
V2.3 Q2: synthesise both (point/A/B/inference)
Pairs are set side by side but no difference is stated as an idea; borderline Level 1/2.
V3.1 Q3: 12-mark language — three developed points
Decodes the question; on the paper gives one quotation and stops at 3 minutes. Next: three quotations.
V4.1 Q4: each writer's viewpoint in one sentence
Attitude rule has now gone right, wrong, right, wrong across four starters; not holding.
W1.2 Descriptive: chosen non-sight senses
Proposed secure pending adjudication: 18 Sep untimed + 22 Sep timed, different tasks, different sessions.
W1.5 Descriptive: one setting, one time, no plot
Held once (6 Oct) and lost the next week; never taught as teach / confirm / apply. Count actions by 'you' in the next description.
W2.2 Narrative: one character via detail
retest on two fresh unaided sentences
W2.4 Narrative: perspective & tense held
'asked' in a present-tense piece; check tense on the next narrative.
W3.1 Five-minute plan on the page
Structure line holds a place five times running; last line must be on paper before the timer.
W3.2 Task focus addressed (AO5 cap)
Proposed developing pending adjudication: three logged on-task timed pieces, each with a number (attempts 5, 6, 7).
W4.2 Structure: a shift that changes the scene
Second unaided timed instance needed before secure; 9 Sep instance was untimed.
W4.3 Structure: cyclical ending
Term recognised from options, not recalled on an open ask (13 Oct); no returning image in the final sentence on 6 Oct or 13 Oct. Next: the returned image placed in the final sentence.
T1.1 No comma splices
Never yet tested whether she catches a splice when one is present - her checks have found 0 because there were 0 (15 Sep, 22 Sep, 6 Oct).
T1.2 Demarcation consistently secure (L3/4 gate)
Capital after a fronted-clause comma did not recur on 13 Oct (0 of 2). Now: the full stop after the very last word, missing or not visible on 6 Oct and 13 Oct. Next timed piece: that as the one named check.
T5.1 New paragraph at every shift
13 Oct: 1 break of 1 shift in ~98 words, so thin. Needs a timed piece with three or more shifts; keep the paragraph line as its own message, typed back.
T5.2 Standard English, agreement, tense consistency
fierce and weird to retest cold; ie/ei words.

Resources

For the whole subject
notes AQA 8700 specification (live web version) — THE document. Subject content, AOs (AO6 = 20% of the GCSE), scheme of assessment, Spoken Language endorsement (NEA administration section).
paper 8700/1 June 2017 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
notes English Language syllabus (Paige, June 2027) — decomposed from AQA 8700 — File held by the parent: english-language-syllabus.md (5 Sep 2026). Decomposes spec 3.1.1–3.1.3 into the R/V/W/T/X/E x.y refs in this tracker, with the 34-week scheme of work, dated checkpoints (13 Nov, 11 Dec, 29 Jan, 12 Mar, 30 Apr), terminology set and coverage audit. No URL — ask the parent for the file or its hosted copy.
notes Branching Story project — stimulus policy — Approved by parent 9 Sep 2026. Paige's own choose-your-own-path story is the default stimulus for UNTIMED W-strand teaching and practice (W1-W4) until Dec 2026. All timed work stays on unseen AQA prompts: Tue 13:00 timed handwritten block, the Nov P1 Q5 check, the Dec P1 mock, and every mock thereafter. Reason: she must stay adaptable to an unseen prompt, not fluent on a rehearsed one.
notes Placement paper 1 re-work — teaching sequence (parent decision 30 Sep 2026) — Test 3 (lighthouse text) is re-worked in lessons, one question per lesson, re-marked on its stored scheme: (1) language question from her own quotation; (2) structure question, current wording, after the hyena paragraph closes; (3) 20-mark 'do you agree' shape taught here first, then written with hints. Re-marks go in the summary as 'was X, now Y with hints': not an attempt, not promotion evidence. Proof: same three types, unseen text, no hints, in a later Wednesday paper.
notes AQA news: GCSE English Language updates to assessments for summer 2026 onwards — Applies to her June 2027 sitting. P1 Q1 multiple choice; Q3 single structural effect; Q5 narrative = story opening, image as inspiration; mark scheme gains a 'typical features' column. Marks, timings and AOs unchanged.
paper 8700/1 June 2018 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
practice Branching Story — day brief (9 Sep 2026) — Self-paced day, 5 modules. M1 branch map: 5-min timed skeleton (W3.1) then branch points that change the scene (W4.2). M2 one node handwritten 200-250 words: three specific non-sight senses (W1.2), paragraph break AT the shift (W4.2), 5-min self-hunt for comma splices, count reported (T1.1/T1.2). M3 loop path with the final line decided BEFORE writing it (W4.3). M4 transfers to Literature. M5 free writing.
paper AQA 8700 Paper 1 Sample set 1 question paper (2026 format) — THE model Paper 1 for 2027. Uses the June 2023 insert (stored separately). Use for Q1/Q3/Q5 practice in the new format.
paper 8700/1 June 2019 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
paper AQA 8700 Paper 1 insert — June 2023 (also the insert for Sample set 1) — The fiction source booklet for both the June 2023 paper and the 2026-format sample paper.
paper 8700/1 June 2020 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam. PMT label 'June 2020' = the November 2020 sitting (no June 2020 exams).
paper AQA 8700 Paper 1 Sample set 1 mark scheme v1.1 (2026 format) — FOR THE MARKER. AO5/AO6 ladders with the new 'typical features' column. Mark against this for any 2026-format paper.
paper 8700/1 June 2022 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
paper AQA 8700 Paper 2 Sample set 1 question paper (2026) — Paper 2 is unchanged in structure; this is the refreshed sample. Insert likely the June 2023 P2 insert (not confirmed by AQA).
paper 8700/1 June 2023 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
paper AQA 8700 Paper 2 Sample set 1 mark scheme v1.0 (2026) — FOR THE MARKER. Paper 2 reading ladders (Q2 summary, Q3 language, Q4 compare) and the AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/1 June 2024 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
paper AQA 8700 Paper 2 insert — June 2023 — Two non-fiction sources (one 19th-century) for the June 2023 Paper 2.
paper 8700/1 June 2025 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
paper AQA 8700 Paper 2 question paper — June 2023 — Full past paper; pair with the June 2023 P2 insert. Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027.
paper 8700/1 November 2017 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
other AQA 8700 assessment resources page (all series: papers, inserts, mark schemes, examiner reports) — Canonical home of every paper and examiner report. File list renders in-browser only; individual PDFs are stored separately as added.
paper 8700/1 November 2018 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
paper PMT index: AQA English Language Paper 1 past papers, inserts & mark schemes (2017–2025) — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): valid for Q2, Q4 and Q5; use the 2026 Sample set 1 for Q1 and Q3. Nov 2020/2021 are labelled 'June'.
paper 8700/1 November 2019 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
paper PMT index: AQA English Language Paper 2 past papers, inserts & mark schemes (2017–2025) — Paper 2 is unchanged for 2027 — every series is fully valid practice.
paper 8700/1 November 2021 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
other AQA GCSE subject grade boundaries — June 2025 (8700 row: /160) — 8700: 9=119 8=109 7=100 6=91 5=82 4=73 3=54 2=35 1=16. These are the boundaries stored on this subject. AQA hub: https://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/results-days/grade-boundaries
paper 8700/1 November 2022 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
other AQA GCSE exam timetable May/June 2027 (version 1.0) — 8700/1 Monday 24 May 2027 am; 8700/2 Tuesday 8 June 2027 am; 8700/C Spoken Language submit by 7 May 2027. Confirm with the centre.
paper 8700/1 November 2023 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
other AQA private candidates page — PARENT: confirm the centre enters 8700 for external candidates AND whether it will administer the Spoken Language endorsement (8700/C). If not, the certificate shows Not Classified; the 9–1 grade is unaffected.
paper 8700/1 November 2024 — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam.
paper 8700/1 Specimen — question paper — OLD FORMAT (pre-2026): use for Q2, Q4, Q5 only; Q1 and Q3 differ from the 2027 exam. Original 2015 specimen.
paper 8700/1 June 2017 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 June 2018 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 June 2019 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 June 2020 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper. PMT label 'June 2020' = the November 2020 sitting (no June 2020 exams).
paper 8700/1 June 2022 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 June 2023 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper. Also the insert for the 2026-format Sample set 1.
paper 8700/1 June 2024 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 June 2025 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 November 2017 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 November 2018 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 November 2019 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 November 2021 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 November 2022 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper. Redacted copyright text — source may be incomplete.
paper 8700/1 November 2023 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 November 2024 — insert (Source A, fiction) — Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/1 June 2017 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 June 2018 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 June 2019 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 June 2020 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027. PMT label 'June 2020' = the November 2020 sitting (no June 2020 exams).
paper 8700/1 June 2022 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 June 2023 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 June 2024 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 June 2025 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 November 2017 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 November 2018 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 November 2019 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 November 2021 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 November 2022 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 November 2023 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 November 2024 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027.
paper 8700/1 Specimen — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Four-level reading ladders; AO5 (24) and AO6 (16) writing ladders; indicative standard column. Old-format scheme: Q1 and Q3 marked differently from 2027. Original 2015 specimen.
paper 8700/2 June 2017 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 June 2018 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 June 2019 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 June 2020 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid. PMT label 'June 2020' = the November 2020 sitting (no June 2020 exams).
paper 8700/2 June 2022 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 June 2023 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 June 2024 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 June 2025 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 November 2017 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 November 2018 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 November 2019 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 November 2021 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 November 2022 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 November 2024 — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid.
paper 8700/2 Specimen — question paper — Paper 2 format unchanged for 2027 — fully valid. Original 2015 specimen.
paper 8700/2 June 2017 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 June 2018 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 June 2019 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 June 2020 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. PMT label 'June 2020' = the November 2020 sitting.
paper 8700/2 June 2022 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 June 2023 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 June 2024 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 June 2025 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 November 2017 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 November 2018 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 November 2019 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 November 2021 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 November 2022 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 November 2024 — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Read with the matching question paper.
paper 8700/2 Specimen — insert (Sources A & B) — Two non-fiction sources, one 19th-century. Original 2015 specimen.
paper 8700/2 June 2017 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 June 2018 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 June 2019 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 June 2020 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders. PMT label 'June 2020' = the November 2020 sitting.
paper 8700/2 June 2022 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 June 2023 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 June 2024 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 June 2025 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 November 2017 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 November 2018 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 November 2019 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 November 2021 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 November 2022 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 November 2023 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders. No PMT question paper/insert for this series — mark scheme only.
paper 8700/2 November 2024 — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders.
paper 8700/2 Specimen — mark scheme — FOR THE MARKER. Q2 summary (AO1), Q3 language (AO2), Q4 compare (AO3) ladders; AO5/AO6 writing ladders. Original 2015 specimen.
E1 · Presentation prepared (topic, structure, notes)
notes AQA non-exam assessment guide: Spoken language endorsement (8700/C) — PARENT: hub for AQA's official notes and guidance, student record form and audio-visual evidence rules. Needed because a centre must administer and record this for an external candidate. Link-verified.
video Oak: Spoken language masters - refining public speaking skills (Y11 AQA) — Free, no login. Vocal technique, pace, pause, projection - use for the rehearse-three-times step (E1.3). Link-verified.
video Oak: Spoken language - the language of change (topic choice and idea development) — Free, no login. Contains a 'choosing a speech topic and developing ideas' lesson - use at the E1.1 stage to pick a 5-8 minute topic with a viewpoint. Link-verified.
E2 · Presentation delivered with Q&A (centre-administered)
notes AQA NEA guide - Spoken language endorsement delivery and recording requirements — PARENT: E2 is delivered and recorded by the exam centre - no online resource can cover it. This guide holds the audio-visual evidence rules and student record form the centre must use. Delivery cannot be planned until the centre confirms it will run 8700/C. Link-verified.
R1 · P1 Q1: multiple-choice retrieval (4)
notes Seneca 3.1.2: Paper 1 Q1 retrieval (OLD FORMAT - skill only) — Free sign-up. CAVEAT: teaches the OLD 'list four things' Q1, NOT the 2026 multiple choice. Use ONLY for the underlying skill of locating explicit information inside given lines; then practise the real format on the 2026 Sample set 1 paper. URL slug follows the confirmed 3-1-x pattern but was not opened directly - check it resolves.
practice AQA 8700 Paper 1 Sample set 1 - use Q1 for the NEW multiple-choice format — The ONLY format-current material for the new multiple-choice Q1. 4 marks, 5 minutes. Do Q1 in isolation from this paper rather than teaching it from any pre-2026 page. Paper and its June 2023 insert are already stored subject-wide.
R2 · P1 Q2: language analysis (8)
notes BBC Bitesize: AQA GCSE English Language hub (UNVERIFIED LINK - check before use) — NOT LINK-VERIFIED - Bitesize blocks automated checking. Confirm it loads before showing her. Gateway to the SPaG guides that would fill T1, T2 and T4. Skip any page phrasing Q1 as 'list four things' or Q5 as a whole story.
notes Seneca 3.1.3: Paper 1 Q2 language analysis — Free sign-up required. Q2 is UNCHANGED for 2027 - fully valid. Use for word to connotation to effect, and for staying inside the given lines. Link-verified.
practice Seneca 2.1.13: All language devices — Free sign-up. Terminology reference - use it to name a method accurately AFTER she has spotted an effect, never as a checklist to hunt through. Link-verified.
video Mr Bruff: AQA English Language Paper 1 Q2, 2026 onwards (UNVERIFIED LINK - check before use) — NOT LINK-VERIFIED. One of the few sources teaching the NEW format explicitly. Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCM2vdqz-7e4HAuzhpFuRY8w - has companion 2026 videos for Q1, Q3, Q4 and story openings.
notes Seneca 1.1.3: Sentence types — Free sign-up. Serves R2.3 (sentence forms as language) and doubles as the teaching page for T3 sentence variety. Link-verified.
R2.1 · Q2: word/phrase → connotation → effect
notes R2 'the chain' — definition and teaching rule (parent, 21 Sep 2026) — 'The chain' = the P1 Q2 analysis move: (1) QUOTE one word/short phrase; (2) MEANING — what the word means or makes you picture; (3) EFFECT — what it makes the reader feel about the character/place. Frame: The writer uses '___'. This suggests ___. This makes the reader feel ___. TEACH IT DIRECTLY: state the three steps, show a full worked chain, then she does one with the steps on screen. Do NOT hint or question until she guesses (failed 18 and 21 Sep).
practice Practice lesson: the 8-mark loop, language question (example, 30 Sep 2026) — Opens an English Language block, about 20 min, fresh short extract each time. Watch one: tutor shows a full worked chain on a text that isn't hers. Steps on screen: she writes one chain (quote, suggests, reader). Steps hidden: one chain, no mention of steps. Timed only once hidden works: 8 marks, 10 min, 3 chains. Move up a level after two unaided hits on different texts. Baseline 2/8 on 30 Sep.
notes R2 'the chain' — when to use it — Use the chain whenever a question says 'How does the writer use language...' (P1 Q2, P2 Q3, inside P1 Q4 and Lit essays). Aim: 3 chains in 10 min for Q2. Quote with no meaning step = feature-spotting (L1). Quote + meaning, no effect = L2. All three steps, specific, with a named method (verb, adjective, simile) = L3. Never use it for Q1 (facts) or Q3 (structure/order).
video Mr Bruff: AQA English Language Paper 1 Question 2 (the language question) — Watch BEFORE the next R2 session, whole video. Explains what the question asks and shows word → meaning → effect on real text. Pause at his first example and copy it as a model.
video Mr Bruff: a full-mark response to English Language Paper 1 Q2 (Nov 2018) — A complete 8/8 answer built live. Copy the shape, not the content: count the chains, find the three steps in each.
notes BBC Bitesize: AQA English Language Paper 1 — sample exam question and answer — Short read. Worked Q2 answer with the 'how language is used' steps. For her to read alone before a session.
notes Save My Exams: Paper 1 Question 2 skills — language analysis (AQA 8700) — Plain definition of what Q2 tests (AO2), a methods table with example effects, and the what/how/effect breakdown that is the chain under another name. Companion page has a full annotated model answer.
R3 · P1 Q3: one structural effect across the source (8)
notes BBC Bitesize: Language and structure guide zq6vg82 (UNVERIFIED LINK - check before use) — NOT LINK-VERIFIED, though the guide code is corroborated by BBC's own video description. Includes an annotating-for-structure page useful for R5.1. Quiz at /test. CAVEAT: pre-2026 Q3 wording.
notes Mr Salles: 2026 changes to Paper 1 Question 3 (UNVERIFIED LINK - check before use) — NOT LINK-VERIFIED. Free to read. Directly addresses the single-named-effect Q3 that replaces the old open question - the exact gap in the Seneca pages. Companion piece: /p/question-3-paper-1-examiners-advice
notes Seneca 2.2.8: Structure — Free sign-up. CAVEAT: written for the pre-2026 open Q3 ('interest the reader'). The features and effects are valid; retrain her to track ONE named effect start-middle-end. Link-verified.
notes Seneca 3.1.5: Paper 1 Q3 structure question — Free sign-up. CAVEAT: OLD Q3 wording. Skill transfers; question shape does not. Pair with AQA's 2026 sample paper for the real format. Link-verified.
R3.1 · Q3: name one structural effect
practice Practice lesson: the 8-mark loop, structure question (example, 30 Sep 2026) — Alternates with the language loop, about 20 min. Same four stages, using her headings what / where / why: the moment, its position (start, turn, end), what the reader thinks there. She must name the ending or pivot unprompted and give a reason for the effect. Round 1 is the open hyena paragraph (session 47). 2026 format: one structural effect. Baseline 2/8 on 30 Sep.
R4 · P1 Q4: evaluate a statement (20)
notes AQA command words for 8700 (Evaluate, Analyse, Compare, Summarise) — AQA's own definition of each command word. 'Evaluate' = state how you react when reading the text. Read this before any Q4 attempt, and again for V3/V4 (Analyse, Compare). Link-verified.
notes Seneca 3.1.6: Paper 1 Q4 evaluate — Free sign-up. Largely valid - 2026 only drops the 'a student said' framing. Use for taking a view, 'this works because', and partly-agree responses. 20 marks, 20 minutes. Link-verified.
R5 · P1: reading & annotating the source in 15 min
notes Physics & Maths Tutor: AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1 exam guides — Free, no account needed. Two guides - Section A and Section B. CAVEAT: page still describes the pre-2026 Q1 and a whole-story Q5. Use for Q2/Q4 method and general paper approach. Link-verified.
video Oak: Step into the unknown - fiction reading and creative writing (KS3) — Free, no login. Inference, perspective and atmosphere in fiction openings. Videos watch-on-site only; slides and worksheets are downloadable (OGL v3.0). Link-verified.
T1 · Sentence demarcation & comma splices
video Oak KS3: Recapping the basics - simple sentences, fused sentences, capital letters — Free, no login. Contains lessons on FUSED SENTENCES and on complete vs incomplete sentences - the direct teaching for comma splices and demarcation. Pitched below her level, which is right for a fix-it topic: fast, low-stakes, no shame. Link-verified.
video Oak KS3: Grammar for writing (unit) — Free, no login. General grammar-for-writing unit; use alongside the fused-sentences work for T1.2 and for T5.2 agreement and tense. Link-verified.
T1.1 · No comma splices
practice Branching Story — stimulus for this topic — Branching Story M2: 5-minute self-hunt on her own node, splice count reported by her, not found for her. She is the editor of her own text, which is the motivation for catching them unprompted.
T2 · Punctuation range used accurately (; : —)
video Oak KS4 AQA: Using punctuation to create specific effects in descriptive writing — Free, no login. Semicolon, colon, brackets and ellipsis, each tied to an EFFECT rather than a list. Key learning point matches our rule: advanced punctuation used sparingly, and a right full stop beats a wrong semicolon. Slides, worksheet and two quizzes downloadable. Link-verified.
T3 · Sentence variety for effect
notes Seneca 1.1.3: Sentence types (variety for effect) — Free sign-up. Simple/compound/complex and the short sentence for effect (T3.1, T3.2). Same page also serves R2.3. Link-verified.
video Oak KS4 AQA: How punctuation and sentence structures create impact — Free, no login. The preceding lesson in the same unit - punctuation and sentence structure together, on 'The War of the Worlds'. Serves T2 and T3 in one sitting. Link-verified.
T4 · Spelling incl. ambitious vocabulary
practice Oak KS3: Mastering confused words and homophones — Free, no login. their/they're/there, its/it's, practise/practice - the homophones that cost AO6 marks (T4.3). Short and self-contained. Link-verified.
T5 · Paragraphing at shifts of time/place/idea
notes Seneca 2.2.2: Paragraphs — Free sign-up. New paragraph at every shift of time, place or idea (T5.1). Link-verified.
T5.1 · New paragraph at every shift
practice Branching Story — stimulus for this topic — Branching Story M2: paragraph break marked AT the shift in every node. Named in session 13 as the cheapest AO5 lift available; the branch form makes each shift explicit, so the break has an obvious home.
V1 · P2 Q1: four true statements (4)
practice Seneca 5.2.2: Paper 2 Q1 four true statements — Free sign-up. Paper 2 is UNCHANGED for 2027 - fully valid. 4 marks, 5 minutes. Link-verified.
V2 · P2 Q2: summary / synthesis of both sources (8)
notes Seneca 5.2.3: Paper 2 Q2 summary and synthesis — Free sign-up. Fully valid. Use for inferring rather than paraphrasing, and for the rule that Q2 carries NO language analysis. 8 marks, 10 minutes. Link-verified.
video Oak: Non-fiction - crime and punishment (Y10 AQA) — Free, no login. Paired non-fiction sources - good general practice across V1-V4. Link-verified.
V3 · P2 Q3: language in one source (12)
notes Seneca 5.2.4: Paper 2 Q3 language in one source — Free sign-up. Fully valid. Three developed points, each with method and effect. 12 marks, 12 minutes. Link-verified.
V4 · P2 Q4: compare writers' viewpoints & methods (16)
notes Seneca 5.2.6: Paper 2 Q4 compare viewpoints and methods — Free sign-up. Fully valid. Perspectives first, then methods; both sources in every paragraph. 16 marks, 18 minutes. Link-verified.
video Oak: Non-fiction - changing views (Y10 AQA) — Free, no login. Strong for tone, form, audience and purpose treated AS methods (V4.4). Also feeds W6. Link-verified.
V5 · Reading 19th-century non-fiction
video Oak: Victorian childhood - non-fiction reading and writing (KS3) — Free, no login. The best free entry point for 19th-century vocabulary and long sentences (V5.1) before she meets a real Paper 2 Source A. Link-verified.
video Oak: Women's rights across the ages - non-fiction (KS3) — Free, no login. Use for bias and unsupported statements in older non-fiction (V5.3). Also feeds W6. Link-verified.
W1 · Descriptive writing: one mood, chosen senses
video Oak Writing masters L8: language techniques and precise vocabulary for excellent descriptions — Free, no login. The spine resource for the banker question. One mood, crafted imagery, senses beyond sight. Slides and worksheet downloadable; video watch-on-site. Link-verified.
notes Seneca 4.1.2: Descriptive writing — Free sign-up. Largely valid. CAVEAT: from 2026 the image is inspiration only, not a checklist to describe - W1.3. Link-verified.
video Oak: Rewriting a description using ambitious language and colour imagery — Free, no login. Good redraft exercise - she improves an existing description rather than facing a blank page. Also feeds W7.2. Link-verified.
W1.2 · Descriptive: chosen non-sight senses
practice Branching Story — stimulus for this topic — Branching Story M2: each written node must carry three non-sight senses, each ONE named thing rather than a category (a jackdaw, not a bird; burnt milk, not cooking). Branch text is short, so the rule is enforceable node by node.
W2 · Narrative opening: hook, character, tension, stop
video Oak Writing masters L10: emotion-led plot and detailed description for excellent narrative — Free, no login. CAVEAT: teaches a complete narrative. For 2027 apply the craft to the OPENING only and stop - no rushed ending (W2.5). Link-verified.
notes Seneca 4.1.3: Narrative writing — Free sign-up. CAVEAT: whole-story model, pre-2026. Use for hook and character; ignore its plot-resolution advice. Link-verified.
W3 · Five-minute plan (mood/structure/scene/senses/last line)
video Oak Writing masters L7: shifts in focus and single paragraph outlines to plan description — Free, no login. Closest free match to the five-line plan (mood/structure/four things/senses/last line). Adapt its outline to her five lines. Link-verified.
W3.1 · Five-minute plan on the page
practice Branching Story — stimulus for this topic — Branching Story M1: the branch map IS the plan on the page. 5-minute timed skeleton, all branches to the last ending, before any prose. Gives the second independent timed plan this ref needs for secure.
W4 · Structure choices: zoom, shift, cyclical
video Oak: Dystopian settings - descriptive writing (KS3) — Free, no login. Zoom in/zoom out, a shift that changes the scene, paragraph rhythm. Link-verified.
W4.2 · Structure: a shift that changes the scene
practice Branching Story — stimulus for this topic — Branching Story M1/M2: a branch point that doesn't change the scene isn't a branch point. The form makes the shift structural rather than decorative, so it cannot be written without being noticed.
W4.3 · Structure: cyclical ending
practice Branching Story — stimulus for this topic — Branching Story M3: design one path that returns the reader to the opening, changed. The final line is written down FIRST, before the path — which is the planning-stage decision this ref is waiting on.
W5 · Transactional: form, audience, purpose & register
notes Seneca 6.2.1: Paper 2 writing - article (sidebar links to essay, leaflet, letter, speech) — Free sign-up. Fully valid. 6.2.2-6.2.5 cover the other forms - navigate via the sidebar. Form conventions matched to audience. Link-verified.
video Oak: Non-fiction - letter writing (Y10 AQA) — Free, no login. Letter conventions, tone and register (W5.1, W5.2). Link-verified.
W6 · Transactional: line of argument & counter
video Oak Writing masters L3: openings, cohesion and endings to structure an effective argument — Free, no login. One-line thesis, counter-argument, call to action (W6.1, W6.4, W6.7). Link-verified.
video Oak Writing masters L5: nominalised verbs and adjectives to write effective arguments — Free, no login. Sharpens argument style; also feeds W7.2 ambitious accurate vocabulary. Link-verified.
notes Seneca 6.3.7: Writing to argue — Free sign-up. Fully valid. Rhetorical devices used with purpose, not listed (W6.5). Link-verified.
W7 · Sustaining crafting to the last paragraph
video Oak Writing masters L2: perspective, tone and punctuation to craft a clear voice — Free, no login. Sustaining craft and voice; the punctuation element also supports T2. Link-verified.
X1 · Timing across a whole paper
notes AQA 8700 scheme of assessment (paper structure, timings, SLE criteria) — The authoritative source for both papers being 1h45 / 80 marks / 50% each, and for the Spoken Language Pass-Merit-Distinction criteria. Link-verified.
notes Seneca 3.1.1: Paper 1 Section A overview (timing per mark) — Free sign-up. Gives the 1-1.5 minutes per mark rule and the reading-time allowance. Use when rehearsing the order of attack (X4.1). Link-verified.
X2 · Handwritten stamina: 45 min continuous
paper Handwriting stamina - use the 2026 sample paper Q5, timed on paper — No page teaches stamina - it is built by doing. Protocol: handwrite Q5 for 45 min unbroken, on paper, fortnightly, photographed. Use the 2026 sample paper's Q5 so the format is current. Build from 20 to 45 min if needed.
X3 · Self-check in the last 5 minutes
paper Last-five-minutes self-check - AO6 ladder from the 2026 mark scheme — Protocol, not a page: last 5 minutes of any timed piece, read it back hunting ONE thing only - the session's AO6 focus. Comma splices first. Mark the checks on the script so the habit is visible. Pair with the AO6 ladder in the 2026 mark scheme.

Papers & checks

Exam practice — week 43 · lang, lit, cs — GCSE English Language section
2026-10-21 · tier U · 0 blanks
exam-skills #10 7/13 · 0 blank · 3 questions recorded
Exam Skills test #10, typed on the portal, sat 36 min for the whole paper.
7/13
54% · no grade
8700/1 Q5 description — harbour on a winter morning before the boats go out (tutor-set 2026-format prompt, timed, handwritten)
2026-10-20 · tier F · 0 blanks
8700/1 Q5 16/40 · 0 blank · 1 questions recorded — Timed handwritten, five-line plan on the page, about 30 minutes of writing (14:27-14:57), about 75 words in six one-sentence paragraphs. Photo sideways, some letters provisional. Her own count of events in the piece: 6 (tutor counted 4). Planned last line (clouds on the horizon) and planned sea salt not in the piece; named check not run as her own check.
Timed handwritten check, planned. Swapped with her CS block at her request; sat 14:27-14:57 against the Tuesday timed block (14:21 plan). Single Q5, never converted to a grade.
16/40
40% · no grade
8700/1 Q5 description — forest on a winter morning (tutor-set 2026-format prompt, timed, handwritten)
2026-10-13 · tier U · 0 blanks
8700/1 15/40 · 0 blank · 2 questions recorded — Q5 only, description option. Planned, handwritten, timed 30 min. Writing-task blanks 0. Plan in photo: mood 'abandand'; structure line 'forest, cave and campsite' (places, fourth time; 'cyclical' typed in chat at 13:25 is not on the plan in the photo); four-things line not readable; senses 'sound, sight and smell' (smell not used); last line left blank. The paragraph line IS on the plan (top right), first time. One paragraph break, at the shift from camp to cave. Planned things used 2 of 4 (camp, cave; no Greek sign, no shoe). Full stop after 'alown' and at the end of the piece read provisionally: neither is visible.
Shape C, 5th timed handwritten Q5 (8, 15, 22 Sep, 6 Oct, 13 Oct). Prompt, text only: 'Describe a forest early on a winter morning. One place, one moment - nothing happens.' Before the timer: four things typed at 13:11 (an abandoned camp, a maze-like cave, a sign in ancient Greek, one shoe); paragraph line given as its own message and typed back word for word at 13:14; plan on paper 13:15-13:22 (5 min set, about 7 used); structure word asked: 'camp' (a place), then 'cyclical' chosen from three offered. Write window cut to 30 min by the clock, 13:26-13:55; photos arrived 13:57 with no message; about 98 words (~3 wpm; 6 Oct ~133 words in 35 min). Whether she wrote to the timer is not known. One named check at 13:58: letter after each comma, reported 0, verified 0 of 2. 0 blank. Marked from two webcam photos of red pen.
15/40
38% · no grade
Exam practice — week 41 — GCSE English Language section
2026-10-07 · tier U · 0 blanks
exam-skills #7 4/12 · 0 blank · 2 questions recorded
Exam Skills test #7, typed on the portal, sat 30 min for the whole paper.
4/12
33% · no grade
8700/1 Q5 description — railway station at night (tutor-set 2026-format prompt, timed, handwritten)
2026-10-06 · tier F · 0 blanks
8700/1 20/40 · 0 blank · 1 questions recorded — Q5 only, description option. Planned, handwritten, timed. Writing-task blanks 0. Plan in photo: 'cyclical' at the top; mood 'empty'; structure line 'an empty train platform' (a place again, third time, though the structure word was given in chat and written above); four things: two listed ('the smell of rain and dust, the temperature'); senses 'touch and smell' (smell not used in the piece; sound used instead); last line planned and delivered word for word. Plan lines 6 ('new paragraph every time the camera moves') and 7 ('no events') were asked for and are NOT on the plan in the photo, so the read-aloud of line 6 had nothing to read. Check: lowercase after a full stop reported 0, verified 0; comma followed by a new sentence reported 0, verified 0 splices (nothing present to catch); 'anything else you noticed?' answered 'no' inside one minute. Not caught, not a named target: capital 'You' after a fronted 'As you...' clause x2, 6 spelling slips, 5 past-tense verbs.
Shape C, 4th timed handwritten Q5. Prompt: 'Write a description of a railway station late at night, as suggested by this picture' (picture given in words: empty platform after rain, one lamp on). Structure word asked before the timer: 'cyclical', first reply. Plan 13:06-13:12 on paper. Write window 13:12-13:47: she said she was finished at 13:23 (~67 words, one block); two tutor prompts to keep writing ('one close-up paragraph on the thing you said least about, star where it goes') produced a 43-word and a 23-word paragraph by 13:44. Check 13:44-13:49, two targets in two separate messages, then one unnamed question. ~133 words in the window (~4 wpm overall; ~6 wpm in the first 11 min). 0 blank. Marked from webcam photos of pencil: punctuation after 'platform' and 'edge' read provisionally.
20/40
50% · no grade
Resit — English Language Paper 2, Q3 and Q4 — GCSE English Language section
2026-10-02 · tier U · 0 blanks
exam-skills #6 7/28 · 0 blank · 2 questions recorded
Exam Skills test #6, typed on the portal, sat 19 min for the whole paper.
7/28
25% · no grade
Placement — English Language Paper 2 Section A — GCSE English Language section
2026-10-02 · tier U · 0 blanks
exam-skills #5 7/40 · 0 blank · 4 questions recorded
Exam Skills test #5, typed on the portal, sat 26 min for the whole paper.
7/40
18% · no grade
Placement — English Language Paper 1 Section A — GCSE English Language section
2026-09-30 · tier U · 0 blanks
exam-skills #3 9/40 · 0 blank · 4 questions recorded
Exam Skills test #3, typed on the portal, sat 32 min for the whole paper.
9/40
23% · no grade
8700/1 Q5 description — abandoned pool (tutor-set 2026-format prompt, timed, handwritten)
2026-09-22 · tier F · 0 blanks
8700/1 21/40 · 0 blank · 1 questions recorded — Q5 only. Planned. Handwritten, timed 30 min write.
Shape C, 3rd timed handwritten Q5. 5 plan / 30 write / 5 check, pencil, photographed. Description option. Plan inside 5 min; structure line held a setting, fixed to 'zoom: pool → changing rooms' after a binary prompt. ~155 words / 30 min (~5 wpm). 0 blank. Two-target check: reported '0' (one number for two targets); verified 0 splices, 0 capitals after comma. Typed copy silently fixed 'a empty', 'came', 'all'; marked on the paper. 21/40, same total as 8 and 15 Sep.
21/40
53% · no grade
P1 Q5 timed handwritten check — story opening, tutor-set 2026-format prompt (15 Sep 2026)
2026-09-15 · tier F · 0 blanks
8700/1 Q5 21/40 · 0 blank · 2 questions recorded — AO5 13/24 (L3 lower, bottom) + AO6 8/16 (L2 top) = 21/40. Same total as the 8 Sep check (attempt 5) but composed differently: comma splices gone, paragraphing at every shift, planned cyclical ending; loss moved to spelling of everyday words and thin, borrowed setting/character.
Fortnightly Shape C outing, Tuesday 13:00 timed handwritten block. Tutor-set prompt in the 2026 shape (competition judged by peers; EITHER description suggested by a picture of a closed winter lido OR the opening of a story about being somewhere you shouldn't be). She chose the story opening. 5 plan / 30 write / 5 check; pencil, three photographs; 29 of 30 minutes writing; ~200 words; plan present with all five lines and the last line used verbatim. Writing-task blanks 0; big-reading blanks n/a. Marked against the 2026 Sample set 1 AO5/AO6 ladders. Single Q5 — level and mark only, never a grade.
21/40
53% · no grade
"The Wreck" — Q5 descriptive, 2026-format practice task (timed, handwritten)
2026-09-08 · tier F · 0 blanks
8700/1 Q5 (practice task) 21/40 · 0 blank · 1 questions recorded — Writing-task blanks: 0 — attempted in full through to a finished ending; the blank-the-big-question habit did not appear. Plan written independently under timing (4 of 5 lines; last line blank, arrived during writing). Drifted from description into narrative journey (bird, snake, temple) — not penalised by AQA, noted against W1.5.
First timed handwritten writing outing on the record. 2026-format task (image as inspiration only): deserted beach at first light, wrecked boat half-buried. 35 min: 5 plan / 25 write / 5 check. Approx 170 words in 25 min — stamina baseline.
21/40
53% · no grade

Sessions, by week

2026-W43 · week of 2026-10-19

2026-10-23 ✓ reviewed unfinished
The learner isolated one word and said what it adds beyond the plain meaning on 2 of 2 cold contrast items and on 3 of 3 quotations from a fresh passage, with a reader line on each - the 'suggests' half that was literal on 21 Oct. Exam-technique block 11:02-11:40 (block 30). Starter with aids typed back: rolled 1/1 (rolded x2 on 21 Oct), before 1/1 (befer). Cold, no model, no contrast pair needed: 'clawed' vs 'blew' - 'ready fierce and is like a wild animal'; 'swallowed' vs 'covered' - 'the fog is a hungry beast'. Two-minute break. Apply: fresh tutor-written station passage, three quotations, 10 min set 11:20-11:30, named check 'a word named and a reader line on all three'. One quotation at 11:30 (crept - a living thing - uneasy); six more minutes given to 11:36, the other two arrived 11:40 (decide - living thing - uneasy; thicker - living thing - weird). 3/3 word named, 3/3 reader line, suggestions valid on crept and decide, a stretch on thicker; about 5/6 on the 2-marks-each shape, target 5+/6 met, but 20 minutes against the 10 set. The same suggestion ('a living thing') was reused on all three. Typed slips: freirce (fierce 1/1 cold on 16 Oct), wierd, 'ready' for really, lowercase sentence starts 'this makes'/'the use' x4. 7 items set, 7 answered, 0 blank. She left at 11:40 for the Lit block; two closing lines not written; 'please log' at 13:02. Not run (writing block): new line for each speaker in her story passage; harbour piece last line and reread.
R2 Gap → Developing — 23 Oct: language-question shape on a fresh unseen tutor passage, unaided, three quotations: 3/3 single word named (crept, decide, thicker), 3/3 reader line (uneasy, uneasy, weird), suggestion beyond the literal on 2-3 of 3; about 5/6. First time both halves present together (21 Oct: effect only; 9 and 16 Oct: literal). Not a marked attempt. Took 20 min against 10 set.
R2.1 Developing → Developing — 23 Oct: cold, no model, no contrast pair shown: clawed vs blew - 'like a wild animal'; swallowed vs covered - 'a hungry beast' (2/2 beyond the plain meaning). Fresh passage: 3/3 word named, suggestions valid on crept and decide, 'living thing' reused on thicker. First unaided instance at the band; second needed on a different task in another session.
R2.2 Developing → Developing — 23 Oct: reader line on 3/3 quotations ('makes the reader feel uneasy/uneasy/weird') with the check naming it, second session running (21 Oct 3/3). No because-clause on any today. Still untested without the check named.
T5.2 Gap → Gap — 23 Oct starter with aids given in the question: rolled 1/1 (roll + ed), before 1/1 (be + fore). Composed replies ~120 words: freirce (fierce was 1/1 cold 16 Oct), wierd, 'ready' for really; 4 sentence openings lowercase ('this makes', 'the use').
T1.2 Developing → Developing — 23 Oct typed untimed reading answers, 6 sentences: 4 open with a lowercase letter ('this makes the reader', 'the use of the word'), full stops present. No check asked for. Typed, so not a timed-piece data point.
Next: NEXT READING BLOCK: three quotations on a fresh short passage, ten minutes stopped at ten, instruction says only 'how does the writer use words to make the place feel like this' - no step names, no check named; count words named, reader lines, and whether the three suggestions are different ideas (23 Oct: 'a living thing' x3). Fewer than 2 of 3 with a word named: show the clawed/blew contrast once on a new sentence, then hers. Then 'what is happening' = the event, not the shift (owed since session 125) on one structure item. Spell fierce (f-i-e-r-c-e) and weird (w-e-i-r-d) cold first. NEXT WRITING BLOCK: new line for each speaker in her story passage; the harbour piece's planned last line added and a five-minute reread; then one more character shown by a detail inside the story. Two closing lines not written 23 Oct - ask for them first.
Unfinished: Two closing lines (what I did / what's next) not written at the 11:40 stop. Writing-block items still owed from 20 Oct: new line for each speaker in her story passage; harbour piece's planned last line and a five-minute reread. (T1.2, W4.3, W2.2)
2026-10-21 ✓ reviewed unfinished · closed
Reading block 15:41-16:17 after the timed paper (#10, 7/13). Opened on session 125's plan: the reader-effect clause on every language quotation. Leftovers from session 122 first: 'featureless' 1/1 cold, no notes (fetcherless/feterless on 20 Oct); 'says with enthusiasm' rewritten unaided in under a minute, no model on screen, feeling words banned: 'the little girl says as she starts to jump up and down' (W2.2). Teach: Seneca 3.1.3 page given as the resource; on her own paper word 'swallowed' with the starter 'makes the reader feel...' she wrote 'threatened, because you can't stop a hungry animal from eating' - suggestion, reader effect and reason. Confirm on 'pour', no starter: 'uneasy, because some things can't stop being poured' - 2/2. Apply: fresh tutor-written beach passage, three quotations, ten minutes by the clock after a two-minute break, named check 'all three have a reader line': sent at 16:15, 3 of 3 carry a reader feeling with a because (alone, timed [timid?], rushed). The 'suggests' half was literal on all three ('tide has gone out', 'wind is strong', 'sand full of water'), no single word isolated; about 4/6 on the paper's 2-marks-each shape. Same-day paper had 0/3 reader effects. Typed slips: rolded x2, befer, timed, 'tides out', 'somethings'. 5 items set, 5 answered, 0 blank, replies 1-5 min, task returned on time. Not run: new line for each speaker in her story passage; harbour piece last line and reread. Two closing lines written: 'I did english language, next is free time'.
R2.2 Gap → Developing — 21 Oct: fresh unseen tutor passage, three quotations, 10 min, unaided, named check 'all three have a reader line': 3 of 3 with a reader feeling and a because (alone, timid, rushed). Before it, 'swallowed' with a 'makes the reader' starter and 'pour' with none: 2/2 with reasons. Same-day paper 0/3. Effect half now lands when the check names it; at the developing bar.
R2.1 Developing → Developing — 21 Oct: 'suggests' lines literal on 3 of 3 fresh quotations ('tide has gone out', 'wind is strong', 'sand full of water'); no single word isolated though she quoted 'clawed'. On her own paper words the suggestions were valid (eating the landscape, fast and thick). Reader lines inferential. About 4/6 on the Q2 shape.
R2 Gap → Gap — 21 Oct: Q2-shape on a fresh passage, unaided, about 4/6 - the effect half present on all three, the suggests half literal. Not a marked attempt. Progress from 9 and 16 Oct (0 reader effects); stays gap until the suggests half goes beyond the plain meaning.
W2.2 Gap → Developing — 21 Oct: 'says with enthusiasm' rewritten as shown in under a minute, no model on screen, feeling words banned: 'the little girl says as she starts to jump up and down'. Second unaided shown sentence after 12 Oct's fidgeting woman. Still a single sentence, not yet inside her own passage.
T5.2 Gap → Gap — 21 Oct: featureless 1/1 cold, no notes (fetcherless, feterless on 20 Oct). Composed replies ~150 words: rolded x2, befer, timed (for timid?), 'tides out', 'somethings', 'that you can't'. Rolled and before to retest with aids.
Next: NEXT READING BLOCK: the 'suggests' half. Cold, one per message, no notes: in 'the wind clawed at Jamie's coat', name the one word doing the work and say what it adds that 'blew' would not; then the same on 'swallowed' vs 'covered'. If literal, one contrast pair shown on a different sentence, then hers. Then three quotations on a fresh passage, ten minutes, named check: one word named and a 'makes the reader' line on each; target 5+/6. Spell rolled (roll + ed) and before (be + fore) first. 'What is happening' = the event, not the shift - still owed from session 125. NEXT WRITING BLOCK: new line for each speaker in her story passage; the harbour piece's planned last line added and a five-minute reread; then one more character shown by a detail inside the story, not a single sentence.
Unfinished: From 20 Oct still owed: new line for each speaker in her story passage; harbour piece never got its planned last line or a five-minute reread. Spellings rolled and before to retest. (T1.2, W4.3, T5.2) — closed 2026-10-23 by session 135: completed in session 135
2026-10-21 ✓ reviewed
Paper #10 (Wednesday timed sitting, W43), English Language section: 7/13 in 11 min against a 14 min guide, 0 blank, answered first. Q1 2/3: 01.1 chose 'dusty ribbon' for today's sky (missed 'today'). Q2 2/4: all three strands addressed unprompted; 'what' strand restated the shift instead of the event, 'where' line 8 right, 'why' gave a reader expectation but no link to the calm opening. Q3 3/6: three quotations all from the right lines with a valid suggestion each, none with a reader effect though the question asks for one on each. All 6 lost marks are technique, not knowledge: she had the ideas and did not finish the answer shape.
R1 Developing → Developing — paper #10 Q1: 2/3, loss=technique — 01.1 picked the summer path image for today's sky; 01.2 and 01.3 right
R1.1 Not started → Not started — paper #10 Q1: 2/3, loss=technique — explicit detail 'Today the sky was the colour of dishwater' missed; two of three explicit retrievals right
R5.2 Not started → Not started — paper #10 Q1: 2/3, loss=technique — one of three multiple-choice parts missed on a line-range read
R3 Not started → Not started — paper #10 Q2: 2/4, loss=technique — three strands attempted unprompted; where right (line 8); what restated the shift with no event; why gave an expectation but no link to the opening
R3.1 Developing → Developing — paper #10 Q2: 2/4, loss=technique — identified the structural shift and its line but not the event at that moment
R3.2 Not started → Not started — paper #10 Q2: 2/4, loss=technique — effect of placing: 'big part of the story later', not tied to the calm 'not worried' opening
R2 Gap → Gap — paper #10 Q3: 3/6, loss=technique — 3 quotations from lines 8-16, 3 valid suggestions, 0 reader effects
R2.1 Developing → Developing — paper #10 Q3: 3/6, loss=technique — word choice read well ('swallowed' = eating the landscape, 'pour' = fast and thick)
R2.2 Gap → Gap — paper #10 Q3: 3/6, loss=technique — no effect on the reader written for any of the three quotations although asked for each
R2.4 Not started → Not started — paper #10 Q3: 3/6, loss=technique — three quotations chosen, all within the set lines, answer shape half complete
Next: Reader-effect clause: on every language quotation, 'suggests … / makes the reader …' as one line. Rerun Q3-style (3 quotes, 2 marks each) with the effect half as the named check. 'What is happening' = the event, not the shift.
2026-10-20 ✓ reviewed unfinished · closed
Timed handwritten harbour description (attempt logged separately: 16/40, AO5 9 / AO6 7, Level 2 on both). She fixed the comma splice in her story passage when told where it was, built a plan (four things, sea salt named from 'smell of the sea'), typed the paragraph rule back, wrote about 75 words in 30 minutes, counted six events in her own piece (right), then rewrote one event as a still sentence on the first try and spelled 'reflection' after a mnemonic. Planned last line and sea salt did not reach the piece; no five-minute reread was run. Session 121's splice fix and closing lines are done; the show-not-tell and speech-layout fixes are not. Ran after a block swap; her replies to the first steps took over an hour.
W1.5 Gap → Gap — 20 Oct timed handwritten harbour piece: one place held from line one, but six events by her own count (lit up, boats released, head to sea, waves fierce, storm seen, wind hit). Second drift in two timed pieces; held only on 6 Oct. Unaided.
W3.1 Secure → Secure — 20 Oct plan on page: mood, structure ('a harbour', a place for the fifth time), four things, sense, last line label with nothing readable. Last line typed in chat at 14:24 but not used. Adjudicate as a further wobble; not a status change here.
W3.2 Developing → Developing — 20 Oct: task focus addressed - harbour and early morning clear, winter only as 'cold'. On-task piece, fifth of six timed pieces on focus (13 Oct was the miss).
W1.2 Developing → Developing — 20 Oct timed: two non-sight senses each with a named source - sound (call of seagulls) and touch (cold blast of wind like a punch). Planned sea salt and splash not used. Another instance for the adjudication already proposed.
W4.3 Secure → Secure — 20 Oct: last line given in chat (clouds on the horizon) was not the piece's ending; piece ends on the wind and storm, no returning image. Fourth timed piece without a delivered cyclical ending since it was named.
T1.1 Secure → Secure — 20 Oct timed: 0 comma splices in 6 sentences. Also, in her story passage at 13:00 she turned the black-suit comma into a full stop and capital after the tutor said a comma sat where a full stop belonged: supported fix, not unaided.
T1.2 Developing → Developing — 20 Oct timed handwritten, 6 sentences: 6 of 6 start with a capital and end with a full stop, including the very last word ('punch.'). Photo sideways; named check not run by her. One sentence has no verb ('a storm in the distance').
T5.1 Secure → Secure — 20 Oct: paragraph rule typed back word for word at 14:21, then applied as a break after every sentence (6 one-sentence paragraphs) rather than at shifts; the piece had no real shift. Over-literal, not a miss.
T5.2 Gap → Gap — 20 Oct timed: 'can be heard'/'start' present against past tense elsewhere, 'relieved' for released, spellings provisional from a sideways photo; typed 'horision' in chat; 'reflection' typed right once after the mnemonic reflect + ion.
Next: Open: spell featureless (feature + less), no notes. Then in her story passage rewrite 'says with enthusiasm' to show it through a sound or action, one sentence, her words only. Then one still paragraph (nothing changes, her own event count at 0) on her harbour, each planned thing getting one still sentence first. Next timed description: last line typed before the timer and on the plan; named check is the full stop after the very last word.
Unfinished: Not run: rewrite 'says with enthusiasm' as shown not told; new line for each speaker in her story passage; 'featureless' retest; harbour piece never got its planned last line or a five-minute reread. (W2.2, T1.2) — closed 2026-10-21 by session 129: completed in session 129
2026-10-20 ✓ reviewed unfinished · closed
Makeup of the missed Mon 19 Oct creative writing block (her extra Lit session on the 19th, #118, covers today's Lit block). The timetable would not accept the Monday block key on a Tuesday, so this is logged as an extra. Spelling starter 'actually' correct first go with meaning cue and first letters. Story task (W2.2, show character through one detail, session 97's task): she gave a good 'shake in his voice' example, then drafted footsteps, a ripped lid and a featureless face. After about an hour away she returned with a long branching-story passage: strong blinding-light opening and a bleeding-girl detail, but 'says with enthusiasm' is told not shown, dialogue runs on without new lines, and there is one comma splice ('...black suit, next to them is...'). Session stopped at 12:55 on her say-so before she fixed the splice; description vs story, still paragraph and exit ticket not reached. Spelling of 'featureless' wobbled three times (feterless, fetcherless).
W2.2 Gap → Gap — 20 Oct: with a prompt she gave 'a shake in his voice' as an example, then drafted show-not-tell details (footsteps, ripped lid, featureless face) and a long passage; still told 'with enthusiasm'. Supported attempt only, no status change.
Next: Open by getting her to find and fix the comma splice in the black-suit sentence of her story passage (the one AO6 focus). Then fix 'says with enthusiasm' by showing it through an action or sound. Then description vs story and one still paragraph from the shoe or the Greek sign. Spelling: featureless (feature + less).
Unfinished: Comma splice fix in her black-suit sentence not done; two-line close (what I did / what's next) not written; description vs story and still paragraph not reached. (W2.2) — closed 2026-10-20 by session 122: completed in session 122

2026-W42 · week of 2026-10-12

2026-10-16 ✓ reviewed
The learner produced the full word-suggests-feels-reader chain on the cold-tea sentence once 'feels' was in the question (feeling after one narrowing question, no either/or; reader effect unaided), but on three quotations from a fresh passage with no step words gave event inferences only. Reading block 11:00-11:36 (block 30). Starter, no notes: attitude rule first answer 'how the writer describes things' (feelings and topic missing; 14 Oct had both), 'thinks' after a gap-fill cue - retry; fierce 1/1 cold; described 1/1 cold. Cold tea, 'feels' in the question: word 'tea' chosen unprompted, 'calming abilities' (general association), 'worried or worked up' after one question (undrunk for an hour), reader 'feels sorry for gran' unaided on a 'The reader...' starter. Buttoned coat, no hints: 'sad' (feeling, no word), then 'couldn't bring herself to take off the coat' - event/state, no word, no reader effect, 0/3 steps named. Fresh Mia bus passage, three quotations, 10 min set, answered at 15 min: 3 quotations, all event inferences (there for ages; started raining; being watched), 0/3 single word, 0/3 feeling, 0/3 reader effect. Then one quotation with 'feels' in the question: 'under' - Mia wet - reader feels 'cold and impatient': word, feeling, reader present, weak word pick. Spelling slips in composed replies: carming, abilitys, discrided (3 min after spelling described correctly), worring, knews, couldent, wachted, inpasiont, quotaion, revuss, 'this show' x4. 10 asks, 10 answered, 0 blank. Closing: one line covering both parts, 'i looked at Mia and next is lit quotaion revuss'. No status changes. Session 97's story task stays open for Monday's writing block.
R2.1 Developing → Developing — 16 Oct: cold tea with 'feels' in the question - 'tea' unprompted, calming, 'worried or worked up' after one narrowing question (no either/or), reader 'sorry for gran' unaided. Coat, no hints: 'sad' then an event, no word. Fresh passage, 3 quotations unaided, no step words, 15 min: 0/3 word, 0/3 feeling, 0/3 reader. 'under' - wet - reader cold and impatient with 'feels' stated.
R2 Gap → Gap — 16 Oct: the three-quotation task on the Mia passage, unaided, no step words, 10 min set and answered at 15: 3 quotations with literal event comments, 0 methods, 0 reader effects. Same shape as 9 Oct. Not a marked attempt.
V4.1 Gap → Gap — 16 Oct starter, cold, no notes: 'the question wants us to look at how the writer describes things' - feelings and topic both missing (14 Oct had both); 'thinks' supplied on a gap-fill 'what the writer ___ about the thing the question names'. Rule then completed by the tutor.
T5.2 Gap → Gap — 16 Oct starter with aids: fierce 1/1, described 1/1 (ferce, discribed on 14 Oct). Composed replies, ~120 words: discrided (3 min after the correct starter spelling), carming, abilitys, worring, knews, couldent, wachted, inpasiont, quotaion, revuss; 'this show' for shows four times.
Next: NEXT READING BLOCK: starter cold, one per message: attitude rule (16 Oct: 'describes things', needed a gap-fill); spell worried (worry + ed) and watched. Then the Mia passage again: the three quotations she already chose, each re-answered with 'how does Mia feel?' written in the question, one at a time, two minutes each, no model. Then three quotations on a brand-new short passage with 'say how the character feels' in the instruction once and no other step words, ten minutes by the clock, and count how many of the three carry a feeling. NEXT WRITING BLOCK (Mon 19 Oct): FIRST finish 12 Oct's story task (session 97): one backstage person seen through one thing they do or carry, two or three sentences, no feeling words. Then description versus story and one still paragraph on her shoe or the Greek sign. Timed description only after that paragraph.
2026-10-14 ✓ reviewed
The learner chose and explained one word cold on a fresh passage (word plus suggestion, reader effect after one narrowing question), then gave two more quotations with event inferences but no word focus and no reader effect. Reading block 15:46-16:27, after the 14:30 timed paper. Starter, no notes, 4/4: own attitude rule 'how the writer expresses their feeling towards something' (feelings and topic present; 9 Oct missed the topic); through 1/1; actually 1/1 at second ask (tutor's first cue was ambiguous); their 1/1. Tutor-written Gran/letter passage, no step words: 'shoved' chosen unprompted, 'very ferce', about the wind not Gran; reader effect 'something bad or really good' after one narrowing question. Two more quotations in 8 min: buttoned coat -> stopped by the letter; cold tea -> there an hour. 0/2 single word, 0/2 reader effect, 0/2 feelings. Slips: ferce, wat, discribed, so for see. 7 set, 7 answered, 0 blank. Closing line: 'I looked at a text and now it's free time.' No status changes. Session 97's story task stays open for Monday. The lesson review follows in a separate call because the single call returned Bad Gateway.
V4.1 Gap → Gap — 14 Oct starter, cold, no notes: 'Attitude means how the writer expresses their feeling towards something.' Feelings and the thing they are about both present, not framed as a quotation (9 Oct: quote framing, topic missing). Comparing sentence not practised.
T5.2 Gap → Gap — 14 Oct starter, no notes: through 1/1 (througe 9 Oct); their 1/1; actually 1/1 at second ask after an ambiguous tutor cue (achaly 13 Oct). Composed replies: ferce, wat, discribed, 'so' for see, 'is lost'.
R2.1 Developing → Developing — 14 Oct, fresh tutor-written passage, cold, no model, no step words: chose single word 'shoved' unprompted, suggestion 'very ferce', reader effect only after one narrowing question. Next two quotations unaided, 8 min: 0/2 single word, 0/2 reader effect, events inferred not feelings.
Next: NEXT READING BLOCK: on the Gran passage again, cold, no model: pick ONE word from the cold-tea sentence or the buttoned coat and say what it suggests about how Gran FEELS (put 'feels' in the question), then what the reader feels; either/or only after a full minute. Then three quotations on a fresh short passage, ten minutes, no step words. Starter: attitude rule again; spell fierce, described. NEXT WRITING BLOCK (Mon 19 Oct): FIRST finish 12 Oct's story task (session 97), then description versus story and one still paragraph on her shoe or the Greek sign. Timed description only after that paragraph.
2026-10-13 ✓ reviewed
The learner's timed handwritten piece on a forest prompt became a short sequence of events at a camp and a cave and scored 15/40 (attempt 17), with one paragraph break placed at the one shift. Ran against the Tuesday timed handwritten block, 13:03-14:01. Maths homework 8 named at the open. Before the timer, one message each: four things for the scene (four given, 8 minutes after the opening message); the paragraph line, typed back word for word; plan on paper, 5 minutes set, about 7 used; structure word asked: a place first, then cyclical picked from three options. Write window cut by the clock from 35 to 30 minutes, 13:26-13:55; two photos at 13:57 with no message; about 98 words in two paragraphs. Task: describe a forest early on a winter morning, one place, one moment, nothing happens. The piece opens at nightfall, never names the forest and has five actions; two of the four planned things appear. Plan in the photo: mood, places on the structure line, senses, the paragraph line; last line blank. One named check: the letter after each comma, reported 0, verified 0 of 2 (6 Oct: 2 capitals). Marked the same sitting: ideas and shaping 8/24 (Level 2 lower), accuracy 7/16 (Level 2); 6 Oct was 12 and 8. Six spellings given with aids after marking, not typed back. 1 writing task set, 1 attempted, 0 blank. Two closing lines written. No status changes. Session 97's story task stays open; the reading-block plan from 9 Oct is carried forward unrun. Topic evidence and the lesson review follow in separate calls because the single call returned Bad Gateway twice.
Next: NEXT READING BLOCK (Wed 14 Oct, unrun since 9 Oct): no notes, her own rule for 'attitude'; spell through and actually; pick their/there; one quotation cold on a fresh short extract (not June 2017, not night-ferry): if literal, one worked example on another sentence, then hers; then three quotations, ten minutes, no model. NEXT WRITING BLOCK (Mon 19 Oct): FIRST finish 12 Oct's story task (session 97): ask what else is written, then one backstage person seen through one thing they do or carry, two or three sentences, no feeling words, no model. THEN description versus story: two short paragraphs on one place, she picks the still one, types her own rule, writes one still paragraph on her one shoe or the Greek sign. NEXT TIMED HANDWRITTEN PIECE: only after that paragraph; description; last line typed before the timer; pre-timer steps in two messages, writing by 13:10; named check: full stop after the very last word.
2026-10-12 ✓ reviewed unfinished · closed
The learner picked and explained a shown-not-told character sentence and wrote one of her own unaided; the story paragraph that would have applied it was not written. Creative writing block, 14:26-14:58 of 14:15-15:00 (she arrived at 14:26). Starter capped by the clock at two of three spellings, no notes: source 1/1, track 1/1 with the plural s missing (sors and trakes on 6 Oct); actually not set. New skill, one character shown by one chosen detail, taught from a tutor-made pair because no resource is stored for it and a candidate page could not be verified: chose the shown sentence (B) in under a minute; copied 'tore each ticket in half' as the words that show grumpiness; the rule was then told by the tutor, not said back. Confirm, feeling word banned, no hint, pair still on screen: 'A woman stood fidgeting with her ticket.' 1/1, about 7 minutes. Story task (one of the two backstage voices seen through one detail, two or three sentences) set 14:46 and not written: she said the hiding part already existed and pasted it at 14:57 (about 70 words: the box, whispering voices, a humming behind her, the jewellery branch). It shows no person: 0 character details. In it 3 of 5 sentences open with a lowercase 'you', the speech has no capital or question mark and the last sentence has no full stop; the tutor named the three lowercase openings and did not have her fix them. 6 items set, 5 answered as set, 0 blank. Two closing lines written. No status changes: W2.2 stays gap (taught, one confirm, apply not run). The reading-block plan from 9 Oct is carried forward unrun. The lesson review follows in a separate call because the single call returned Bad Gateway.
W2.2 Gap → Gap — 12 Oct, taught and confirmed, apply not run. Teach 2/2: picked the shown sentence (B) in under a minute; copied 'tore each ticket in half' as the showing words. Confirm 1/1 unaided, feeling word banned, worked pair still on screen: 'A woman stood fidgeting with her ticket.' Story task (one backstage voice seen through one detail) set 14:46, not written; the pre-written passage she pasted has 0 character details in ~70 words. Stays gap.
T5.2 Gap → Gap — 12 Oct starter, no notes, cue was the meaning plus first letters: source 1/1; track 1/1 on the stem, plural s dropped though asked for (sors, trakes on 6 Oct; aids given then, not typed back). actually not set (starter capped at 14:37). Pasted typed story passage, ~70 words: 0 clear spelling slips, 'jewellery' correct, 'bow' may be box (not asked).
T1.2 Developing → Developing — 12 Oct, typed untimed story passage (written before the session, pasted 14:57), 5 sentences: 3 open with a lowercase 'you', 2 with a capital; direct speech 'did you hear something' has no capital or question mark; the last sentence joins the branch instruction with a comma and has no full stop. No check was asked for; the tutor named the 3 lowercase openings, not corrected by her. Handwritten 6 Oct had 0 of 14 lowercase.
Next: NEXT WRITING BLOCK. FIRST, finish 12 Oct's story task: ask what else of the story is written, then in her box-hiding passage she picks the woman or the man and adds two or three sentences where that person is seen through one thing they do or carry, no feeling words, no model on screen. Before it, cold: one sentence showing a bored stallholder, 'bored' banned; spell actually and tracks. Then one named check on her passage: how many sentences start with a small letter (3 of 5). NEXT READING BLOCK (unrun since 9 Oct): no notes, her own rule for 'attitude'; spell through; pick their/there; then one quotation cold on a fresh short extract (not June 2017, not night-ferry): if literal, one worked example on another sentence, then hers; then three quotations, ten minutes, no model. TIMED HANDWRITTEN PIECE (about 20 Oct): description; four things on the plan before the timer; paragraph line as its own message, typed back; third check: the letter after each comma.
Unfinished: Story task set 12 Oct 14:46, not written: one of the two backstage voices seen through one thing they do or carry, two or three sentences added to her box-hiding passage, no feeling words. Spelling 'actually' not set. Second confirm item not run. (W2.2, T5.2) — closed 2026-10-20 by session 121: completed in session 121

2026-W41 · week of 2026-10-05

2026-10-09 ✓ reviewed
The learner answered the three-quotation task with literal comments, then wrote word, suggestion and reader effect twice after one worked example. Exam-technique block, 11:01-11:39. Session 82's task (June 2017 paper, question 2 box, Rosabel on the bus), ten minutes, no step words: three quotations by 11:13, each comment restating the words; 0 of 3 beyond the literal, 0 of 3 with a reader effect, no method named. On the wet-feet sentence an abstract reader question and a sorry-or-fine either/or both gave non-answers. After one worked example on a different sentence she wrote all three parts with a starter ('horribly'), took a 1-minute break, then wrote all three on a self-chosen word with no starter ('meaningless'); an either/or sharpened what that word suggests (too worn out to care). Spellings after aids: meant 1/1, attitude 1/1; different correct unprompted. Her own rule for 'attitude' has how the writer feels, framed as grabbing a quote, topic missing; the missing part was told, not said back. 11 items, 11 answered, 0 blank, 0 skip. Slips left uncorrected by the tutor: througe, there for their, 'rosabel don't like', 'this suggest'. Closing lines written. Session 82's unfinished item closed. Topic updates (incl. R2 notstarted -> gap) and the lesson review follow in separate calls because the single call timed out four times.
Next: FIRST, no notes, one per message: her own rule for what 'attitude' means (9 Oct: had 'how the writer feels', missing 'about the question's topic'); spell through (th + rough) and pick their/there in one sentence. THEN one quotation cold from a fresh short extract (not June 2017, not the night-ferry source): if the comment only restates the words, show one worked example on a different sentence, then hers in the same shape; then ask what her word adds that 'very' would not. Then three quotations, ten minutes, no model on screen. WRITING BLOCK: fairground story, mint / hide-or-stay branch - teach 'one character shown by one chosen detail' with a resource first, then one paragraph per exchange; starter: spell source, tracks, actually. TIMED HANDWRITTEN PIECE (about 20 Oct): description; four things on the plan before the timer; paragraph line as its own message, typed back; third check: the letter after each comma.
2026-10-07 ✓ reviewed
English Language section of the week-41 timed exam-practice paper (test #7, attempt #16): 4/12. Q1 retrieval, four multiple-choice parts on lines 1–8 of an unseen fiction source: 4/4 in 2 minutes. The 8-mark language question on lines 9–18 was answered 'skip' with 0 minutes on focus, and the paper was handed in with 15 of 45 minutes unused. Marked from the stored scheme: no teaching ran and no status was changed. Session 82's plan (logged the same afternoon, before the sitting) is carried forward in next_steps, and its unfinished three-quotation task stays open.
R1 Not started → Not started — Exam practice 7 Oct (test #7, timed) Q1: four multiple-choice parts on lines 1–8 of an unseen fiction source, 4/4 in 2 min of a 5 min guide, unaided. Marking only: no status change, proposed developing for adjudication.
R1.1 Not started → Not started — Exam practice 7 Oct Q1: one answer given for each of the four parts, all from the stated lines; 4/4. Marking only: no status change, proposed developing for adjudication.
R2 Not started → Not started — Exam practice 7 Oct Q2 (8 marks, language, lines 9–18): 'skip', 0 min on focus, nothing to reward. Set, not answered.
R2.1 Developing → Developing — Exam practice 7 Oct Q2: no quotation selected and no comment on effect written under the timer ('skip', 0 min on focus). Set, not answered; 0/8.
Next: FIRST, the same task, set 7 Oct and not answered: open the June 2017 paper, page 3, the box under question 2 (Rosabel on the bus) and explain three quotations showing what the journey is like for her; one must be 'Her feet were horribly wet'; ten minutes; no step words; do not ask for step names. (Timed paper 7 Oct: the 8-mark language question got 'skip'; this task is the missing evidence.) THEN, no notes: type meant (mean + t), different (differ + ent) and attitude after each aid; write what 'attitude' means as her own one-line rule (what the writer thinks and feels about the question's topic). WRITING BLOCK: fairground story, mint / hide-or-stay branch - teach 'one character shown by one chosen detail' with a resource first, then one paragraph per exchange; starter: spell source, tracks, actually. TIMED HANDWRITTEN PIECE (about 20 Oct): description; four things on the plan before the timer; paragraph line as its own message, typed back; third check: the letter after each comma.
2026-10-07 ✓ reviewed unfinished · closed
The learner answered two no-notes starter questions (anti-climax right; 'attitude' half right) and then stopped for the timed paper before the three-quotation task was answered. Ran early against the 15:30 reading block at her request, 14:21 to about 14:36: she opened by saying she would sit the paper later; the paper then became ready and she left to sit it, saying she would return. Starter, one question per message, capped at 14:30 by the clock: (1) anti-climax defined cold as the hype in a story not being worth it, 1/1, reply in about 4 minutes; (2) what a question means by a writer's attitude: feelings named, but given as 'a quote' and with no mention of the topic - partial; the definition was given once by the tutor and not said back. Spellings meant, different and attitude were not set (cap reached). Main task set at 14:31: three quotations from the June 2017 paper's question 2 box (Rosabel's bus journey, lines 6-14), one fixed as the plain sentence about her wet feet, ten minutes, no step words in the instruction - not answered. 3 items set, 2 answered, 0 blank; the third was stopped, not skipped. No writing evidence today. Two closing lines not written. V4.1 notstarted -> gap under the touched-means-moved rule. The three-quotation rehearsal that the exam-practice plan asked for before today's sitting did not run.
R3.1 Developing → Developing — 7 Oct starter, cold, no notes: 'An anticlimax is when all the hype in the story is not worth it.' Build-up and let-down both present, 1/1 at first reply (25 Sep needed two tries and sharpening). Retrieval of the term only; no structure paragraph today.
V4.1 Not started → Gap — 7 Oct starter, cold: asked what a question means by a writer's attitude - 'A quote where the writer uses the story to express their feelings.' Feelings right (1 of 3 parts); attitude given as a quotation; the topic the question names absent. Explained 2 Oct; told again today, not said back. Answered below the bar -> gap (touched means moved); the comparing shape itself is still untaught.
R2.1 Developing → Developing — 7 Oct: set, not answered - three quotations from June 2017 lines 6-14 (bus journey), one fixed as the plain sentence 'Her feet were horribly wet', ten minutes, no step words; set at 14:31 and she left for the timed paper before replying. No evidence either way.
Next: FIRST, the same task, set 7 Oct and not answered: open the June 2017 paper, page 3, the box under question 2 (Rosabel on the bus) and explain three quotations showing what the journey is like for her; one must be 'Her feet were horribly wet'; ten minutes by the clock; no step words in the instruction; do not ask for the step names. THEN, no notes, one per message: type meant (mean + t), different (differ + ent) and attitude after each aid; write what 'attitude' means as her own one-line rule (what the writer thinks and feels about the topic in the question). NEXT WRITING BLOCK: the fairground story, mint / hide-or-stay branch - teach 'one character shown by one chosen detail' first with a resource, then one paragraph per exchange; starter there: spell source, tracks, actually. NEXT TIMED HANDWRITTEN PIECE (about 20 Oct): a description; four things on the plan before the timer; the paragraph line as its own message, typed back; third check: the letter after each comma.
Unfinished: Three quotations on the bus extract (June 2017 paper, question 2 box, lines 6-14), one being 'Her feet were horribly wet', ten minutes, no step words: set 14:31, not answered - she left for the timed paper. Spellings meant, different, attitude not set. Two closing lines not written. (R2.1, T5.2) — closed 2026-10-09 by session 91: completed in session 91
2026-10-06 ✓ reviewed
The learner's timed handwritten station description held as description for the first time and scored 20/40, but was declared finished at 11 of 35 minutes in one unparagraphed block of about 67 words. Ran against the Tuesday timed handwritten block, 13:03-14:06 (attempt 14). Structure word asked before the timer: 'cyclical', first reply. Plan on paper 13:06-13:12: five lines; the structure line holds a place again with 'cyclical' written above it; the 'four things' line holds two; the two extra lines she was asked to copy (new paragraph every time the camera moves; no events) are not on the plan in the photo, so the read-aloud of the paragraph line had nothing to read. Writing 13:12-13:47: 'finished' at 13:23; two one-paragraph instructions from the tutor produced 43 and 23 more words by 13:44 (about 133 in all). Check 13:44-13:49: two named targets in two messages, each answered with its own number (0 and 0, both verified); the unnamed third question was answered 'no' inside a minute, with two capital 'You' after a fronted clause, five past-tense verbs and six spelling slips unreported. First photo unreadable; retaken as two photos within 6 minutes. Marked the same sitting: ideas and shaping 12/24 (L2 upper), accuracy 8/16 (L2 top); previous three pieces 21/40. Three spellings given with aids (source, tracks, actually), not typed back. 0 blank. Her two closing lines were written. No status changes; W1.5 proposed developing for adjudication.
W1.5 Gap → Gap — 6 Oct timed handwritten description (railway station at night, unseen, attempt 14): one place and one time held across all ~133 words, 0 plot events (a lamp flickers and goes out; a mural is looked at). First of 4 timed pieces to hold (8 Sep and 22 Sep drifted into events). The 'no events' line was asked for but is not on her plan; it was in the task message. Unaided. Proposed developing, pending adjudication.
T5.1 Secure → Secure — 6 Oct timed handwritten: the version she called finished at 13:23 (~67 words, 3 shifts: onto the platform, across the tracks, the lamp) is ONE block, 0 breaks. Breaks appear only on the 2 paragraphs written after the tutor said 'write one new paragraph'. The plan line 'new paragraph every time the camera moves' was asked for and is not on her plan. Second timed wobble since secure (first 22 Sep); untimed it held on 23 Sep.
T1.2 Developing → Developing — 6 Oct timed handwritten, 14 sentences: 0 lowercase sentence openings (1 on 21 Sep, 1 on 22 Sep); her check reported 0, verified 0. Capital 'You' follows a fronted 'As you...' clause in 2 of 4 such sentences ('platform, You feel'; 'edge. You feel' - comma or full stop not readable in the photo, an error either way), and the last-written paragraph has no final full stop.
T1.1 Secure → Secure — 6 Oct timed handwritten, ~133 words: 0 comma splices, third clean timed piece running (15 Sep, 22 Sep). Her single-target check ('after how many commas does a whole new sentence start?') reported 0, verified 0. Nothing was present to catch.
W4.3 Secure → Secure — 6 Oct: named 'cyclical' as her structure before the timer, first reply, and wrote it above the plan. In the piece the opening image 'the colds hand wrap around you' returns as 'the cold tighten its grab on you' - an image that comes back changed, 1 of 1, unprompted in content (it sits in the second paragraph written after a tutor instruction to add a paragraph). Planned last line delivered word for word; 'rain again' echoes the puddles and 'Drip, drip, drip'.
W3.1 Secure → Secure — 6 Oct: five-line plan on paper between 13:06 and 13:12. Structure word given in chat before the timer ('cyclical') and written above the plan, but the structure line itself reads 'an empty train platform' - a place, third time (15 Sep, 22 Sep). 'Four things' line holds 2 (the smell of rain and dust; the temperature). The two extra lines asked for in the same message were not written, 0 of 2. Planned smell not used in the piece.
W1.2 Developing → Developing — 6 Oct timed unseen description: two non-sight senses, each with a source - touch ('the colds hand wrap around you', 'the cold tighten its grab') and sound ('Drip, drip, drip', its source looked for and found as 'a hole in the gutter'). Planned smell (rain and dust) not used. Third instance (18 Sep untimed, 22 Sep timed, 6 Oct timed), third different task.
W3.2 Developing → Developing — 6 Oct: task focus (a railway station late at night) addressed from the first sentence and held to the last line; no AO5 cap. Fourth on-task timed piece (8, 15, 22 Sep, 6 Oct), on a fresh unseen prompt after a 14-day gap.
T5.2 Gap → Gap — 6 Oct handwritten, ~133 words: 6 spelling slips (sors, trakes, murel x2, frount, Acualy; 'coverd' once and 'covered' once), 'colds' with no apostrophe, 'The light start', and 5 past-tense verbs in a present-tense piece (started, turned, were, was, looked) - the planned last line was already past tense on the plan. 22 Sep had 1 spelling slip in ~155. source, tracks and actually given with aids; not typed back. In chat: 'finneshed'.
Next: By block. NEXT READING BLOCK (Wed 7 Oct 15:30), carried unrun from 5 Oct: no-notes starter capped at 8 minutes by the clock - define anti-climax; say what 'attitude' means; type meant, different and attitude after each aid. Then explain three quotations from a fresh unseen passage, ten minutes, no step words in the instruction; do not ask for the step names. NEXT WRITING BLOCK: the fairground story, mint / hide-or-stay branch - teach 'one character shown by one chosen detail' first with a resource, then one paragraph per exchange; starter there: spell source, tracks, actually (aids given 6 Oct). NEXT TIMED HANDWRITTEN PIECE (about 20 Oct, when it is English Language's turn): a description; four things on the plan before the timer starts; the paragraph line given as its own message and typed back; when she says finished, one close-up paragraph at a time until the clock ends; third check target: the letter after each comma. Budget replies of up to 15 minutes.
2026-10-05 ✓ reviewed
The learner closed the open hyena structure paragraph with its position and a stated reader effect; the step names were not recalled and the fairground branch was not reached. Ran against the creative writing block: 14:16-14:37 inside the block (one starter item of five, which took 21 minutes, then the paragraph task set), a gap of 1h52 with no reply, then 16:29-16:33 after the block had ended (position sentence, reader effect, two closing lines). Starter: step names 0/3 at the 5th cold ask and 0/3 again after she had performed the steps on a tutor-made line; each step was right when asked singly (2/2). Four starter items were cut by the tutor for time. Structure paragraph: she located her quotation at lines 23-24, the middle, which the tutor checked against the insert; earlier logs had treated this quotation as the ending, which was wrong, and her existing last sentence linking it to the anti-climax is accurate. Reader effect given on an abstract ask with no either/or. One spelling slip (meant) in a composed reply. No writing (AO5/AO6) evidence today. 0 blank of 7 questions asked. Session 47's unfinished item is closed.
R3.1 Developing → Developing — 5 Oct: closed the 25 Sep paragraph, supported. Added sentence 1/1: 'The extract is from paragraph four, line 23-24 and it is the middle' - position exact (checked against the insert), moment not named in words, 'extract' used for 'quote'. Reader effect 1/1 on an abstract ask, no either/or: 'The reader feels disappointed and wanting a more exciting ending' (dictated). Stayed on order and expectation, 0 drift to word choice. About L2, supported; target L3 unaided.
R2.1 Developing → Developing — 5 Oct starter, 5th cold ask, no notes: 'Word is what, how and why.' (0/3 steps named). On 'The wind clawed at the door', one question per step: suggests 'it's attacking something' 1/1; reader 'the wind is the door's enemy' 1/1. Asked to name what she had just done: 0/3 again (what / how / why). Names given again against her own answers. 'clawed' was also the 21 Sep example, so not a fresh word.
T5.2 Gap → Gap — 5 Oct: 'ment' for meant in a composed starter reply (aid mean + t given 23 Sep; spelled correctly from memory 25 Sep). Aid given again; she was not asked to type it today.
Next: By block. NEXT TIMED HANDWRITTEN BLOCK (Tue 6 Oct 13:00 if it is English Language's turn): the description due about 6 Oct - plan 5 / write 35 / check 5, plan line 6 'new paragraph every time the camera moves', and read that one line aloud immediately before she starts writing. NEXT READING BLOCK (Wed 15:30): no-notes starter capped at 8 minutes by the clock - define anti-climax; say what 'attitude' means; type meant, different and attitude after each aid. Then explain three quotations from a fresh unseen passage, ten minutes, with no step words in the instruction - do NOT ask her to recite the step names. NEXT WRITING BLOCK: the fairground story, mint / hide-or-stay branch - teach 'one character shown by one chosen detail' first with a resource, then one paragraph per exchange (W2.2). Budget every plan on replies of up to 9 minutes each.

2026-W40 · week of 2026-09-28

2026-10-02 ✓ reviewed
Afternoon warm-up plus resit (test #6, attempt #13). The parent reported that this morning's two zeros came from not understanding what the questions asked, and had talked it through with her. Warm-up 15:47–16:20, typed, on two short storm passages written for the purpose: she put the language question into her own words correctly first time ('the language they write to use and why I think they used it'); asked only for one quotation, she gave quotation, what it suggests and what the reader feels with no mention of steps. The comparing question she read as 'two quotes, compare the quotes' — the word 'attitudes' was missing; after it was explained she needed three prompts (one writer only; then her language answer again; then both attitudes given to one writer) before writing, unaided, one sentence with a quotation from each writer and 'but'. Saying the paper target back failed three times (never included 'quotation'). Resit at 18:40 on this morning's sources: language question 2/12 (one quotation, literal comment, 3 min), comparing question 5/16 (a quotation from each source, some different ideas, parent's versus child's perspective named, 16 min); 7/28 against 0/28. Hyena paragraph from session 47 still open. Her two closing lines, written after the marks: 'Today I took my second English language placement test. Next we're going to look at what we are doing.'
V3.1 Not started → Not started — 2 Oct warm-up: question wording put into her own words correctly first time, unaided. Resit (same source, second sitting): 2/12, Level 1 — 1 quotation, literal comment, simple reader effect, 3 min of 15.
V4.1 Not started → Not started — 2 Oct warm-up: 'attitudes' missing from her reading of the question; after 3 prompts wrote unaided one sentence with a quotation per writer and 'but'. Resit (same sources): 5/16, Level 2 bottom; Source B's attitude taken as fear of lateness.
V4.2 Not started → Not started — Resit 2 Oct: answer opens with the two ideas (A, then B) before the method point — perspectives came first, 1 of 1 answer.
V4.3 Not started → Not started — Resit 2 Oct: both sources in each of the 2 comparing sentences ('in source A… but in source B…'), one quotation from each.
V4.4 Not started → Not started — Resit 2 Oct: names perspective as a method (A from the mother's view, B from the child's), 1 method, 0 effects explained.
V5.1 Not started → Not started — Resit 2 Oct, 1868 source: chose a plain measurement ('a distance of two miles and a half') and commented literally; on the modern figurative warm-up text the same afternoon she inferred 'angry and ready to attack' from one simile.
R2.1 Developing → Developing — 2 Oct warm-up, fresh quotation, steps not mentioned in the instruction: quotation, what it suggests, what the reader feels — 3 of 3, unaided. Resit paper 2 h 20 later: quotation, literal comment, reader effect.
Next: FIRST: finish the hyena structure paragraph — opening sentence naming the ending and where it sits, then what it does to the reader (session 47, still open). Starter, no notes: the three steps for one word; what 'attitude' means; spell different (differ + ent) and attitude, aids given first. THEN the lighthouse re-work, lesson 1: her storm quotation through word, suggests, reader, widening to three quotations and including one plain, non-figurative phrase (on the 1868 text she chose a measurement and stayed literal). Comparing: she can write 'A thinks… but B thinks…' with a quotation each but took Source B's fear of lateness as its attitude — practise 'attitude to the topic the question names' on short fresh texts before any 16-mark question is set again. Fairground branch and ~6 Oct timed description stand.
2026-10-02 ✓ reviewed
Placement paper 2 (test #5, typed, non-fiction reading: a 2020s column and an 1868 Cornish memoir on walking to school) sat and marked: 7/40, 0 blank of 4, closed by her at 26 of 120 min (attempt #12). True-statements question 4/4. Summary question 3/8, Level 2 bottom: four paired details from both texts joined by 'but', two emerging inferences, no 'which shows', one factual slip (said Source B gives no age), 19 min. Language question (12) 0: five words, no quotation, 2 min. Comparing-viewpoints question (16) 0: one sentence restating the question, 2 min — this shape has never been taught. Seven spelling slips in about 75 typed words (lollypop, whatching, farwell, attaked, diffrent, atatoods, then for than). No teaching ran; the hyena structure paragraph from session 47 is still open.
V1.1 Not started → Not started — Test #5, 2 Oct, unseen, no teaching: 4/4 unaided (A, B, E, F), exactly four chosen, 3 min against a 5 min guide.
V2.1 Not started → Not started — Test #5 summary: 3 of 4 paired details stay on the journey (11 min vs 2.5 miles; watched from window vs left at gate; lollipop person vs animals); the fourth pair is the child's age.
V2.3 Not started → Not started — Test #5 summary 3/8, Level 2 bottom, unaided and untaught: both sources used, four paired details joined by 'but'; one factual slip (says Source B gives no age).
V2.4 Not started → Not started — Test #5 summary: 0 stated inferences ('which shows/suggests') across four pairs; two emerging ones only ('whatching over the child', 'attaked by the animals').
V3.1 Not started → Not started — Test #5 language question 0/12: 'better then the way to school' — five words, 0 quotations, 0 comments on a word, 2 min against a 12 min guide. Attempted, not blank.
V4.1 Not started → Not started — Test #5 comparing question 0/16: one sentence restating the question ('the kids had diffrent atatoods'), children's attitudes not the writers', 0 references, 2 min against an 18 min guide. Shape never taught.
V5.1 Not started → Not started — Test #5: three details taken accurately from the 1868 source (2.5 miles, mother at the gate, the animals); 'in my eighth year' not read as the child's age (1 miss).
R2.1 Developing → Developing — Test #5, 2 Oct: on an unseen source with no cue the language answer had 0 quotations and none of the three steps; second paper running (30 Sep: one quotation, literal comment, no chain).
Next: FIRST: finish the hyena structure paragraph — the opening sentence that names the moment (the ending) and where it sits, before the quote; then what that ending does to the reader (session 47, still open). Starter, no notes: the three steps for explaining one word (5th ask); define anti-climax; spell writer, because, different, attitude — each given with a memory aid. THEN the lighthouse paper re-work as teaching, one question per lesson (subject note 'Placement paper 1 re-work'): lesson 1 her storm answer — one word through what it suggests and what the reader feels, then a second quotation with no mention of steps. The non-fiction paper (test 5) is placed: true statements 4/4; summary 3/8 — its next step is 'which shows…' after each pair; the 12-mark language and 16-mark comparing questions are untaught baselines at 0 and are not re-set on fresh text before each shape is taught. Fairground branch and ~6 Oct timed description stand.
2026-09-30 ✓ reviewed
Placement paper (test #3, typed, reading half of the fiction paper) sat and marked: 9/40, 0 blank of 4, closed by her at 32 of 120 min (attempt #11). List question 4/4 — four distinct points from the right lines. Language question 2/8, Level 1: one quotation from inside the lines, a literal comment and personification described in her own words with no effect; the word → suggests → reader chain did not appear. Structure question 2/8, Level 1: opening focus and a change of focus named, generic 'read on' effect, stayed on structure, ending not mentioned. 'Do you agree' question 1/20, Level 1: one sentence taking a view, no quotation — this question shape has never been taught. Seven spelling slips across four short typed answers. No teaching ran; the hyena structure paragraph from session 47 is still open.
R1.1 Not started → Not started — Placement paper 30 Sep, list-four question: 4/4 unaided, four distinct points all from lines 1-8, 9 min (guide 5). List format, not the 2026 multiple-choice format. No status change from marking.
R2.1 Developing → Developing — Placement paper 30 Sep, language question 2/8 (Level 1), unaided, timed window: one quotation, literal comment ('the storm has started'), 0 of 3 chain steps applied to a word — no 'suggests', no reader. 2 sentences in 16 min. No status change from marking.
R2.2 Gap → Gap — Placement paper 30 Sep, language question: method identified in her own words ('giving the storm some human feters') with 0 effect attached and the term not used. 1 method, 0 effects. No status change from marking.
R3.1 Developing → Developing — Placement paper 30 Sep, structure question 2/8 (Level 1), unaided: opening focus named first (cottage), one change of focus (storm), effect generic ('keep the reader wanting to read on'); ending and footprints not named; 0 quotations; 3 sentences in 3 min. No status change from marking.
R3.3 Not started → Not started — Placement paper 30 Sep, structure question: 3 of 3 sentences about focus and change of focus, 0 about word choice. First unaided evidence on a fresh source. No status change from marking.
R4.1 Not started → Not started — Placement paper 30 Sep, 'do you agree' question 1/20: 0 quotations, 0 references to the text in a one-sentence answer written in 2 min of a 20 min guide. Untaught — baseline. No status change from marking.
R4.2 Not started → Not started — Placement paper 30 Sep, 'do you agree' question: a view is stated in sentence 1 (agrees with the student), 1 of 1 sentences; nothing follows it. Untaught — baseline. No status change from marking.
Next: FIRST: finish the hyena structure paragraph — the opening sentence that names the moment (the ending) and where it sits, before the quote; then what that ending does to the reader (session 47). Starter, no notes: the three steps for explaining one word (5th ask); define anti-climax; spell writer, because, cottage. THEN the placement paper (test 3, lighthouse text) is re-worked as teaching, one question per lesson — parent decision 30 Sep; sequence in the subject note 'Placement paper 1 re-work'. Lesson 1: her storm answer — one word from her own quotation through what it suggests and what the reader feels, then a second quotation. Lesson 2: the structure question, current wording. Lesson 3: the 20-mark 'do you agree' shape taught on this text, then written with hints; none on a fresh text before that. Re-marks go in the summary as 'was X, now Y with hints', never as an attempt. Fri 2 Oct: second placement paper at /exam/5. Fairground branch and ~6 Oct timed description stand.

2026-W39 · week of 2026-09-21

2026-09-25 ✓ reviewed unfinished · closed
First unaided structure paragraph on the hyena extract with sentence frames withdrawn: it stayed on order and expectation (leap → circles → no attack → 'led to the anti-climax'), 0/3 frames, but opened with the quote rather than naming the moment. Ran: starter 5 items, no notes, one per message — chain steps not named cold for the 4th time ('why the writer used the word / what effect / how the reader feels': reader step present, 'what it suggests' missing); three tension moments: start (prejudice) and turn (leapt) named, 'skin disease' offered as the third, ending found after one binary prompt (attack? 'no'); foreshadowing defined cold ('hinting at something that is going to happen in the future') — unknown on 23 Sep; anti-climax half ('when a climax comes down', then 'not satisfied with the end'), sharpened to expectation not met; 'meant' spelled correctly. Structure paragraph (10 min timer, typed, checklist only) ~L2: quote 'ran around the zebra in a circle', shows nothing happens, 'it was supposed going to attack', names the anti-climax. Stopped at her timer before the added first sentence naming the moment. 0 blank of 6. Two closing lines not written.
R3.1 Not started → Developing — 25 Sep: first structure paragraph with frames withdrawn (0/3), typed, 10-min timer, checklist only. Checklist 2/3: quote given ('ran around the zebra in a circle'), why given (expected attack → nothing → anti-climax); moment not named in sentence 1 (opened with the quote). Stayed on order/expectation, 0 drift to word choice. ~L2 (target L3). Starter: 2/3 moments named cold, ending after one binary prompt; foreshadowing defined cold 1/1.
R2.1 Not started → Not started — 25 Sep starter, 4th ask, no notes: 'why the writer used the word / what effects the word has / how the word makes the reader feel' — reader step now present unprompted, middle step ('what the word suggests') still not named. Given again.
T5.2 Not started → Not started — 25 Sep starter: 'meant' spelled correctly 1/1 from memory (slip 'ment' on 23 Sep, aid mean+t given then).
Next: FIRST: finish the hyena structure paragraph — write the one opening sentence that names the moment (the ending) and where it sits, before the quote; then say what that ending does to the reader (R3.1). Starter, no notes: name the three steps for explaining one word (5th ask); define anti-climax in one sentence; spell meant. Then, in a writing block, the fairground story: the mint / hide-or-stay branch with one character shown by one chosen detail (W2.2), one paragraph per exchange. Next timed outing ~6 Oct: description, 'new paragraph every time the camera moves' as plan line 6.
Unfinished: Hyena structure paragraph needs its opening sentence naming the moment (the ending) and its position before the quote, plus the reader effect; stopped at her 10-min timer. Two closing lines not written. (R3.1) — closed 2026-10-05 by session 74: completed in session 74
2026-09-23 ✓ reviewed
First structure-question lesson on the Life of Pi hyena extract (June 2023 insert / 2026 sample Q3 'structured the text to create tension'). The opening, turning point and ending were each found under questioning, but the exit paragraph needed frames to name its moment and stay on structure. Ran: starter 3 items (spelling 3/3 unaided; chain steps not named cold: 'What? How? Why?', middle step given as 'what the writer ment' after both ends were supplied; paragraph break 'inside the cafe' correct). Pool piece re-laid with 4 breaks: 3 of 4 shifts found unaided, 'You enter and' after one narrowed prompt. Structure taught through 6 questions, 5 correct; the label foreshadowing was not known ('i don't know'). Exit ticket: first unaided attempt was Level 1 simple and drifted to language ('Described as an ugly beast'). Rebuilt to what/where/why with sentence frames on sentences 1–2 and no frame on sentence 3. 0 blank. Fairground story deferred to a writing block (today's block was reading). Her two lines: "I wrote a paragraph. And next, I am going to do some art."
T5.2 Not started → Not started — 23 Sep starter, no notes: chlorine, tired, centre all spelled correctly (3/3 unaided). 'ment' for meant in a typed answer the same session; correct spelling given with aid 'mean + t'.
R2.1 Not started → Not started — 23 Sep starter: asked to name the three chain steps cold, answered 'What? How? Why?' (the paragraph shape). With both ends given (word → ??? → effect on reader), she gave 'what the writer ment' for the middle step. Third time of asking; still not named unprompted.
T5.1 Secure → Secure — 23 Sep: tutor 5-sentence paragraph, break placed at 'Inside the café' unaided (1/1). Re-laid her 22 Sep pool piece: 3 of 4 shifts found unaided (As you continue / When you get / As you look), 4th (You enter and) after one narrowed prompt; re-laid with all 4 breaks correct. Untimed only.
R3.1 Not started → Not started — 23 Sep first teach, Life of Pi hyena extract, 2026 wording 'structured the text to create tension'. Under questioning 5/6 correct: camera on Pi remembering (binary), expects 'attack', found turning point line 21 'Nearly immediately it leapt', effect 'it builds up anticipation' (unprompted), ending: does not attack. Label foreshadowing unknown. Exit: unaided attempt Level 1 simple (no moment named, drifted to language); rebuilt with frames on 2 of 3 sentences.
Next: Starter, no notes, one per message: name the three steps for explaining one word (4th time of asking); name the three moments in the hyena extract that build tension, and what foreshadowing and anti-climax mean; spell meant. Then a structure paragraph on the hyena extract's opening or ending, with only the what/where/why checklist and no sentence starters (R3.1). In the next writing block, the fairground story: the mint / hide-or-stay branch with one character shown by one chosen detail (W2.2), one paragraph per exchange. Next timed outing ~6 Oct: description with 'new paragraph every time the camera moves' as the sixth plan line.
2026-09-22 ✓ reviewed
Shape C — third timed handwritten Q5 on the record (attempt 7): description of a drained, abandoned pool on an unseen tutor-set 2026-format prompt, 5 plan / 30 write / 5 check, pencil, photographed, ~155 words (~5 wpm), 0 blank, marked 21/40 (AO5 12/24 L2 upper; AO6 9/16 L3 lower) — same total as 8 and 15 Sep, composed differently. Pre-task binary check (description vs story) 1/1. Plan on paper inside 5 min with all five lines; structure line held a setting ('cracked swimming pool') again and was fixed to 'zoom: pool → changing rooms' after a two-option prompt. Piece: senses chosen not listed (chlorine and dust, temperature shift, shoes on tiles, radio crackle), zoom executed, planned last line delivered; but written as ONE unbroken block — the paragraph-at-every-shift skill secured on 15 Sep vanished under the clock — and drifted from description into plot (spider, scream). AO6: zero comma splices for the second timed piece running; commas after fronted clauses accurate; spelling far better (clorin only); lowercase 'all' after a full stop, 'a empty', 'caused'/'came' tense slips. Two-target check (splices, capital after comma): she replied '0' — one number for two targets; verified 0 and 0, so catching was untested. Typed copy afterwards silently corrected 'a empty', 'came' and 'all'. 'chlorine' given with an aid (chlor- as in chloroform) and typed correctly. Her two lines: "I did times handwriting practice. What's next is computer science."
W1.5 Not started → Not started — 22 Sep timed description: one place and one time held for ~110 words (entrance, pool, changing-room door), then drift into plot (radio message, spider lands, scream). Pre-task binary check (description vs story) answered correctly 1/1, so the idea is known; the hold fails in production.
W1.2 Developing → Developing — 22 Sep timed unseen description: four chosen non-sight senses with named sources — smell of chlorine and dust, a sudden shift in temperature, shoes against tiles, a radio crackling from the changing rooms. Second instance (first 18 Sep untimed, 'the bash of rubber'); first on a timed unseen piece. Loose end from 15 Sep (sourceless sound) closed.
W3.1 Secure → Secure — 22 Sep: five-line plan on paper inside 5 min unprompted; structure line held a setting ('cracked swimming pool') for the second time (first 15 Sep). Fixed to 'zoom: pool → changing rooms' after a two-option prompt; the zoom was then executed in the piece.
W4.3 Secure → Secure — 22 Sep timed: planned last line delivered as the final line ('All you feel is the cold and the presence of the spider'); the cold echoes the temperature shift of line 3, so the return is an image this time, not a repeated word. Third instance.
T1.1 Developing → Secure — 22 Sep timed handwritten piece, ~155 words: 0 comma splices; her two-target check reported 0, verified 0. Second clean timed piece on a different task in a different session (first 15 Sep, 0 in ~200 words; 8 Sep had 3-4). Bar set on 15 Sep ('second clean timed piece = secure') met.
T1.2 Developing → Developing — 22 Sep timed handwritten: full stops present throughout; one lowercase sentence opening ('all you feel…' after a full stop); 0 capitals after a comma across five commas used. The lowercase 'and' from 21 Sep still unfixed (not reached). Typed copy corrected 'all' to 'All' unprompted.
T5.1 Secure → Secure — 22 Sep timed handwritten, ~155 words: written as ONE block with no paragraph breaks despite four clear shifts (entrance, pool, door, inside). Secured 15 Sep (8 paragraphs, every break on a shift). First wobble since secure; today's attention was on the two-target check, not paragraphs.
T5.2 Not started → Not started — 22 Sep handwritten: 'a empty', 'caused'/'came' (past tense in a present piece), 'clorin'; typed copy corrected the first two unprompted while copying. 'chlorine' given with an aid (chlor- as in chloroform) and typed once correctly. Spelling of everyday words much improved on 15 Sep (~12 slips then, 1 today).
W3.2 Not started → Not started — 22 Sep: task focus (description suggested by a picture of a drained pool) addressed from the first sentence and held; no AO5 cap. Third on-task timed piece (8 Sep, 15 Sep, 22 Sep).
Next: FIRST (2 min, no notes): spell chlorine, tired and centre; name the three chain steps cold (third time of asking); on a four-line tutor paragraph say where the paragraph break goes. Then re-teach why the paragraph breaks vanished under the clock: she marks the four shifts on today's pool piece and re-lays it with breaks (untimed, 10 min). Then the fairground story — the mint / hide-or-stay branch with one character shown by one chosen detail (W2.2), one paragraph per exchange; she fixes the lowercase 'and' sentence herself. Next reading step is the structure question on June 2023, not another language question. Next timed outing ~6 Oct: description again, one place one time, with 'a new paragraph at every shift' written on the plan as a sixth line; check whether a capital after a comma or a splice is caught when one is present (plant none — record honestly).
2026-09-21 ✓ reviewed
Finished the language question on the June 2023 seaside source: the two remaining chains written unaided inside the ten-minute clock, the five-word spelling list 5/5 from memory, and a short fairground-story fix at the end. Starter, no notes (3 items): naming the three chain steps failed cold ("i don't know") and was rebuilt from her own 18 Sep chain with two binary prompts (word or what it makes you think of? / about the word or the reader?); the chain on 'clawed' then ran fully unaided ('clawed' → injured → the sea and pier caught in a never-ending battle); spelling list friend/suddenly/happened/laughter/meanwhile 5/5. Timed task: first reply re-used the model quote ('skin disease') as an explanation with no reader step; after one redirect to a different quote, chain 1 'receding hairline' → bald → the reader thinks it looks funny, and chain 2 'mouth is forever open and panting' → tired → the reader wants to look away, both three-step, both unaided, ~L2 each. 'tierd' in chain 2; 'reread done' was asked for twice and not reported; when the reread was set as a single named check ('just looking at the words') she found it ("reread done spelling mistake"). She asked that spelling corrections come with the right spelling and a way to remember it; 'tired' given as tire+d, typed correctly. 'centre' taught (-re like theatre/metre). Spotlight sentence ("You see a spotlight pointing to the middle of the ring.") was already clean; asked for one thing the light lands on she wrote "and there are boxes everywhere but only one is in the spotlight" — one chosen detail, lowercase 'and' opening it. Mint/hide-or-stay branch not reached; block ended on time. Her two lines: "I finished up my sentence. And next, I have Spanish."
R2.1 Not started → Not started — 21 Sep, June 2023 Source A, ten-minute clock: 2/2 remaining chains unaided and three-step (hairline→bald→looks funny; panting→tired→look away), ~L2 each; with Friday's supported chain, 3 chains now on one real source. Starter: chain on 'clawed' ran unaided; the three step names needed two binary prompts. Proposed developing pending adjudication (target band not yet confirmed on the subject row).
T5.2 Not started → Not started — 21 Sep: spelling list friend/suddenly/happened/laughter/meanwhile 5/5 from memory, typed. New slip 'tierd' in a composed chain, not a sound-alike; caught only when the reread was set as a single named check, then 'tired' typed correctly after the spelling and an aid (tire+d) were given.
T1.2 Developing → Developing — 21 Sep, untimed story: the new sentence opened lowercase with 'and' ('and there are boxes everywhere but only one is in the spotlight'). Capital-after-comma habit not tested (typed, no commas).
Next: FIRST: the fairground story — the mint / hide-or-stay branch, teaching one character shown by one chosen detail (W2.2) before she writes it, one paragraph at a time; she fixes the lowercase 'and' sentence herself. Starter, no notes: name the three chain steps cold (second time of asking); one chain on a fresh tutor-written line; spell tired and centre. Fewer than 2 of 3 → re-model before the story. The language question is done on June 2023 — next reading step is the structure question (R3) on the same source, not another Q2. At every spelling slip give the correct spelling plus a memory aid, then retest it in the next starter. Timed description outing due Tue 29 Sep, handwritten, 30 min write.

2026-W38 · week of 2026-09-14

2026-09-18 ✓ reviewed unfinished · closed
Q2 on a real source for the first time (June 2023 insert, Source A, the June 2023 Q2 — unchanged for 2027), plus the fairground story continued. Starter: asked for the Q2 chain cold she replied "what is Q2"; after a one-line reminder she ran the full chain on 'gnawed' (word → pier locked in a battle with the sea → reader feels it has gone on for ages), typing 'here' for pier. Q2 under a ten-minute clock, unaided: three relevant quotes from the right lines but no chain on any — feature list ("lots of description, verbs and nouns, lots of commas"), ~2/8 (L1); 'course' for coarse. One chain then rebuilt with support over three prompts on 'symptoms of a skin disease' → ugly → the reader steps back, reaching roughly L2; 'feel is in pain' dropped 'it'. Remaining two chains not done; the five-word spelling starter not run — both stop at the block end. Story: asked to name one nearby ride she wrote the whole entertainment-tent node; 'the bash of rubber' from the bumper cars is the first named-source sound (W1.2), one correct semicolon, one garbled sentence, 'center'. Diary confirmed as a reader branch; mint and hide/stay branches now open. Her two lines: "I did a exam question and a another paragraph of my story. I don't know what's next."
R2.1 Not started → Not started — 18 Sep, June 2023 Source A Q2, 10 min unaided: 3 quotes chosen from the right lines, 0 chains, ~2/8 L1. One chain then built with 3 prompts ('skin disease' -> ugly -> reader steps back), ~L2. Starter chain on 'gnawed' ran fully after a reminder of what Q2 is. Not yet a full supported answer at the band below target.
R2.2 Not started → Not started — 18 Sep: asked to name the method before it was offered, on a real source; none named on any of 3 quotes. Third session without an independent method label. Feature list given instead ('lots of description, verbs and nouns, lots of commas').
W1.2 Developing → Developing — 18 Sep, untimed own story: 'the bash of rubber' from the bumper cars - a named source and one particular sound, written before the prompt for the ride was answered. First specific sound after three sessions of categories. Untimed, own text; needs a second on a timed unseen piece.
T5.2 Not started → Not started — 18 Sep, typed: 'here' for pier (starter), 'course' for coarse (timed Q2), 'feel is in pain' with 'it' dropped (supported chain), 'center' for centre (story). Noun-only reread instructed on the timed answer; 'course' survived it. Five-word spelling list not tested today.
Next: FIRST: finish Q2 on June 2023 Source A — the remaining two chains, unaided, ten minutes, using her own 'skin disease' chain as the model; then the five-word spelling list (friend, suddenly, happened, laughter, meanwhile) from memory, owed since 15 Sep. Starter, no notes: name the three chain steps, run the chain on 'clawed'. Then the story: fix the spotlight sentence and 'center', then the mint / hide-or-stay branch with W2.2 (one character by one detail). Do not supply the method label; do not accept a quote without a chain. Timed description outing still due ~29 Sep.
Unfinished: Q2 on June 2023 Source A: one chain of three built (supported); two chains not written. Five-word spelling starter (friend, suddenly, happened, laughter, meanwhile) not run. Next session opens on both. (R2.1, T5.2) — closed 2026-09-21 by session 37: completed in session 37
2026-09-15 ✓ reviewed
Shape C — second timed handwritten Q5 on the record, lengthened to 30 min of writing (5 plan / 30 write / 5 check), on an unseen tutor-set 2026-format prompt; she chose the story opening ('somewhere you shouldn't be') and wrote ~200 words in second-person present, 29 of 30 minutes writing, pencil, photographed, logged as attempt 6: AO5 13/24 (L3 lower), AO6 8/16 (L2 top), 21/40 — same total as 8 Sep but composed differently. Zero comma splices (her own 5-minute check reported 0; verified 0), eight paragraphs each breaking on a shift, and the cyclical last line decided in the plan and delivered. Marks lost to spelling of everyday words (~12), two capitals after commas, one tense slip, and a setting/character carried by borrowed DC names rather than built detail. No retrieval starter (timed block). Her closing lines: timed practice; next is computer science.
W3.1 Developing → Secure — Second independent timed plan, 15 Sep: all five lines (mood, structure, four things, senses, last line) down inside the 5 minutes, unprompted, and the last line used verbatim as the piece's last line. First was 8 Sep (last line arrived late then). Loose-end bar named on 8 Sep now met.
T5.1 Developing → Secure — Timed, unseen prompt, 15 Sep: 8 paragraphs in ~200 words, every break on a shift (trapdoor/inside, corridor, the chair, the smell, waking). Second unaided demonstration on a different task in a different session (first 9 Sep, untimed own text). 8 Sep's one-block piece is the contrast.
W4.3 Developing → Secure — 15 Sep: cyclical last line ('all you can hear is the Joker's laugh') written on the plan inside 5 min and delivered as the final line, echoing the laughter of paragraph 1 — planned this time, not found. Second unaided instance (first 8 Sep, found in the writing). Loose end closed.
T1.1 Developing → Developing — 15 Sep timed piece: 0 comma splices in ~200 words; her own 5-minute check reported 0 and 0 were found on verification. First clean timed piece (8 Sep had 3-4). Not the second instance yet.
T1.2 Developing → Developing — 15 Sep: full stops and opening capitals secure throughout the timed piece; but a capital letter after a comma twice ('...along, You hear'; '...end, You see'). Splices gone, so the gate is now this habit.
W4.2 Developing → Developing — 15 Sep timed: shifts written AND broken at — the chemical-smell/whirring/fade-to-waking shift is a genuine change of scene and sits in its own paragraph. Loose end (shifts not broken at) closed under timing.
W1.2 Developing → Developing — 15 Sep: three non-sight senses used (scent of dust and blood, a strange chemical smell, a whirring sound) but the sound is still sourceless — no machine named. Same loose end as 9 Sep.
W2.4 Not started → Developing — First narrative-opening evidence, 15 Sep, untaught: second person and present tense held across ~200 words with one slip ('asked') and one 'had fallen'. Supported by nothing — an unaided first attempt that reaches L3 lower overall.
W2.2 Not started → Not started — 15 Sep: characters carried by borrowed names only (Jason Todd/Red Hood, the Joker, Nightwing); no detail an examiner could use to see them. The single biggest AO5 cost in the piece.
W3.2 Not started → Developing — 15 Sep: the task focus ('somewhere you shouldn't be') was directly addressed from the first sentence — a trapdoor into the Joker's bomb shelter — so no AO5 cap. 8 Sep's description also stayed on task. Recorded as developing pending a second logged instance against this ref.
T5.2 Not started → Not started — 15 Sep handwritten: noun-level slips recurred under timing — 'Jokes' for Joker's in the last line, 'know' for known — plus ~12 misspellings of everyday words (friend, suddenly, happened, laughter, meanwhile, corridor) and one tense slip. Answers the 11 Sep watch: yes, the slips recur in a handwritten timed piece, though the meaning survived.
Next: Open with the queue's plan, unchanged: R2.1 Q2 on a real source under the 10-minute clock (8 marks) — June 2023 insert with the 2026-format sample paper — with her naming the method before it is offered. Then R3 Q3 structure. Still open from 9 Sep: the fairground diary branch and W1.2 taught properly (one named ride's sound — today's 'a whirring sound' is still sourceless). New AO6 focus after splices: a five-word personal spelling list from today's piece (friend, suddenly, happened, laughter, meanwhile) retrieved in starters, and no capital after a comma. Next timed outing due ~29 Sep: the description option this time, 30 min write, to check W1.5 (one setting, one time) and whether the clean-splice result repeats (second clean piece = T1.1 secure).

2026-W37 · week of 2026-09-07

2026-09-11 ✓ reviewed
First reading-strand session — the whole R strand was untouched. Opened with a 5-question retrieval starter (the 9:00 mixed warm-up showed as missed): 4/5 first pass, 5/5 after one re-ask; identified a comma splice and both fixes, and gave 'name the animal, not animals' as the test for a chosen sense-detail. Taught the Paper 1 question map (Q1 4/5min, Q2 8/10, Q3 8/10, Q4 20/20, Q5 40/45) then the Q2 formula, word to connotation to effect, on two tutor-written lines (no copyrighted source used). Showed the two stored Q2 resources (Seneca 3.1.3, Mr Bruff 2026 Q2 video). Typed, untimed, exit ticket independent.
R2.1 Not started → Developing — Full three-step chain unaided first attempt: 'clawed' → pier fighting the waves and losing → reader sees it as alive and failing. Repeated on an unseen exit-ticket line ('twitching' → hoping not to be noticed → reader feels watched), third step after one prompt. A third example ('gnawed') took three prompts to land on 'thin' not 'broken'.
R2.2 Not started → Not started — Found the effect first and then accepted 'personification' as the label for it, in that order. Spotted unprompted that 'clawed' and 'gnawed' are both animal verbs running through the same line — a pattern across the extract, not a single device.
T5.2 Not started → Not started — Q2 answers twice became unreadable through word-level slips — 'pier' written as 'pair', 'planks' as 'parents' then 'planics' — so one sentence needed a full rewrite before it made sense. Typed, so not a handwriting issue.
Next: Q2 on a real source under the 10-minute clock (8 marks) — June 2023 insert with the 2026-format sample paper, or an old-format Q2 (unchanged for 2027). Then R3 Q3 structure. Still open from 9 Sep: the fairground diary branch and W1.2 taught properly (one named ride's sound); fortnightly timed handwritten Q5 outing due, 30 minutes on an unseen AQA prompt.
2026-09-09
Branching Story day, fairground setting, untimed per the stimulus policy (extra — no English Language block on today's timetable). Taught T5.1, new paragraph at every shift (place, time, focus, mood); she identified the break point in a model paragraph unaided. 5-minute timed branch map produced three branches inside the time; the weak branch (food and games — same place, same time) was rebuilt into an enclosed stall path after one prompt. Wrote the ticket-box node in one go (2030 calendar dating the emptiness; dust and cobwebs as a non-sight sense), then re-laid it with four paragraph breaks, every one landing on the shift itself, unaided. Self-mended a sentence fragment ("You continue looking. When you see there's nothing.") while re-laying the page, unprompted. Her closing lines: wrote the first bit of my story; next is writing more.
T5.1 Gap → Developing — After teaching, chose the correct break line from three options unaided, then applied four paragraph breaks in the exit ticket, each landing on the shift itself (outside/inside, calendar time-shift, back out to the path). Untimed, own text; needs an unaided repeat on a fresh task before secure.
W4.2 Developing → Developing — Shift now marked on the page in untimed work — the break at 'You head back out to continue down the path' was chosen by her from three candidate sentences.
W1.2 Developing → Developing — 'the smell of dust and cobwebs' was a specific non-sight sense; the fairground sound stayed a category (creaking metal from the rides, no named ride) even after a prompt to narrow it.
T1.1 Developing → Developing — Starter: identified 'The lights flickered, the music stopped' as a comma splice immediately. Mended a sentence fragment in her own text unprompted while re-laying the page. No promotion — the bar is catching splices in her own 5-minute check.
Next: Continue the fairground branch — the diary choice is offered and unresolved, so open there. Teach W1.2 properly: one named ride's sound, not a category (she gave "creaking metal" with no ride attached). Fortnightly timed handwritten outing next, lengthened to 30 minutes, on an unseen AQA prompt per the stimulus policy.
2026-09-08
Shape C — first timed handwritten Q5 on the record. 2026-format descriptive task (deserted beach, wrecked boat, image as inspiration only), 5 plan / 25 write / 5 check, pencil on paper, photographed. Produced "The Wreck", ~170 words, second-person present tense, through to a finished ending with no blanks. Marked 21/40 (AO5 13/24 L3 lower, AO6 8/16 L2 upper) and logged as attempt 5. AO6 focus of the session was the comma splice, taught and fixed in her own writing that day: she rewrote "You suddenly feel extremely tired, you collapse into the pile" as two sentences with a full stop, choosing that over a semicolon she does not yet own. Her closing lines: read/wrote a story called The Wreck; next is a longer story.
W3.1 Developing → Developing — Five-line plan built independently under timing on 8 Sep, no prompts: mood, structure, four things, senses down inside 5 min; last line left blank at the bell and arrived unprompted during the writing.
T1.2 Not started → Developing — Timed handwritten piece 8 Sep: capitals at sentence openings present throughout and terminal full stops in place, unaided — clears the 7 Sep loose end. AO6 placed L2 upper only because splices remain.
T1.1 Not started → Developing — 3-4 comma splices in the timed piece 8 Sep ('You suddenly feel extremely tired, you collapse into the pile'; 'You look at the snake, it looks at you'). Rule named once; she then identified the join and fixed it to two sentences with a full stop, unprompted as to method.
W4.2 Not started → Developing — Unaided in the timed piece 8 Sep: the sandy beach 'slowly changes' into jungle, with the soundscape changing to match — a deliberate shift of scene rather than a jump cut.
W4.3 Not started → Developing — Unaided in the timed piece 8 Sep: opens 'As you step back into consciousness' and closes 'As sleep comes to claim you, a shadow falls over you' — a cyclical return she found while writing after leaving the plan line blank.
T5.1 Not started → Gap — Timed piece 8 Sep written as one unbroken block of ~170 words with no paragraph breaks, despite containing three clear shifts of place. This is the single feature holding AO5 at the bottom of Level 3.
W1.2 Developing → Developing — Non-sight senses used in the timed piece 8 Sep (waves running over the body, birdsong, jungle noise) but still as categories: 'the sounds of birds', 'the sounds of the jungle'. Same loose end as 7 Sep, so no movement.
W1.5 Not started → Not started — Descriptive task answered as a journey with events (bird leads her off the beach, snake, temple, collapse) rather than one setting held still. Not penalised by AQA, but the drift into plot is why the description is thin on crafted detail.
T5.2 Not started → Not started — Tense slips into the past inside a sustained present-tense piece 8 Sep: 'It had parts missing', 'It hissed at you'. Second person and present tense otherwise held for ~170 words.
Next: Teach T5.1 paragraphing at shifts — she already writes the shifts (beach into jungle, entering the temple) but does not break the page at them; this is the cheapest AO5 lift available. Then a second splice pass on her own text. She has asked for a longer piece next, so pair it with narrative opening work (W2) and lengthen the timed write to 30 min at the next fortnightly outing.
2026-09-07
First logged English Language session. Q5 descriptive writing: built a full five-line plan (empty fairground after closing; mood 'alone'; zoom-in structure; entrance/Ferris wheel/food stands/tent; last line the spotlight going out) and wrote paragraph one, six sentences, on the entrance. Untimed, typed, supported paragraph-at-a-time.
W3.1 Not started → Developing — Completed all five plan lines with prompting between each; chose the walk order (entrance, wheel, stands, tent) and the closing image herself. Plan visible before writing began.
W1.1 Not started → Developing — Chose 'alone' over 'lonely' and held it across the whole paragraph; strongest line 'the silence where people's voices should be' conveys the mood by absence rather than statement.
W1.2 Not started → Developing — Non-sight senses chosen not listed: 'the bite of the cold night air' (touch, chosen verb) and, after one prompt to narrow a general category, a single owl call replacing 'sounds of the park stopping'.
T1.2 Not started → Not started — Six consecutive sentences written with correct full stops but no opening capitals; all six corrected on a single prompt when named as an AO6 issue. Also corrected peoples' to people's, self-corrected 'against'.
Next: Ferris wheel paragraph from the existing fairground plan; AO6 focus stays sentence demarcation (capitals at sentence openings).