A new student recently brought me a new specification.
I’ve taught Edexcel English Language A, but after some discussion, we decided that Language B was a better fit for her.
The skills were familiar. The specification was not.
So I did what I always do when I’m getting to grips with a new course: I read the specification.
All 25 pages of it in this case (some are longer).
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a 25-page specification. It has a job to do, and it does that job. But it isn’t written for teenagers.
I need to turn that information into something a student can actually use.
I’ve been making one-page specification maps for my students for years.
They give us something we keep coming back to: a visual reminder of the course structure, the assessment objectives, the weightings and, importantly, where the marks are actually earned.
So I made one for Language B.
Now that I’ve got the map, I can stop worrying about what the specification is and get on with the interesting bit: teaching it.
Including choosing the unseen texts we’ll use to practise.
That’s the exciting part.
If you want a copy, just ask.
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