English

Click on one of the sections below to find out how we will tailor the work to suit your child’s individual requirements.

English is offered to children of abilities, ages and all exams are covered, including:

• Pre-school children aged four seeking preparation for Independent schools
• Primary children aged four to eleven – Key Stage 1 & 2 SATs, 7+, 11+ Grammar and Independent school exams
• Secondary children aged eleven to sixteen – Key stage 3 SATs, GCSE and internal school exams
• Sixth formers aged sixteen and over – A‘Level and GCSE retakes

English Overview

English is by far the most important subject in the national curriculum throughout Primary and Secondary school. English cuts across all school subjects and an excellent standard of spoken and written English is essential.

Furthermore, marks are now awarded for spelling, punctuation and grammar in all GCSE’s, not just English.  By developing confidence in these skills NOW, children will improve their chances of succeeding in important qualifications later on in their education.

Here are some of the reasons why the Government expects your child to use a good standard of written English so they can:

• Understand how to read and interpret Maths word problems, describe Science experiments and produce History essays - to name just a few examples
• Achieve an A or A* in their GCSEs
• Explain in the GCSE Maths paper how they arrived at their answer for asterisked questions – this is NEW from 2013 onwards

Primary English for children aged 4 to 7

If your child is aged 4 to 7 or in Reception, Year, 1 or Year 2, then this the best time to teach and practice Phonics so that they have a real grasp of using their sounds to break down and read words. Using a methodical approach to teach Phonics, your child will be shown how to access the opportunities offered by the school curriculum. Your child will be taught how to write words and build sentences. Eventually, your child will be writing short stories. All along, we will teach your child:

• Proper hand writing formation so that letters and words are correctly written on the line the right way round
• To get ready to excel in the Year 1 school phonics test
• How to tackle the Year 2 SATs papers through practice well before the real exam
• How to pass the 7+ entrance exam for Independent schools

Primary English for children aged 7 to 11

After an initial assessment, we will tailor the work for your child so they are familiar with all aspects of grammar, punctuation and spelling that they need help in. We will also work solidly on developing your child’s story writing, comprehension and inference skills so that they are ready for all the following exams before starting secondary school:

• SATs Comprehension, Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling tests
• 11+ Grammar entrance tests

Secondary English for pupils aged 11 to 18

Your child needs to learn how to analyse the "writer's craft" from Year 7 to Year 11 as part their preparation for the NEW 2017 GCSE English Language and Literature papers. Throughout these years, we teach children how to practice, hone, refine and prefect the skills involved in analysing the "writer's craft" to achieve a Level 9 (A Star) in the NEW 2017 GCSE English Language and Literature papers. Here are the questions your child needs to ask him or herself and try to answer every time they need to analyse a passage in English, alongside using "PEEL" (POINT, EVIDENCE, EXPLANATION & LINK):

• What is the author doing when s/he writes?
• What techniques is the author using?
• What does the author hope to achieve?
• What is the purpose of the writing?
• What is the effect of the writing on the reader?
• Practicing how to answer essay exam questions in detail on the effect the writer has on the way you think about their work and being able to justify / explain your point of view using the correct literary terminology.

English tuition is provided to help your child cope with the exacting requirements of Secondary school, through to the demands of the GCSE, AS and A'Level curriculum.

The cornerstone of teaching your child is the personal approach - all students get the help they need and school support is a central feature of each lesson. Regular, focused consultation with an expert is an invaluable tool in advancing learning and one which is only available after hours.

The aims of teaching your child is to: 

• Establish and consolidate what s/he has already learnt in English
• Accelerate progress at a faster pace than would be the case without tuition
• Work on developing the many different forms of writing your child needs to be familiar with for exam purpose at secondary school, including: persuasive writing, letter writing, poetry, report writing, essays and many more
• Consolidate critical thinking skills required in analysing, compating, contrasting and explaining ideas
• Plan and structure essayswhich seamlessly flow from one idea to the next with a proper beginning, middle and an end
• Prepare for GCSE and A'Level examinations through past paper practice
• Develop a love of reading which will feed into using improved vocabulary when writing

Teachers at The After-School Learning Centre are qualified professionals with wide-ranging experience in the provate sector, grammar and state school systems; we teach all major examination boards and the personalised attention your child receives means that s/he will experience tuition that is impossible to achieve in classed of up to 30 students that is common in most schools.

Homework is set each lesson and is marked and returned promptly with development guidance to aid improvement.