This page has been designed to help pupils in Standard Grade. 

Course Content

    Levels of Award

Home Study

What Happens After Standard Grade

Useful Links For Pupils And Parents

Third Year Poetry Prize

Samples of Work   A Short Story

Help Me Spill Butter

Editing Symbols

Course Content

Standard Grade English is a 2 year course. It consists of 3 elements – reading, writing, and talk/discussion – which have equal weighting. Pupils are given the opportunity to develop and learn new skills in all 3 areas leading to final internal and external assessments which determine the level of grade awarded.

Levels of Award Top of Page

There are 3 levels – Credit, General and Foundation. A grade is awarded for individual elements and an overall grade is given for the entire course.

Credit           =   grades 1 and 2

General        =   grades 3 and 4

Foundation   =   grades 5 and 6

HOME STUDY     Top of Page

Home study is set regularly. It may consist of preparation for lesson such as reading, note-taking, answering questions or completing an essay at first or final draft stage. Pupils may be expected to conduct research into a topic and are encouraged to use the library facilities available in the school and elsewhere. Home study is seen as part of the on-going learning process and is an important tool. If a pupil has difficulty in completing the work, he or she should speak to the teacher, preferably before the deadline, and appropriate support will be provided.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER STANDARD GRADE?    Top of Page

If a pupil decides to remain for a fifth year, he or she may choose to continue with English. Within the Higher Still curriculum, there are three possible levels:

•    Higher in S5

•    Intermediate 2 in S5 with a possible attempt at Higher in S6

•    Intermediate 1 in S5 with a possible attempt at Intermediate 2 in S6

Standard Grade results determine the course that is recommended. For some it may be that further study of English will be of little benefit. Pupils are encouraged to consult teachers and Guidance staff before making decisions. However, this structure allows for flexibility should changes be made.

Third Year Poetry Prize    Top of Page

The St. Andrews Writers Group is looking for original poems by pupils in third year for the Third Year Poetry Prize.  The contest occurs annually in May.

Samples of Work

S4 model imaginative story

Background:

 Having read and studied Robin Jenkin’s short story “Flowers,” pupils were asked to write an imaginative story with the following parameters:

1.      a single event

2.      a single character

3.      limited or no dialogue

4.      a symbol to be included

5.      if possible, a recurring motif (could be a colour)

 Shona fulfilled the task in an exemplary way – winning the S4 Writing Prize 2004.  Jenkin’s and Shona’s stories model characteristics often searched for in imaginative writing tasks.

Daisy-Chain
By Shona Leenhouts
 

The soft grass tickled Ella’s bare feet as she ran. All across the forest floor there was light, in intricate shapes, moving slightly as the tree tops moved in the summer wind. Flowers became smudged bright colours in the green grass as she ran. Over the gentle sound of singing birds and swaying grass, she could hear the shrieks of laughter from her brother as he chased her, trying to grab the material of her dress as it billowed out behind her. She giggled as she won their game, leaping onto the picnic rug. Finn followed, and bumped down beside her. Exhausted, they sat silently and carefully picked the grass from in between their toes. Ella reached up and retrieved their sandals and picnic bag from the low branches of the tree, where they had hung them.

They lay enjoying their carefully prepared picnic, with the sun patterns dancing around them. In a short time, their picnic they had spent so long planning and preparing with their mother was finished. Ella took out a selection of paper and crayons, and began to draw flowers. She carefully found the best colours to recreate the pretty, delicate flowers around her. Finn sat scribbling in different colours, claiming they also were flowers.

After drawing many pictures of forest flowers, Ella ordered her willing brother to help her find daisies. She crouched down beside a cluster of daisies, where a sunlight shape shone brightly on them, making them seem more vibrant that all the others. Ella considered the length of each daisy before carefully picking it, and putting it into her dress, which she had scooped into a basket shape as she perched on the grass. Finn ran around clasping his hand around each flower he saw, and harshly pulling them from the grass. With a large pile of daisies, Ella began carefully pushing her thumbnail into the stems of the flowers, and linking them together. Her brother watched, intrigued as the chain grew.

“How can you make them join up, Ella?” he asked, in a curious voice, his face in a frown.

“ Girls just can,” she replied like he ought to know, concentrating too hard on the daisy-chain to explain properly. Finn, satisfied with her explanation, began drawing the trees, using bright crayons and scribbling treetops with great care. Once Ella had a considerable length of daisy-chain, she carefully wrapped it twice around her wrist and told her brother it was time to go.

The sun patterns had faded and the breeze no longer carried the heat from the glowing sun with it. Finn walked with the rug wrapped around his shoulders. Ella walked behind him holding the bag, with the pictures and crayons, in one hand and holding her other infront of her, to admire her daisy-chain. The flowers looked perfectly formed, and had preserved the sunlight in their bright yellow centres. The crisp, sparkling white petals looked even whiter against Ella’s tanned skin. The pink tinges made each petal look like it had been carefully dipped in deep pink paint. She walked slowly, trying to arrange the daisies perfectly for showing her mother. She looked up, and Finn was standing further up the path, looking at something. He turned and called on her. Ella began walking slightly faster. She couldn’t quite see what he had discovered, but was too busy admiring her work to bother much.

“Look, a rabbit,” Finn said softly as she approached him. There was a small rabbit, lying dead on the path. The rabbit’s chocolate brown eyes were still slightly open. They looked perfectly smooth and glass-like, but had a hidden look of terror. The rabbit looked frail, its visible skeleton only covered by a thin skin. Ella stared at it, willing the poor thing to spring up and run away. But it didn’t. Suddenly the wind blew harder, and the forest seemed darker. The rabbit’s soft, short fur swirled in the wind. Ella felt tiny drops of cool summer rain gently land on her arms. Finn stood, his face frowning at the still creature, wondering why it wasn’t moving. Ella looked at his puzzled face.

“She’s sleeping,” Ella whispered, lying to her brother, wanting to believe it herself. She took Finn’s hand, and turned her back on the dead animal. A tiny tear droplet rolled slowly down her cheek. She began running, Finn grasping her hand and feeling the delicate daisy-chain between his sister’s and his warm, smooth hands, Elsa unable to destroy the image of the dead rabbit in her head.

The rain was becoming heavier. Finn was struggling to keep up. He held her hand tightly as they ran along the path. Ella didn’t notice the bright smudges of flowers as they ran. The path was becoming muddy, and the moisture felt cold and uncomfortable as it crept between their toes.

Finn let go of her hand as Ella went to open the cottage gate. When she saw the bright, colourful flowers in her garden, contrasting with the dull rain coming down in thin, summery sheets, she suddenly remembered the daisy-chain. There, on the ground by the gate, it lay. The daisy stems were limp and shrivelled. The bright yellow was dark and dull, the sunshine gone. The sparkling white petals were crumpled and bruised, and the tiny pink tips glistened mud-brown. The thin, delicate petals moved slightly in the wind. Ella looked at it, remembering how beautiful it had been.

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