My Little 2.0 Project

I found the Pearson website was regularly being updated with new resources. The Paper 1 Anthology was complete, however in Summer 2021 there were a number of texts in the Paper 2 Anthology that were still awaiting Copyright approval. That was a bit frustrating, but what was useful, was that the titles of the texts were listed. I had copies of a few of these and acquired a couple of the others, which I read over the summer. Sitting in the Garden with a book, while the kids were away on holiday with their dad, has to be every English teacher’s dream! As wonderful as these books are, I still needed a more concise idea of which extracts would be used in order to complete planning for the year. Luckily, tracking our other qualification’s scheme of work, I could get most of the Autumn term planning completed over the Summer while I waited for more texts to be added to the Anthology. There were sample papers ready, so I had something to work with.

Everyone else was starting with creative writing, so we began at the same point. The skills are identical but it was being given such a wide choice of tasks, and the planning box that really made 2.0 stand out. I then moved onto non fiction writing. We normally only covered persuasive writing and writing to argue for articles and speeches. I needed to introduce blogs, reviews, letters and emails, as well as writing to advise. I borrowed ideas from 2020/21 lessons and adapted and developed them to fit the remit. I used the sample papers to ensure I was phrasing and setting out the questions in the same way. Additionally, I used some of my functional skills ideas and resources. I found the mash up of the two seemed to flow nicely.  

I planned to slowly introduce reading. At the start of each lesson, I used pictures linked to the theme we were looking at. I can’t remember when I started using pictures in this way, but it is something I have used at various points in the past.  I also used slides with random questions to encourage higher thinking skills. In November I planned to start looking at the shorter reading questions. When Pearson published their scheme of work, you can imagine how relieved I felt, knowing that I had already started my lessons in the way that was suggested.

By the end of August I had my own folder on the shared drive, so my HOD could track my progress. Everything was all neat and tidy, filed away ready, with the first term overflowing with resources, lessons and information. I had finished mapping the Scheme of Work, Checkpoint assessments had been broken down using a sample paper. I had even created my own ‘Welcome to Pearson’ PowerPoint too. We were all set. I just needed students to work with.