Toast English Subject Leaders and Year 9 Reading Task Teachers of English Status: Recommended Date of Issue: 01-2006 Teacher Pack Ref: Dfes 1789-2005 CDO-EN

Guidance Secondary Curriculum and National Strategy Standards

Toast English subject leaders and Year 9 reading task teachers of English Status: Recommended Date of issue: 01-2006 Teacher pack Ref: DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN

Assessing pupils’ progress in English at Key Stage 3 Toast

Year 9 reading task

Framework objectives Reading 7 Compare the presentation of ideas, values or emotions in related or contrasting texts.

Reading 11 Analyse how an author’s standpoint can affect meaning in the literary texts.

Assessment focuses AF2 Understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text. AF3 Deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts. AF4 Identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level. AF5 Explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level. AF6 Identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader.

Time needed Two consecutive one-hour lessons. Timings will need to be adapted if lessons are longer or shorter than 60 minutes.

These timings are estimates for guidance rather than obligatory timings. The most important consideration is that pupils should have sufficient time to complete the task, working independently. Unfinished tasks are unlikely to produce evidence on all the assessment focuses.

Teachers may adjust the timings for the task to take account of their particular circumstances, but should bear in mind that spending overmuch time on any section may disadvantage pupils.

Pack includes Teacher notes OHT 1 – food cards OHT 2 – extract from Pommes Dauphinoise for shared reading Pages 2–10 of reading booklet Pages of answer booklet Marking guidelines Exemplar responses

Task outline This task requires pupils to read and respond to sections of four chapters from Nigel Slater’s autobiography Toast. Pommes Dauphinoise is used as a class text for shared reading and exploration of early ideas. Toast 1 and the first section of Christmas Cake are studied together to bridge ideas, while the rest of the text and Smoked Haddock are studied by pupils independently.

Teaching sequence

LESSON 1 Share the learning objectives with the class, rephrasing as appropriate for the group.

Introduction (15 minutes) Tell pupils that they are about to read some chapters from Nigel Slater’s autobiography Toast. Draw out knowledge of him as a celebrity chef – his reputation for uncomplicated cooking. Compare him to other known celebrity chefs. Ask pupils why they think people write autobiographies. Explain that Nigel Slater was brought up in the 1960s in Wolverhampton. His mother died when he was young and Nigel was brought up by his father and then by his stepmother. Although he was often alone after his mother’s death and left to make his own meals, he writes about his experiences with humour and compassion. For Nigel Slater, food becomes a comforting and significant friend.

You may wish to introduce some of this autobiographical information (which is relevant to the texts in this task) at the start, or draw it out as appropriate during the reading of the four chapters.

Display OHT 1 (page 2 of the reading booklet), which names and describes some of the dishes from the chapter Pommes Dauphinoise. (This does not need to be cut up into cards.) Tell pupils that all these dishes are mentioned in the text they are about to read.

This activity should be very quick and is designed to make the text accessible by establishing some of the ways in which food is made to sound delicious.

Ask pupils to: 1. circle any foods they know 2. underline the foods they can work out in pairs by exploring language more closely – for example by examining parts of words they know 3. find two dishes they want to find out more about.

Pernod – an alcoholic drink made with aniseed Veal paupiette – thin slice of veal, rolled and stuffed with olives

Take quick feedback, drawing attention to the way some dishes are made vivid through use of colourful adjectives/comparisons.

© Crown copyright 2006 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in 3 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN English at Key Stage 3 Shared reading – Pommes Dauphinoise (20 minutes) Hand out the pupil reading booklet and ask pupils to locate Pommes Dauphinoise. Although this is the final text in the pupil reading booklet, it will be studied first. Explain that in this chapter Nigel Slater narrates an episode when he was in his last year at catering college. He was probably about 20 and full of ideas for his future life as a chef. Read Pommes Dauphinoise to pupils and ask them to be alert to the way Slater describes the foods they have just looked at. Display OHT 2 (page 3 of the reading booklet) and lead a short focused session on the passage on Thornbury Castle. Ask pupils to look at the way the writer uses descriptions of food to reflect Nigel’s growing passion for food and his discovery of pommes dauphinoise. On the OHT, highlight words and phrases that alert the senses to smell, texture, sight and taste, for example: – Tiny beads of condensation frosting the outside – Fat olives the colour of a bruise – Dark, sticky sauce – Comforting, soothing and fragrant – Anchovy puffs arrived fresh from the oven – Subtlest hint of garlic…as if it had floated in on a breeze. Draw out the significance of the chapter title. Ask pupils why they think the discovery might have been so important to Nigel: – It is a simple, comforting dish containing only two ingredients and may remind him of the simple foods of his childhood – The phrase “then something came along that was to change everything” implies that the discovery may have influenced him as a chef in the years to follow.

Development (20 minutes) Introduce the two chapters Toast 1 and Christmas Cake. Explain that these chapters come earlier on in Nigel Slater’s book and tell us a great deal about his mother. Read up to “having to be filled with marzipan”. Ask pupils to think about the connections between these texts and the last text. Ask pupils to turn to page 4 in their reading booklet and draw their attention to the prompts in the left-hand column. Ask pupils to read the remaining part of Christmas Cake from “Forget scented candles…” to “…lawn for the birds” and to complete the grid in pairs.

Plenary (5 minutes) Agree three key points from the completed grids and write up on the board or flipchart for the next lesson: 1. The way the writer appeals to our senses 2. The way the writer links food and cooking to memory and feelings – especially to his mother and father 3. The humour of his observations – of people and events.

4 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in © Crown copyright 2006 English at Key Stage 3 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN LESSON 2 Remind pupils of the learning objectives for these two lessons.

Introduction (5 minutes) Use flipchart, display board or OHT from previous lesson to remind pupils of the key ideas from Lesson 1: 1. The way the writer appeals to our senses 2. The way the writer links food and cooking to memory and feelings – especially to his mother and father 3. The humour of his observations – of people and events. Explain that they will be asked to respond to the rest of the text on their own and that these key ideas will be an important focus for their reading.

Shared session (10 minutes) Demonstrate how to respond to a question which requires a longer answer, reminding pupils that the PEE model will be useful.

This is best done through modelling an answer. Pupils working towards level 6 may benefit from being shown a more flexible approach towards the PEE model, as the example below shows.

Question: What impression does Nigel Slater give of his parents in the first section of Christmas Cake?

Answer: Nigel Slater states that his mother was not a very good cook – she was a “chops-and-peas sort of cook” (Point and Evidence). His father tried to inspire her by making her a special gadget for her mixer but she was obviously overwhelmed by it and swore every time it appeared (Point and Evidence)! Nigel and his father seem keen for her to be more creative in the kitchen but she is clearly not particularly interested in cooking (Explanation).

Independent response – Questions 1–3 (20 minutes) Remind pupils that although they have already read Toast 1 and Christmas Cake they should now take the opportunity to read them again independently. They should think about the three key ideas displayed on the board or flipchart and, specifically, on the way the writer links food to memory and his feelings about his mother; his sense of humour; and his descriptions of food and people. Pupils should be encouraged to highlight important sections of the text as they read, especially those which relate to the three key ideas.

This is intended to support pupils and focus their reading. Do not read the text for pupils. This is intended to be an independent activity leading into the first set of questions in the pupil answer booklet.

Briefly show pupils how to use the answer booklet. Ask them to complete Questions 1 to 3, explaining that these questions are all about Toast 1 and Christmas Cake.

© Crown copyright 2006 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in 5 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN English at Key Stage 3 Independent response – Questions 4–7 (25 minutes) Introduce the last chapter in the sequence – Smoked Haddock – in which Nigel Slater’s attention turns to his father. Pupils should spend the remaining part of the lesson reading Smoked Haddock and completing Questions 4 to 7. Point out that Question 7 requires them to think across all four chapters.

These are not test conditions so prompt pupils if necessary (e.g. to write more, to explain themselves more clearly). Do not, however, provide support that means that the pupils are no longer responding to the text independently. If this kind of support is necessary for an individual pupil in the context of the lesson, you will need to take the degree of support into account when making the assessment judgement.

It is good practice to: tell pupils if they have not written enough or are writing too much; prompt them to explain their answer more clearly; generally encourage them through praise; clarify a question or issue for the whole class if there seems to be a fairly general misunderstanding remind pupils how much time they have to complete the task.

Assessment Use the marking guidelines to judge the pupils’ overall levels on the specified assessment focuses. Highlight, then tick, the sections of the marking guidelines according to the features you find and then consider whether the weight of evidence is at secure or low level 4, 5 or 6. Exemplar responses for each question at every level are also included for reference and to give guidance on how the criteria are to be applied.

wonderful, fat slices of home-made honeydew melon golden chips ginger cake

little anchovy puffs salmon with dill sauce chicken liver pâté fresh from the oven

fat olives the colour chicken baked with onion soup of a bruise Pernod and cream

veal paupiette the size pommes dauphinoise – of a Cornish pasty potatoes thinly sliced lamb with rosemary and with dark, sticky and baked in cream and apricots sauce flecked with with the subtlest hint matchsticks of tongue, of garlic parsley and gherkins

© Crown copyright 2006 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in 7 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN English at Key Stage 3 OHT 2/Page 3 of reading booklet Extract from Pommes Dauphinoise for shared reading

Then something came along that was to change everything. It was the simplest food imaginable, yet so perfect, so comforting, soothing and fragrant. The dish contained only two ingredients. Potatoes, which were thinly sliced and baked in cream. There was the subtlest hint of garlic, barely present, as if it had floated in on a breeze. That pommes dauphinoise, or to give its correct titIe pommes à Ia dauphinoise, was quite simply the most wonderfuI thing I had ever tasted in my life, more wonderful than Mum’s flapjacks, Joan’s lemon meringue, and a thousand miles away from anything I had made at college.

8 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in © Crown copyright 2006 English at Key Stage 3 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN four-coffees-with- He mimics the person ordering tea at the seaside hotels ( cream-and-four-slices-of- coffee-cake-if-you-would). He describes an early memory of his mother burning toast. His description of hot buttered toast shows that he was already interested in food. Pommes Dauphinoise 1 Toast Christmas Cake About 20? He’s at catering About 20? He’s college. What is the chapter title? How old is the narrator? What do we know about his family? What is his interest in food What is his interest and cooking? The way he appeals to our senses? What do we notice about his sense of humour? Page 4 of reading booklet Page 4 of reading Explore connections between the three texts by filling in grid.

Text

Toast 1

My mother is scraping a piece of burned toast out of the kitchen window, a crease of annoyance across her forehead. This is not an occasional occurrence, a once-in-a- while hiccup in a busy mother’s day. My mother burns the toast as surely as the sun rises each morning. In fact, I doubt if she has ever made a round of toast in her life that failed to fill the kitchen with plumes of throat-catching smoke. I am nine now and have never seen butter without black bits in it.

It is impossible not to love someone who makes toast for you. People’s failings, even major ones such as when they make you wear short trousers to school, fall into insignificance as your teeth break through the rough, toasted crust and sink into the doughy cushion of white bread underneath. Once the warm, salty butter has hit your tongue, you are smitten. Putty in their hands.

Christmas Cake

Mum never was much of a cook. Meals arrived on the table as much by happy accident as by domestic science. She was a chops-and-peas sort of a cook, occasionally going so far as to make a rice pudding, exasperated by the highs and lows of a temperamental cream-and-black Aga and a finicky little son. She found it all a bit of an ordeal, and wished she could have left the cooking, like the washing, ironing and dusting, to Mrs P., her ‘woman what does’.

Once a year there were Christmas puddings and cakes to be made. They were made with neither love nor joy. They simply had to be done. ‘I suppose I had better DO THE CAKE,’ she would sigh. The food mixer – she was not the sort of woman to use her hands – was an ancient, heavy Kenwood that lived in a deep, secret hole in the kitchen work surface. My father had, in a rare moment of do-it-yourselfery, fitted a heavy industrial spring under the mixer so that when you lifted the lid to the cupboard the mixer slowly rose like a corpse from a coffin. All of which was slightly too much for my mother, my father’s quaint Heath Robinson craftsmanship taking her by surprise every year, the huge mixer bouncing up like a jack-in-the-box and making her clap her hands to her chest. ‘Oh heck!’ she would gasp. It was the nearest my mother ever got to swearing…

However much she hated making the cake we both loved the sound of the raw cake mixture falling into the tin. ‘Shhh, listen to the: cake mixture,’ she would say, and the two of us would listen to the slow plop of the dollops of fruit and butter and sugar falling into the paper-lined cake tin. The kitchen would be warmer than usual and my mother would have that I’ve-just-baked-a-cake glow. Oh, put the gram on, will you, dear? Put some carols on,’ she would say as she put the cake in the top oven of the Aga. Carols or not, it always sank in the middle. The embarrassing hollow, sometimes as deep as your fist, having to be filled in with marzipan.

Forget scented candles and freshly brewed coffee. Every home should smell of baking Christmas cake. That, and warm freshly ironed tea towels hanging on the rail in front of the Aga. It was a pity we had Auntie Fanny living with us. Her incontinence could take the edge off the smell of a chicken curry, let alone a baking cake. No matter how many mince pies were being made, or pine logs burning in the grate, or how many orange-and-clove pomanders my mother had made, there was always the faintest whiff of Auntie Fanny.

Warm sweet fruit, a cake in the oven, woodsmoke, warm ironing, hot retriever curled up by the Aga, mince pies, Mum’s 4711. Every child’s Christmas memories should smell like that. Mine did. It is a pity that there was always a passing breeze of ammonia.

Cake holds a family together. I really believed it did. My father was a different man when there was a cake in the house. Warm. The sort of man I wanted to hug rather than shy away from. If he had a plate of cake in his hand I knew it would be all right to climb up on to his lap. There was something about the way my mother put a cake on the table that made me feel that all was well. Safe. Secure. Unshakeable. Even when she got to the point where she carried her Ventolin inhaler in her left hand all the time. Unshakeable. Even when she and my father used to go for long walks, walking ahead of me and talking in hushed tones and he would come back with tears in his eyes.

When I was eight my mother’s annual attempt at icing the family Christmas cake was handed over to me. ‘I’ve had enough of this lark, dear, you’re old enough now.’ She had started to sit down a lot. I made only marginally less of a mess than she did, but at least I didn’t cover the table, the floor, the dog with icing sugar. To be honest, it was a relief to get it out of her hands. I followed the Slater house style of snowy peaks brought up with the flat of a knife and a red ribbon. Even then I wasn’t one to rock the boat. The idea behind the wave effect of her icing was simply to hide the fact that her attempt at covering the cake in marzipan resembled nothing more than an unmade bed. Folds and lumps, creases and tears. A few patches stuck on with a bit of apricot jam.

I knew I could have probably have flat-iced a cake to perfection, but to have done so would have hurt her feelings. So waves it was. There was also a chipped Father Christmas, complete with a jagged lump of last year’s marzipan round his feet, and the dusty bristle tree with its snowy tips of icing. I drew the line at the fluffy yellow Easter chick.

Baking a cake for your family to share, the stirring of cherries, currants, raisins, peel and brandy, brown sugar, butter, eggs and flour, for me the ultimate symbol of a mother’s love for her husband and kids, was reduced to something that ‘simply has to be done’. Like cleaning the loo or polishing the shoes. My mother knew nothing of putting glycerine in with the sugar to keep the icing soft, so her rock-hard cake was always the butt of jokes for the entire Christmas. My father once set about it with a hammer and chisel from the shed. So the sad, yellowing cake sat round until about the end of February, the dog giving it the occasional lick as he passed, until it was thrown, much to everyone’s relief, on to the lawn for the birds.

Smoked haddock

I may have rolled the pastry for a mince pie or fingered the butter, flour and sugar crust for a crumble, but at nine years old I had yet to cook an entire meal. My cooking had been confined to things I could do unsupervised, safe things. So protective had my mother been of her son’s precious fingers I had yet to turn an oven on or light the gas…

Since my mother had gone, my father’s evening meals had been an almost steady stream of toasted cheese and Cadbury’s MiniRolls. He had his pipe, of course, but I wasn’t sure if that constituted a meal or not. He would come in, weary and smelling of oil, and then fiddle around making my tea. Every meal was seasoned with guilt. His. Mine. ‘You might at least do the plates.’ He said it just once. From then on I washed up after every meal, standing on a stool to reach into the deep steel sink.

I was never sure if he expected me to make my own tea as well. There was nothing said. Just his disappointment hanging in the air like a deflated Yorkshire pudding. His favourite meal – tripe and onions – was a recipe known only to him. His way with the venous and quivering sheets of blubber was a mystery I had no intention of unravelling. Smoked haddock, his runner-up, held no such trepidation. It looked as easy as making a cup of tea.

If a boy saves his pocket money up for three days he can buy enough smoked haddock to feed a tired and hungry man. My savings weren’t quite enough, I was a few pennies short, but the man in MacFisheries gave it to me anyway. ‘It goes under the grill, doesn’t it?’ He came round to the front of the counter and put his arm around my shoulders. He told me to warm the grill first, to rub some butter on the fish and cook it for about ten minutes. Then he warned me not to get fancy with it. He led me out of the shop, still with his arm around me. ‘He’ll enjoy that, your dad.’…

A fillet of smoked haddock takes about five minutes to cook under a domestic grill. You rub it with butter, shake over some black pepper, but no salt, and let the flames do the rest.

The haddock lies saffron yellow under the grill. The butter glistens on the fat flakes of fish. All is plump, sweet and juicy. It never looked like this when Mum cooked it.

Where is he? He is always here by six o’clock. It’s now ten past. I cut two slices of bread and butter them. I have never known him eat more. Twenty past, half past. Where is he? The haddock is starting to curl up at the edges. The butter has set to a grainy slime, the fish is now dull with a milky residue that has trickled down and into the grillpan.

The fish is turning the colour of a pair of old stockings, the edges have buckled like a dead frog in the sun. My father’s beloved smoked haddock is stone cold.

I hear the purr of my father’s new Humber in the driveway. His fish looks more like roadkill than supper. Perhaps I should just chuck it in the bin so he won’t know. Then he wouldn’t feel bad about being late. But the pong hanging in the kitchen will give me away. Damn Auntie Fanny, if she hadn’t just died I could blame her.

My father comes in, his face a bit red, his hair newly cut. Aftershave. His piece of fish is now on the table, sandwiched between two glass plates. ‘Where have you been? It’s ruined.’

‘No it’s not, it’s just how I like it.’

As he sits down and starts to eat I leave the room. It was supposed to be such a treat. Why be late tonight of all nights? He hasn’t had smoked haddock for tea since Mummy died. Suddenly, the tears come from nowhere, they just well up. A great hot wave. Later, I walk into the kitchen to see if he has finished. He is sitting with his head in his hands. He’s crying.

Pommes Dauphinoise

When my father was alive our eating out had been confined to the Berni Inn in Hereford. We usually skipped starters (I think we once had the honeydew melon but Joan said it wasn’t ripe) and went straight to steak, fat ones that came on an oval plate with grilled tomatoes, onion rings, fried mushrooms and wonderful, fat golden chips. We drank lemonade and lime except for Joan who had a Tio Pepe, and then had ice cream for afters. Sometimes my aunt would take me to the Gay Tray in Rackham’s store in Birmingham where we would queue up with our gay trays and choose something hot from the counter, poached egg on toast for her, Welsh rarebit and chips for me. There had been the odd afternoon tea taken in seaside hotels (two-toasted-teacakes-and-a-pot-of-tea-for-two, please) and tea taken at garden centres (four-coffees-with-cream-and-four-slices-of-coffee-cake, if you would) and, once, a memorable tea eaten in Devon with slices of home-made ginger cake, scones, cream and little saucers of raspberry jam. But that was it really. Eating out was something other people did…

During his last year at catering college, Nigel meets Andy Parffrey. They become friends and Andy introduces Nigel to new foods and new restaurants, one of which is Thornbury Castle…

White wine came in tall glasses with long, thin stems, tiny beads of condensation frosting the outside; little anchovy puffs arrived fresh from the oven with a dish of fat olives the colour of a bruise. We sat on chairs at either side of the fireplace, admiring the tapestries, the jugs of lilies and the polished panelling. The handwritten menu offered familiar things: chicken liver pâté and onion soup, but also things that were new to me: chicken baked with Pernod and cream, salmon with dill sauce, and lamb with rosemary and apricots. I chose chicken with tarragon sauce. Andy had the veal paupiette, which arrived the size of a Cornish pasty and with a dark, sticky sauce flecked with matchsticks of tongue, parsley and gherkins. The food was like that Joe Yates had talked of, food from another world. Then something came along that was to change everything. It was the simplest food imaginable, yet so perfect, so comforting, soothing and fragrant. The dish contained only two ingredients. Potatoes, which were thinly sliced and baked in cream. There was the subtlest hint of garlic, barely present, as if it had floated in on a breeze. That pommes dauphinoise, or to give its correct titIe pommes à Ia dauphinoise, was quite simply the most wonderfuI thing I had ever tasted in my life, more wonderful than Mum’s flapjacks, Joan’s lemon meringue, and a thousand miles away from anything I had made at college.

1. What do we learn from these two paragraphs about the writer’s mother and his feelings for her? Make two points and support each one with a short quotation (AF2). (Try to use a PEE answer.)

What we learn about his mother:

What we learn about his feelings for her:

Questions 2 and 3 are about Christmas Cake

2. Re-read the paragraph beginning “Cake holds a family together”, in which the writer suggests for the first time that his mother is ill (AF6):

Why does the writer use the underlined words and what is their effect? Note to pupils: these words have been underlined here to help you. They were not underlined in the original text.

16 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in © Crown copyright 2006 English at Key Stage 3 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN 3. The writer brings his memories to life by appealing to our senses – of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. An example has been given below to help you.

Choose another example from either sound or smell and complete the grid (AF5).

Example How this appeals to our senses This appeals to our sense of sight, by helping us to see the cake as a messy, “her attempt at covering the cake in unmade bed. The marzipan on the top of marzipan resembled nothing more than the cake must have looked like messy, an unmade bed” crumpled sheets, not smooth and flat as it should have been.

Example: This appeals to our sense of ______by…

Question 4 is about Christmas Cake and Smoked Haddock

4. From your reading of these two chapters, what might we infer about when and how the writer’s mother died? Explain how we know this (AF3).

© Crown copyright 2006 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in 17 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN English at Key Stage 3 Questions 5 and 6 are about Smoked Haddock, in which Nigel cooks supper for his father

5. Explain how the writer’s choice of words shows how Nigel and his father are feeling? One example has been done to help you (AF5).

Example Explain how the writer’s choice of words shows us how Nigel and his father are feeling

The use of the word “guilt” instead of salt “Every meal was seasoned with guilt” and pepper makes us feel that every meal was uncomfortable for both of them.

“Just his disappointment hanging in the air like a deflated Yorkshire pudding”

“His fish looks more like roadkill than supper”

6. Read the end of the chapter again from “The haddock lies saffron yellow under the grill” to “He’s crying”.

In your own words, explain why you think Nigel Slater chose to end the chapter in this way. How does he want the reader to feel (AF6)?

18 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in © Crown copyright 2006 English at Key Stage 3 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN Question 7 is about all four chapters: Pommes Dauphinoise, Toast 1, Christmas Cake and Smoked Haddock

7. These four chapters come from a much larger autobiography.

What do you notice about the way the chapters are arranged in the book? You should write about (AF4): the chapter titles the order of the chapters how the rest of the book might be organised.

© Crown copyright 2006 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in 19 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN English at Key Stage 3 it the chapter ends with both both with ends chapter the Secondary National Strategy for school improvement AF6 – identify and comment on writers’ on and comment – identify AF6 purposes and and viewpoints, the overall on the reader. the text effect of In Q2, comments show clear clear show comments In Q2, the all of effect the that understanding words is to emphasise the reassurance/comfort cake gave to him as the of explanation some is There a child. and sentences word single that the way a have emphasis, the strengthen repetition ironically contrast and effect cumulative illness. mother’s the of details with on effect the identify clearly pupils In Q6, been has this how explain and reader the e.g. created, until Up crying. openly father his and Nigel in “hanging been have feelings their now, emotions their time first the is – this air” the died. mother his since released been have the that awareness show comments In Q2, to is repetition and words the of effect cake reassurance/comfort the emphasise some is There child. a as him to gave relate the words how of explanation limited illness. mother’s to the general some show pupils In Q6, and reader the on effect the of awareness e.g. explanation, limited some provide makes which crying, father his with ends his that now is he upset how realise us died. wife has the “the faintest faintest “the the words words the “faintest whiff of whiff “faintest of whiff “faintest or or Comments are developed developed are Comments some give Comments deflated” makesit soundas “slow plop of the dollops of fruit of fruit dollops the of plop “slow of fruit dollops the of plop “slow AF5 writers’– explain and AF5 on comment use of language, including grammatical word and sentence features at and literary level. In Q3, pupils provide an appropriate appropriate an provide pupils In Q3, or sound of sense the to linked example e.g. smell, sugar…” and butter and Fanny”. Auntie the of details the of explanation some with language usedand itseffects, using e.g. appropriate, where language technical e.g. humour, or onomatopoeia it as humour creates Fanny” of Auntie whiff of smells lovely the with strongly contrasts of breeze “passing Like cooking. home is Fanny of Auntie smell the ammonia”, always lingering in the background. how explain comments developed In Q5, the writer’s languagechoices contribute to e.g. reader, the on effect overall the dead a to haddock the compares he way animal in the road emphasises how Nigel’s so gone has dad his please to attempt them. of both for wrong badly appropriate an provide pupils In Q3, or sound of sense the to linked example e.g. smell, sugar…” and butter and Fanny”. Auntie and language of choice the of explanation e.g. reader, the on effects its the like sound really “dollop” and “plop” cake mixture dropping into the tin. awareness some show comments In Q5, language writer’s of the effect of the choices, e.g. “ though all the lifehad gone out ofhis dad flat. gone he’s if as – it’s the the the chapters chapters the ...... Date ...... may answers Stronger AF4 – identify and on – comment the identify AF4 structure and organisation of texts, and including presentational grammatical level. text at features In Q7, comments explore the way the way the explore comments In Q7, writer’s the support choices structural e.g. purpose, or theme to cake and toast simple from progress pommes as such dishes exotic his develops writer the as dauphinoise cookery skills that suggest and 1’ ‘Toast on comment etc. 2’ ‘Toast include may chapters other a as text of the title the to this link and whole. general some show comments In Q7, e.g. choices, structural of awareness early his about are chapters early Dauphinoise’ – ‘Pommes memories book/ the in later much comes probably to only not linked are titles chapter the life. his in episodes important to but foods Reference is made to each bullet point. Stronger Stronger

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20 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in © Crown copyright 2006 English at Key Stage 3 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN he he it with some some with Secondary National Strategy for school improvement AF6 – identify and comment on writers’ on and comment – identify AF6 purposes and and viewpoints, the overall on the reader. the text effect of In Q2, comments show awareness that the the that awareness show comments In Q2, to is repetition and words the of effect cake reassurance/comfort the emphasise some is There child. a as him to gave relate the words how of explanation limited illness. mother’s to the general some show pupils In Q6, and reader the on effect the of awareness e.g. explanation, limited some provide us makes which crying father his with ends wife his that now he is upset how realise died. has a identify comments straightforward In Q2, e.g. words, the using for purpose main them, notice to reader the wants effect. their of explanations simple References tosingle word sentences, to tend illness mother’s the and repetition undeveloped. be simple some make pupils In Q6, e.g. reader, the on effect the on comments it’s a really sad ending because he is crying. the fish fish the the words words the “faintest whiff of whiff “faintest or smell of baking baking of smell Comments give some some give Comments deflated” makesit soundas “slow plop of the dollops of fruit of fruit dollops the of plop “slow Some straightforward comment comment straightforward Some AF5 writers’– explain and AF5 on comment use of language, including grammatical word and sentence features at and literary level. In Q3, pupils provide an appropriate appropriate an provide pupils In Q3, or sound of sense the to linked example e.g. smell, sugar…” and butter and Fanny”. Auntie and language of choice the of explanation e.g. reader, the on effects its the like sound really “dollop” and “plop” cake mixture dropping into the tin. awareness some show comments In Q5, language writer’s of the effect of the choices, e.g. “ though all the lifehad gone out ofhis dad flat. gone he’s if as – it’s if appropriate, an provide pupils In Q3, sense the to linked example obvious, more e.g. smell, or sound of Christmas cake/the soundof the raw cake mixture. on effect the and/or choice language about and level at a general usually reader, the undeveloped. writer’s the on comments simple In Q5, language choices are made, e.g. more. any nice very look doesn’t the the ...... Date ...... the chapter titles are all are titles chapter the AF4 – identify and on – comment the identify AF4 structure and organisation of texts, and including presentational grammatical level. text at features In Q7, comments show some general general some show comments In Q7, e.g. choices, structural of awareness early his about are chapters early Dauphinoise’ – ‘Pommes memories book/ the in later much comes probably to only not linked are titles chapter the life. his in episodes important to but foods Reference is made to each bullet point. are comments straightforward some In Q7, e.g. provided, his with off starts of foods/it sorts different child. a was he when of memories early addressed. be not may points bullet Some

that she died between between died she that that she died when he was AF3 – deduce, infer or interpret interpret or – deduce, infer AF3 texts. from ideas or events information, In Q4, inference based on several pieces pieces several on based inference In Q4, developed some and evidence of e.g. comment, and old years nine and eight between perhaps illness, an of died probably she that or inhaler Ventolin her to referring a lot. down sit to started had two or one on based inference In Q4, with evidence of pieces straightforward e.g. comment, little and Cake’ ‘Christmas chapters two the alone is he because Haddock’ ‘Smoked Haddock’. ‘Smoked in father with his His mother is not a good a good not is mother His She always burns the toast, “the “the toast, the burns always She AF2 – understand,AF2 describe, orselect from or ideas events information, retrieve texts and quotationuse and reference to text. cook as it says “my mother burns the toast toast the burns mother “my says it as cook rises”. sun the as surely as and support them with a relevant a relevant with them support and e.g. quotation, generally a with them support and points focus, lack may which quotation relevant e.g. crust”. toasted rough, B4 L5 points relevant two identify pupils In Q1, L4 relevant two one or identify pupils In Q1, B4 IE Marking guidelines – Year 9 task Toast Pupil name ...... Form ...... Assessing pupils’ progress in English at Key Stage 3 Overall assessment (tick one box only) only) box one (tick assessment Overall 5 Secure 5 Low 4 Secure 4 Low 4 Below

1. What do we learn from these two paragraphs about the writer’s mother and his feelings for her? Make two points and support each one with a short quotation (AF2). (Try to use a PEE answer.)

Level 4: Response and commentary

Two appropriate points are made. Although the first comment is straightforward – “He dose love her” – and is supported by a relevant textual reference, the second relies on an overlong quotation to make its point.

Level 5: Response and commentary

Two appropriate points are made – “he still loves her” and “the maker is in complete control”. Each point is supported by a relevant quotation from the text.

Two appropriate points are made, each clarified by further elaboration and supported by an apt quotation.

© Crown copyright 2006 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in 23 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN English at Key Stage 3 2. Re-read the paragraph beginning Cake holds a family together, in which the writer suggests for the first time that his mother is ill (AF6):

Why does the writer use the underlined words and what is their effect? Note to pupils: these words have been underlined here to help you. They were not underlined in the original text.

Level 4: Response and commentary

The main purpose for using the underlined words is made clear – “how the father feels” – but with little elaboration beyond what is in the text.

Level 5: Response and commentary

Comment shows an awareness of how the reassurance provided by having cake in the house is emphasised by the underlined words – “how safe it felt to him... how loving the home is” – although explanation does not go beyond this point.

This answer focuses on each of the underlined words in turn and makes an appropriate comment on the implications and impact of each. There is also some recognition in the final sentence that all these words provide comfort in a situation where there was an increasing need for mutual reassurance.

© Crown copyright 2006 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in 25 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN English at Key Stage 3 3. The writer brings his memories to life by appealing to our senses – of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. An example has been given below to help you.

Choose another example from either sound or smell and complete the grid (AF5).

Level 4: Response and commentary

An appropriate example is chosen and comment is relevant, although generalised and developed only in the most straightforward way – “seem realistic like we’re standing with them and listening”.

Level 5: Response and commentary

An appropriate example is given with an explanation that comments on a specific aspect of the effect on the reader of the choice of language – “imagine the sound... because of the butter and fruit falling on to the tin”.

An appropriate example is given, supported by an explanation that draws attention to the use of contrast – “Flexible soft icing to stiff hard icing” – to make an impact on the reader. Although not developed in detail, the comment just meets the level 6 criteria.

© Crown copyright 2006 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in 27 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN English at Key Stage 3 4. From your reading of these two chapters, what might we infer about when and how the writer’s mother died? Explain how we know this (AF3).

Level 4: Response and commentary

Two straightforward inferences are drawn, each supported by an appropriate textual reference, showing understanding that the writer’s mother was “getting ill” and that she “maybe died of an asthma attack”. There is no comment in relation to when she died.

Level 5: Response and commentary

Inferences about when the writer’s mother died are based on several pieces of evidence from across the text – ‘...the end of Christmas Cake. At the beginning of Smoked Hadock...’ – supported by an additional reference to her carrying the “ventolin inhaler” as a further indication of her increasing frailty.

Inferences about when the writer’s mother died are based on several pieces of textual evidence from ‘Christmas Cake’ and ‘Smoked Haddock’. These references are linked to others related to her “Ventolin inhaler” and “his parents hushed conversations” thus providing additional clues as to the nature and timing of his mother’s death.

© Crown copyright 2006 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in 29 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN English at Key Stage 3 5. Explain how the writer’s choice of words shows how Nigel and his father are feeling? One example has been done to help you (AF5).

Level 4: Response and commentary

Although comment is quite generalised, there is clearly an awareness of the implications of the language chosen. In the first case, “in the air” indicates the absence of “saying (what) they wanted to say”, and in the second, ‘roadkill’ suggests the fish supper “was all mushy and bloody than normal”.

Level 5: Response and commentary

This answer shows some awareness of the impact of the language by apparently focusing on literal meaning – “deflated” appears simply paraphrased as “to make it flat”. In fact, that phrase in itself captures a sense of the depressing mood, which is reinforced by the explanation that the supper “does’nt look eadible anymore”.

This response provides comment that explores quite precisely the overall effect on the reader of the writer’s language choices. Reference is made to how both the “depressing” nature of the atmosphere and the “unhealthy” nature of the supper are emphasised. The first example is not dealt with so effectively as the second, but there is sufficient here to meet the level 6 criteria.

© Crown copyright 2006 Secondary National Strategy | Assessing pupils’ progress in 31 DfES 1789-2005 CDO-EN English at Key Stage 3 6. Read the end of the chapter again from “The haddock lies saffron yellow under the grill” to “He’s crying”.

In your own words, explain why you think Nigel Slater chose to end the chapter in this way. How does he want the reader to feel (AF6)?

Level 4: Response and commentary

There is recognition of the overall impact of the final paragraphs on the reader – “feel like sorry for him” – and an understanding of the key features of how this is created – “on his own, cooking tea for his dad and his mum has just died”.

Level 5: Response and commentary

This response shows an overall understanding of the impact of the final paragraphs on the reader, with sympathy deriving from the writer’s attempt to become “more independant” and “the author’s frustration” at the lateness of the father which is emphasised by the “time words”.

This response shows an understanding of the way the ending of the chapter gains impact from the fact that initially the reader has a sense that Nigel “was coping”, but that he is now “crying because he is missing his mum”. There is also an awareness that the reader’s sympathies are further engaged on Nigel’s behalf because he “hardly sees his dad” and “cooked a meal for his dad and it went wrong”. However, the final twist to the chapter comes from the tears of the father, with both Nigel and the reader’s recognition that “he misses his wife” and also feels guilty about “being late” for dinner.

What do you notice about the way the chapters are arranged in the book? You should write about (AF4): the chapter titles the order of the chapters how the rest of the book might be organised.

Level 4: Response and commentary

Straightforward comments focus on the way in which chapter titles progress from “simple easy food” to “foods which are less simple”, noting that this progression is also related to the writer’s age, to his becoming “more adult” and ‘changing’.

Comments show a general understanding of the way structural choices have been made, with chapter titles being not just “all names of food” but those that relate to “great memories for him”. These are then ordered chronologically from “when he was a small child... to a college student”.

Comments show understanding of the way structural choices have been made, with chapters being sequenced chronologically from “when he was young up to when he is in college”. There is also comment on the way in which the chapter titles reflect increasingly more sophisticated dishes – “get more compilated” – with an implicit recognition that this reflects his increasing maturity as a person and competence as a chef. The final sentence shows an awareness that structure supports the writer’s theme and purpose by linking various foods to important episodes/developments in his life.

These materials have been developed by QCA in partnership with the Secondary National Strategy.

The help provided by the teachers and pupils who have trialled the materials as part of the Monitoring Pupils’ Progress in English project has been invaluable.