Year 13 Preparing for the Next Phase Lancashire Secondary Consultant Team [email protected] This booklet gives some advice on how students in Year 13 can prepare for the next phase in their education or employment during the school closures as a result of the Corona Virus. The booklet is split into three sections relating to mathematics, English and general advice. Mathematics Preparing for Mathematics or a mathematics related subject at University English Preparing for English Literature General Advice Preparing for study at University 1 | Page Mathematics Whether studying for a mathematics degree or a subject which uses mathematics (any of the sciences, engineering, psychology, medicine, computing, economics…), you need to keep your mind active and your mathematical knowledge and skills fresh. You could try some of the suggestions below. 1. Make use of any revision materials provided by your college or school 2. Use online lessons such as those available free at Khan Academy 3. Engage in a little additional reading around mathematics such as the free articles available through +plus maths online magazine – some of which may be of particular interest at the moment. • https://plus.maths.org/content/Article • https://plus.maths.org/content/how-can-maths-fight-pandemic • https://plus.maths.org/content/how-best-deal-covid-19 • https://plus.maths.org/content/maths-minute-social-distancing 4. Keep maths fresh and explore links between different mathematical topics https://undergroundmathematics.org/ 5. Or perhaps some puzzles https://plus.maths.org/content/Puzzle 6. Try explaining how and why we use certain methods in algebra, or how certain concepts work etc. to younger siblings. (Teaching someone else really tests your own understanding) 7. Listen to BBC Radio 4's More or Less show. (Previous editions available at (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qshd/episodes/player ). This may be of particular interest to scientists, statisticians and economists. 8. How about watching or listening to a selection of BBC broadcasts about maths and mathematicians. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/collections/mathematics/ 9. Try some TEDtalks a. https://www.ted.com/playlists/189/math_talks_to_blow_your_mind b. https://ed.ted.com/lessons?category=mathematics Try mixing it up a bit – do a little each day and try a variety of activity types. For further information please contact Helen Monaghan [email protected] 2 | Page Preparation for Continued Study of English PREPARING FOR ENGLISH LITERATURE AT UNIVERSITY English Literature is a really interesting and rewarding degree to study. It will give you the opportunity to deepen your study of a variety of literary works from different periods in history, developing your own thoughts and opinions about your reading through discussion and academic writing. At university, you will undertake a lot of learning independently and will be expected to manage your time well. Therefore, it would be useful to establish good independent habits before you start your course, and also familiarise with key texts from the tradition of English Literature. Universities will provide you with preparatory course material or ideas about what you should be doing to prepare for your future study and you should focus on preparing for your course as advised by them. Furthermore, sites like the following from Cambridge provide useful preparatory tasks for an English Literature degree: https://www.myheplus.com/post- 16/subjects/english. However, if you need a little more guidance, you might find the ideas below useful. Some recommended reading lists are attached. There is not an expectation that all texts from the list should be read, rather they provide you with some ideas of what you could try - above all choose texts/tasks that interest you and that you enjoy. EVERYDAY SET ASIDE YOURSELF A COUPLE OF HOURS TO DO THE FOLLOWING: 1. Broaden your knowledge of literary texts. It would be advantageous to read as many canonical texts as possible (see attached list or university reading list), though also read modern classics too. Use this time to familiarise yourself with texts you have heard of but have never read. Ask for a reading list from your teacher or college/school, or use the attached lists as a reading guide – you do not need to read them all! Try to read at least one substantial text a week (some will take longer!) and a selection of poetry (a couple of poems a week) as well as novels and plays. Remember most classics can be downloaded for free online, and one of the benefits of an eBook is that you can look up words you are unfamiliar with. Look on book recommendation websites such as https://www.goodreads.com/ to help you decide what to read first/next based on what you have enjoyed in the past. 2. After reading a text – How do I develop my understanding further? a) Create a literature notebook. Make notes with accompanying images on what you have read and the ideas the authors seemed to be conveying. b) Support your critical understanding of texts by reading study guides such as those on sites as follows: https://www.sparknotes.com/ https://www.cliffsnotes.com/ c) Research some of the authors you have enjoyed reading. Make notes about their lives. d) Find out a bit more about the period the texts you have read were written in. The British Library website can really help with this: https://www.bl.uk/learning/online- resources. Find out about the Romantic period and the Victorian era in particular. Make a timeline of the texts you have studied. 3 | Page Preparation for Continued Study of English e) Deepen your knowledge of an author's work by challenging yourself to read a number of works by the same author (Austen, Dickens or Shakespeare) or from the same genre (gothic texts). Consider whether these works deal with similar ideas. Add your thoughts to your notebook. Maybe read a number of authors who were writing in the same time period and consider whether there are any similarities or differences in the ideas they are concerned with e.g. key Victorian novelists, contemporary female authors. Maybe read the British Library literary timeline (https://www.bl.uk/englishtimeline) or the Cambridge Literature timeline (http://libguides.cam.ac.uk/EFLtimelines) to help you identify which authors were contemporaries. f) Arrange to read the same texts as friends and set a deadline for an online discussion. Take it in turns to think of some questions you all could discuss about the text you have read. g) You might want to watch some online lectures about the texts you have read. Afterwards, write down any new information you have learnt or any new ideas the lecture has inspired. You can find interesting lectures on the following websites: Massolit Gresham College You can also complete some mini-courses on certain literary texts via FutureLearn, or listen to 'In Our Time' BBC radio 4 podcasts such as those on Shakespeare's Life, Shakespeare's Work, and The Romantics. 3. Be knowledgeable about contemporary issues. Regularly read a quality newspaper such as The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Times etc. The ‘Comment Is Free’ section of the Guardian can provide food for thought. Also, watch the news daily. Maybe Newsnight and Question Time too. 4 | Page Preparation for Continued Study of English OPTIONAL EXTRAS 1. Listen to radio programmes that will broaden your knowledge of texts Regularly listen to a literary radio programme on Radio 4 to give you some ideas about what to read next. You do not have to listen to them all; find one you like from the list below. Remember to click on the tabs at the top of the page, and listen to archived podcasts as well as live programmes. A Good Read Famous people talk about their favourite books. In Our Time Discussion programme about a variety of topics including famous authors and thinkers. Bookclub James Naughtie talks to acclaimed authors about their best-known novels. World Book Club Monthly programme that focuses on great world authors past and present. Poetry Please Famous Liverpudlian poet Roger McGough reads and discuss modern greats and classic poems and poets. Open Book Programme looking at new fiction and non-fiction with Mariella Frostrup Front Row Daily arts show that reviews topical plays, novels, films etc. and interviews novelists, playwrights, directors etc. With Great Famous people read favourite texts aloud, particularly poems. Pleasure Look for one-off e.g. Trollope on Jane Austen: programmes about http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0076tq5 authors/genres Book of the Week/ Daily/ nightly reading of a chosen book Book at bedtime Listen to afternoon radio plays – on every day. 2. Read some of the books on the shortlist for international/ national book prizes such as: These books will be very current and might be future classics. - National Short Story Award - Man Booker Prize - Women’s Prize for Literature - The Costa Book Awards - The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Award 3. Use the internet to help perfect basic skills Consider what areas you would like to work on and see which of these websites might help: - Bristol University – Basic grammar and punctuation exercises - Sussex University – Punctuation Basics - OU Short Grammar Course: English Grammar in Context - OU Short Grammar Course: Grammar Matters - BBC Academic Writing 4. Blog/ tweet about your reading. 5 | Page Preparation for Continued Study of English Poetry – READING LIST This reading list might help to introduce you to some of the most famous poets and poems in English Literature. It is recommended that you dip in and out of the poems here before you begin your course and also during your course – you certainly do not need to read every single poem on this list in chronological order! Aim to read a couple of poems a week at least.