This resource is based around the theme of climate change and is designed to support reluctant, low level or anxious learners get exam ready. This resource has 1 text and features a set of questions which are similar to the ones found on the exam. Hope it helps

This mini bundle consists of a mini reading activity and writing activity, along with video and video worksheet for L1 English Functional Skills. All resources are based around Greta Thunberg and are designed to be as similar as possible to the layout of the pearson functional skills exam - although they can be altered to accommodate any exam board. The reading paper is based on 1 article about Greta and takes questions as they are presented and worded on the exam. The writing is also presented and worded as it would appear on the exam, so this mini bundle is perfect for any exam prep or to use with lower ability learners. This package also comes with a BBC video and worksheet to accompany it. Please keep in mind that the TES preview can sometimes alter the look of the resources and this is not always a true reflection. Hope it helps

The world is a challenging place for everyone at the moment and stress, depression and anxiety are real issues that people are facing on a daily basis. This is a small resource which is designed to help reassess and take perspective during these difficult times. This is a small tutorial, which can be used as a starter or further developed to suit your needs, which examines the idea of success, what it means and what it looks like and how we measure it and most importantly, is designed to take a moment to be kind to ourselves and take the pressure off. This powerpoint is worded to be used as a part of a teams session, students are asked to go into rooms and use the chat function in order to engage with the sessions and with each other, again this can be adapted to suit your sessions. The quiz is designed to be interactive and light hearted to help promote a fun, positive atmosphere and connection with classmates, even though we are all distanced from one another. For me, taking the time to re-assess personal success is also a useful life skill, as we all know the non pandemic universe can be just a challenging and stressful, and being able to sit and take stock of small and big successes is a brilliant way to build self esteem, promote positive mental health and combat anxiety. Please be aware that the TES preview does at times distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps.

This is a mini reading mock for L2 english Functional Skills, based closely on the pearson (edexcel) paper. Based on how the rich and famous have coped over the pandemic, this resource uses 1 article as a reference. The layout and wording are very close to the exam paper itself, with the exception of the comparison question, and so can be used to help get your students exam ready. Hope it helps

This single text resource is designed to help support less ability students prepare for their functional reading exam. Based on the current protests with climate change, this resource basis it’s questions around the edexcel paper. This resource can be altered to suit the needs of your cohort, please keep in mind that the TES preview can distort the look of the resource and this is not always a true reflection. Hope it helps

This writing paper is designed to help support lower ability learners or those with exam anxiety. This paper is based around Greta Thunberg and features 1 document with a selection of questions taken from the Pearson L1 writing paper. Hope it helps

If you teach Functional Skills to low level, reluctant hair & beauty students, then you may find these resources helpful. I teach short sessions (1 hour) to hair students who will not work unless everything is hair or beauty related. Naturally, you can adapt the materials to suit your own class needs /lengths. This session is based around nail art and is designed to encourage writing a complaint in practice for the writing paper. Tasks include designing their own nail art, describing the design, looking at a complaint and structure of complaint then writing their own complaint. Like I say, my sessions are only an hour with difficult to engage students, so feel free to adapt. Hope it helps

If you have reluctant hair students who need, but don’t want, L2 functional English then this resource may be helpful. I teach very short sessions (1 hour) to disruptive and disengaged student so naturally if you need to adjust the materials to suit your needs / class lengths then you can. This lesson is centered around a clip from America’s Next Top Model - the hairstyle episode where the models get make-overs. I used this to introduce the idea of comparison and a P.E.E answer structure which is needed for Q13 of the Edexcel reading paper. The students compare the reactions of two models and form a P.E.E answer. Again, my classes are only an hour so feel free to further develop. Hope it helps

If you have hair students like mine, then they hate English and only want to do anything related to hair then these resources may be helpful. I teach very short sessions (1 hour) to very low level and reluctant hair & beauty students who will disrupt any lesson to avoid doing the work. Naturally you can adapt and change the materials to suit your own class needs/lengths. This resource is designed to encourage the students to write and broaden their vocabulary. This includes a Power Point, paired matching task with extension worksheet and a short descriptive writing task all based around describing different hair styles. Hope it helps

If you have hair students like mine, then they really hate English and only want to do anything related to hair then these resources may be helpful. I teach very short sessions (1 hour) to very low level and reluctant hair students who will disrupt any lesson to avoid doing the work. This session is designed to teach the basics of language features and to help the students learn the terminology. For this reason, DAFOREST has been shortened to DRAFTES. (Naturally, you can adapt the resource to cater to your own class needs) The session includes rote teaching the terminology, a paired matching task and a identification task. The majority of the tasks and activities are hair related to help encourage engagement. Please be aware that the TES preview can at times distort the look of the resources and this is not always a true reflection. Hope it helps.

As Ofsted are now looking for evidence of embedding / delivering sustainable practices as a part of delivery, many colleges / schools are now looking to deliver sustainability qualifications as short courses. This resource is the complete course (designed to be delivered in a day) for the Ascentis L1 qualification on sustainability. This course looks into areas such as " 3 pillars of sustainability", “renewable / non renewable resources / energy”, “consumption”, “agricultural impacts”, “sustainable communities” and self reflection on own sustainable practices. As I teach in the Greater Manchester area, I have included the regions sustainability policy and promises (this can obviously be altered to suit your own region) The course comes with 5 video clips, activities for groups and pairs, self reflections and regular recaps and quizzes. In keeping with the eco-friendly theme, many activities are done with mini white-boards to reduce paper use. The lesson comes in clear sections that can be broken down and delivered in bitesize chunks - depending on your delivery model or you can carve the resources to use as embedded activities in your other sessions. Feel free to adapt to your classes needs. Please keep in mind that the TES preview does at times distort the look of the resource and this is not always a true refection. Hope it helps

I find it useful, when close to the exam period, to take students through an exam answer as if they were the examiner and awarding the marks. This helps to clarify in the students mind the skills and knowledge they need to demonstrate in the exam and to identify any areas of development within their own writing skills. This session is based on that premise. This session has enough resources to fill a 2 hour session. It takes 3 sample answers from the exam board and the class examine each one and uses a simplified mark scheme to award marks. The class is then asked to honestly critique their own skills next to the criteria and develop a revision plan to work on up until their own exam. The session is based around SOLO teaching method which chunks up learning and increases in difficulty. I find this helps to put the writing exam, and students own skill sets into perspective and aids in self study. Hope it helps

This is a 50 page booklet designed to help students independently revise for their exams. I also found these booklets very helpful in getting low attending students back up to speed, Ofsted loved them and my students said they found them more helpful than mock exams for revising certain questions they were less confident with. This booklet covers the underpinning skills and exam practice for paper 1 question 2, Paper 2 question 3 and paper 2 question 4. They have been grouped in this way as the skills which are being tested are the same or similar which is great for target revision. This booklet underpins inference, bias, language and exam answer structures. It also uses mini extracts from books such as War Horse and Harry potter and texts in which to compare writers views. It breaks down and explains each question, gives examples and mini tasks before allowing students to try an example exam question. It is encouraging, colourful and I hope you find it as useful as I have. Be advised that TES previews often distort the look of the resources and this is not a true reflection of how it looks. Hope it helps.

This resource is designed especially for seminar sessions or revision workshops around the exam period. It can be altered as an entire lesson if needs be. I like to spend the last half hour of my lessons as “quickie workshops” where I focus on one question from the exam at a time or set these tasks as homework. This quickie workshop looks at the older text about the working conditions on children in the mines. You can run this as individual or group session depending on the needs of your learners. Please be aware that TES previews can distort the look of a resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This is a full informal mock of paper 1 for the AQA GCSE English Language exam based on an extract from To Kill a Mockingbird. It comes with a full powerpoint with a video starter from Thug Notes. Be advised that Thug Notes does contain some adult themes and low level adult language. As I teach 16 + this is fine as a resource but if this is not the case for your class you can stick to the trailer or use an alternative. This powerpoint can be printed off or converted to a more formal paper version of a mock if you wish to use it in that way. Please keep in mind the TES previews can at time distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This is a fun lesson looking at the notion of the Earth Being flat as a means to an introduction to Paper 2 questions 7a and b from the Edexcel exam board. The session looks at two different articles on the topic and delves into how they are written and how the writer conveys a point of view. There is a break down of the exam questions and answer format to help students formulate an answer to these questions. There are team and paired activities and a short video. The session comes with a starter and plenary and 8 pages of worksheets / activities. Please be aware that the TES preview does at times distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps.

Many of my students enjoy getting embroiled in a debate about the Royals and so I try to embed this interest within my lessons. This is a 6 page resource based around a recent article on the BBC news website about Meghan Markle. The aim of the resource is to try and bridge the gap between Level 2 Functional Skills and GCSE English Language by making low level structural features (such as short sentences / paragraphs, inclusion of tweets, purpose of online text) a point of the resource. The resource comes with a link to the online article, which includes a short video of the event, a copy of the article itself and a series of question sheets which have been scaffolded into levels and abilities to cater to the mixed levels I often see in FS classes. These question sheets start with simple read and obtain style questions and work their way up to questions which focus on structural features and ask for some analysis. The way in which you want to distribute these questions is left in your hands. You may want all students to try all the questions or leave the difficulty level up to the student and let them choose the level questions they want to tackle and use the rest as extension tasks. The topic of this resource allows for embellishment to your lesson if you feel the students will take to it, you can include a group discussion on the topic of Royals or what merits as news worthy in todays day and age. However you want to use this resource in your class is up to you. Hope it helps. Please keep in mind that the TES preview can distort the look of a resource and this is not a true reflection.