Section B: Writing

Homework has no value. Some students get it done for them; some don’t do it at all. Students should be relaxing
in their free time.’ Write an article for a broadsheet newspaper in which you explain your point of view on this
statement.

(24 marks for content and organisation)– This means what I write has to be detailed and interesting and use a
fantastic vocabulary! My organisation should be in neat, logical, sensible sentences and paragraphs.

16 marks for technical accuracy – this means I need to pretty much get all my spellings correct, use the right words
and make sure that my grammar makes sense!

[40 marks]

A statement has been made – is this statement opinion or fact?

What are your thoughts on this statement? Mind map all of your ideas so that you have lots of information for your
content.

Homework does
have value and so
therefore this is
purely opinion…

Homework has no value. Some students get it done for them; some don’t do it at all. Students should be relaxing in
their free time.’

Non-fiction reminders for this question…

 What is an article?
 Where would you find articles?
 What style of writing should an article have? (Informal or formal?)
 What type of language devices could you use in YOUR article?
 What is a broad sheet newspaper?
 What types of people read them?
 What do you notice about the language used?
 How can I express my ideas in the style of a broadsheet newspaper?

My Broadsheet
Newspaper article

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Homework has no value. Some students get it done for them; some don’t do it at all.
Students should be relaxing in their free time.’

Language tool kit checklist

1. Rhetorical question
2. List of three
3. Repetition
4. Humour and anecdote (little stories to include as
examples – look at how Jay does it in his article)
5. Direct address – ‘you’ etc.– use of personal
pronouns
6. Emotive language
7. Use of language devices such as:
a. Onomatopoeia
b. Alliteration
c. Metaphor
d. Simile
e. Hyperbole
f. personification

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Homework has no value. Some students get it done for them; some
don’t do it at all. Students should be relaxing in their free time.
Homework has no value? Some students get it done for them?
Students should be relaxing in their free time?!!! I beg your pardon?
Could you please repeat this statement for me? Sarcasm apart, this is
quite a ridiculous statement. However I can see the merits of some of
the opinions expressed in this statement, as I also went to school once
and was given copious amounts of homework and sometimes I wasn’t
sure why and what I was supposed to be learning about!
So let’s look at the first part of this statement, that ‘homework
has no value’. Well, homework must have some value as it is designed
to help students consolidate their learning and if their learning is
designed to come to an end point of earning a grade G7 then the
homework surely has some part of the value of that grade, in getting
them to a G7 (which is what we used to call a grade A!) Another point
in response to this part of the statement is that students should be
taught, whether they are five or fifty and studying at university, that,
the end result of a very good grade is loaded with value and homework
forms a massive part of this process and so therefore, mathematically
speaking it holds some of the value!
Moreover, value should be at the heart of our teaching in this
country. We value ourselves, we value each other, we value our
homes, our country, our language, our culture and we value being
proud of ourselves. Students often feel that a reward should manifest
itself as a present, a certificate or some sweets when they produce an
outstanding piece of work. Yet, surely the real value and reward is in
the grade that they have achieved when they receive their work back
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from their teacher? It begs the question for us: ‘Do we really value
homework and the reward of a good grade?
So this takes me to the next part of the statement ‘some students
get it done for them’ as this is the aspect of this whole discussion which
really boils my blood. I have good reasons, I promise.
I remember as a junior school student where we had an Easter
egg decoration competition, a shield design competition and a baking
competition. These were every year. These were without fail. These
meant everything to the parents. Gosh, I should have said the students,
but I only write how I have perceived things and believe me, these
competitions were solely between the mothers! The poor children
were side-lined in their cruel competition of ‘one upmanship’!
So the egg decoration was always the funniest to do as an eight
year old! You would think so hard. So long. So determinedly. You would
sit up the night before worrying that you had achieved the funniest
pun with your egg. The whole process was fun as Mom never let you
use paints at home and glue and cotton wool and using old packets was
just a rare occasion. But when you did do it. You did it well. Abraham
Lincoln once said ‘whatever you are, try to be a good one’ and this was
something most of my classmates tried to achieve. It wasn’t our fault.
We were doing our homework. We weren’t the ones bombarded by a
pushy Mom trying to out-do Mrs Jones from number 32!
When competition day arrived for the judging event, my ‘eggstra
special humpty dumpty egg’ didn’t even get a look in! Mrs Jones’ little
Harriet received first prize for her magnificent ‘Eggcellent Student’
whereby she had fashioned a boiled egg to look like poor Harriet so she
could win. Poor Harriet was completely humiliated and she never
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entered again and her chocolate egg as her prize was swiftly snatched
and shown off to the other parents; a mixture of normal ones and the
pushy articles!
I suppose that the lesson to be learned from this story is that
homework is for the student and not the parent to complete.
Homework should be the pride and joy of the student and that when
success is achieved, only the student will feel the sense of
achievement; prize and certificate aside! If a student constantly
decides not to complete their homework they will face the wrath of
their poor, frustrated teacher who has tried in vain to get them to
understand an idea or a topic. However, there is the old adage: ‘you
can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’. Responsibility is
everything when it comes to volition.
So, my final whine, I mean point, relate to this idea that students
should be allowed to relax at home and not have to worry about their
homework that piles up on the floor like a game of Jenga or indeed the
Leaning Tower of Pisa! Yes, recreation is very important, students need
to free their minds and their bodies and feel relaxed in themselves.
Often homework has been the bane of many a students’ life and in one
example, Cheltenham Ladies College have banned homework for their
students as they believe there was nothing conducive to progress from
it and that it was stressing their students out to the point of physical
exhaustion. Rest up and rest well but a little research and zeal for your
studies is never going to hurt you, mentally or physically. The results
will be the proof in the glorious pudding that life will one day serve
you!

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Student task
Can you now go through this example and identify elements of
language and language devices that make this article a strong and
comprehensive answer?
List them here and explain their effect within the article.
What would you give this out of 40? Remember it is (24 marks for
content and organisation and 16 marks for technical accuracy)

Use the mark scheme for maximum marks-

Level 4 - 19-24 marks

‘Compelling, Convincing’
Upper Level 4 22-24 marks
Content
• Register is convincing and compelling for audience
• Assuredly matched to purpose
• Extensive and ambitious vocabulary with sustained crafting of
linguistic devices
Organisation
• Varied and inventive use of structural features
• Writing is compelling, incorporating arrange of convincing and
complex ideas
• Fluently linked paragraphs with seamlessly integrated discourse
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Markers. At the top of the upper range, a student’s response will meet
all of the skills descriptors for Content and Organisation.
At the bottom of the upper range, a student’s response will have the
Lower range of Level 4 and at least one of the skills descriptors for
Content and Organisation from the upper range of Level 4
Lower Level 4 19-21 marks
Content
• Register is convincingly matched to audience
• Convincingly matched to purpose
• Extensive vocabulary with evidence of conscious crafting of linguistic
devices
Organisation
• Varied and effective structural features
• Writing is highly engaging, with a range of developed complex ideas
• Consistently coherent paragraphs with integrated discourse markers
At the top of the lower range, a student’s response will meet all of
the skills descriptors for Content and Organisation.
At the bottom of the lower range, a student’s response will have the
upper range of Level 3 and at least one of the skills descriptors for
Content and Organisation from the lower range of Level 4

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What grade are you aiming for?

What grade do you think this piece might be (in terms of G1-G8) and
why?

Now complete your own response to question five, using all of the
guidance from this worksheet and your lesson.

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