Writing task
“Living with your family is always a mix of the good and the bad.” Use this statement as the basis for an article in a magazine aimed at parents or guardians, giving advice about living with teenagers.
Time: 30 minutes (as indicated for this published task).
Marks: 25.
Practise this exact question with personalised feedback on your writing.
Understand the task
A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenagers is a parent magazine advice article task that tests audience awareness, balanced tone, organisation. Adapt the language for adults and avoid assuming all teenagers behave alike.
- audience awareness
- balanced tone
- organisation
- accuracy
Requirements to keep in mind
Recommended writing time: approximately 30 minutes (as indicated in the paper/section); Writing marks: 25 (subject to separately awarded SPaG marks); Published task/option: 3b (where the source offers alternatives, pupils answer the paper's specified number, not all)
Plan your response
- Adapt the language for adults and avoid assuming all teenagers behave alike.
- Plan a clear beginning, development and ending within the time available.
- Use precise vocabulary and vary sentence lengths where appropriate.
- Proofread spelling, punctuation and paragraphing before finishing.
Check your response against the task requirements. Leave time to review sentence clarity, punctuation and spelling.
Short atoply teaching example
Written by atoply, not an official school answer or mark scheme. This short illustration shows selected techniques. It does not set a target length or expected mark for the timed task.
Reveal example and teaching notes
Listen First, Lecture Later
Teenagers are developing independence, and disagreements about homework, friends or screen time are not unusual. Clear boundaries matter, but so does the chance to explain a point of view. Try choosing a calm moment to discuss a problem rather than starting an argument in the middle of it. Give young people responsibilities they can genuinely manage and praise effort as well as success. Most importantly, keep opportunities for ordinary conversation open. Trust grows through small exchanges, not only through rules.
Learn from the example
- The response chooses an angle for its intended readers. Its details serve that purpose instead of trying to cover every part of the topic.
- Use the requested article or leaflet form, with each paragraph offering a useful point for that audience. Headings and direct address should serve the purpose of the piece.