Tiffin Girls Stage 2: creative writing and comprehension
Tiffin Girls Stage 2 English is reading comprehension and creative writing, all handwritten. Maths is written too. The school sets and marks it.
The papers
Stage 1 is multiple choice and numerical answers, under an hour per paper. Stage 2 is similar in length, built on Year 5 content in unfamiliar forms.
An interpretation with evidence
Worked example Read what the character does
“Priya had polished the little brass key all morning. At the museum door she closed her fist around it. Through the glass she could see a cabinet full of keys, each with a neat white label.” Why might Priya hesitate? Use a detail from the passage.
Answer: She may worry her key looks ordinary beside a whole collection. Her careful polishing, then closing her fist at the door, supports that.
The trap: “She stole the key” has no support in the passage.
Underline the interpretation once and the evidence twice. If either is missing, revise.
A creative-writing task
Write a scene in which someone brings an ordinary object to an important place. Begin as they arrive, and show their feelings change through action and dialogue.
- Plan a place, an object and one change.
- Choose a precise action: “she rubbed the key’s teeth with her thumb” beats “she was very nervous”.
- Check each paragraph moves the feeling on.
- Check tense and speech punctuation last.
Worked example Revise one sentence
First draft: “He was scared and it was scary and he went inside.” Improve the sentence by showing an action.
Answer: “He checked the room number again, then pushed the door with his shoulder.”
The trap: “He was unbelievably, terrifyingly scared” adds adjectives but shows nothing.
A practice loop
- Year 4: talk about a character's decision, then write a few sentences together.
- Year 5: alternate reading explanations and scenes.
- Near the test: write independently and leave time to reread.
Reading-to-writing workshop
Comprehension, creative writing and maths with final answers only.
Tiffin Girls' Stage Two workshop
Reading-to-writing workshop, plus written maths
Read the passage and answer the two comprehension questions. Then plan and write the scene that follows, and compare your opening with the model and checklist. Finish with the maths: only the final answers count on the school's answer sheet.
The window seat
[1]Gran's flat had one good chair, and it faced the window. From it you could see the bus stop, the launderette and, if you leaned, the corner of the park where Gran had once taught Mum to ride a bicycle.
[2]When Gran moved in with us, the chair came too. Dad measured the living room three times, looking for a space it would fit. In the end it went in the corner by the radiator, facing a bookcase.
[3]Gran said it was perfect. She sat in it every afternoon with her crossword, and every afternoon, around four, she stopped filling in answers and looked at the bookcase as if it were a window.
[4]On Saturday I moved three shelves of books into my bedroom. I found an old photograph of the bus stop in the drawer of Gran's bureau and propped it on the empty middle shelf, at exactly the height of her eyes.
What does Gran's habit at around four o'clock suggest about her feelings? Use evidence from paragraph 3.
What does the narrator's action in paragraph 4 show about them? Explain with evidence.
Write the scene in which Gran first sees the photograph on the shelf. Show her reaction through action and dialogue, and show how the feeling in the room changes.
Plan for a few minutes first.
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A water tank is one quarter full. Adding 35 litres makes it three quarters full. What is its capacity?
A walker plans a 72 km route over several days. She walks three eighths on the first day and one third of what remains on the second. How far is still left?
A box has 45 beads. There are twice as many green beads as purple beads. Only purple beads are added until three fifths of all beads are green. How many purple beads are added?
A photograph is 16 cm wide and 10 cm high. It is enlarged without changing its shape until its height is 15 cm. What is the perimeter of the enlarged photograph?
Second workshop: a new passage and scene
A fresh comprehension and scene, with a complete model, a marker's notes and a retry.
Tiffin Girls' Stage Two workshop 2
Second workshop: comprehension and a scene
Read the passage and answer the two comprehension questions in full sentences. Then plan and write the scene, compare it with the model and the notes, and try the retry task.
The rehearsal
[1]The school hall smelled of floor polish and nerves. Mira stood at the side of the stage holding her violin by the neck, the way you might hold a cat that has not yet decided whether to scratch.
[2]She had practised the piece every evening for a month. At home it flowed. Here, under the tall windows, with Mr Dale tapping his pencil against the piano lid, her fingers felt as if they belonged to someone else.
[3]Halfway through, she lost her place. The silence that followed was very small, only two beats long, but it seemed to fill the hall right up to the ceiling. Then, from the back row, came a soft sound: Ben, who played the triangle and never spoke in rehearsals, was humming the next bar.
[4]Mira found the note. She played to the end without looking up. Afterwards, packing her violin away, she noticed that Ben had already gone, and that her hands, at last, had stopped shaking.
In paragraph 1, what does the comparison with holding a cat suggest about how Mira feels at this moment?
How does the writer make the moment when Mira loses her place seem important? Refer to paragraph 3.
Write the scene in which Mira finds Ben the next day to thank him. Show what each of them is like through what they do and say, and end with how things have changed between them.
Plan for a few minutes first.
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Questions parents ask
What is in Tiffin Girls Stage 2?
Written English, with comprehension and creative writing, and maths. Each paper is under an hour.
Are there Tiffin Girls Stage 2 past papers?
No. The school changes the format each year.
Is working marked in Tiffin Girls Stage 2 maths?
No. Only the final answer counts.
Try the free Tiffin Girls' lesson
Practise planning and revision in short steps.