Cover Lessons
Cover lesson ideas that practise literacy and numeracy, linked to the Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF), for a range of subjects.
Writing a Recommendation for a Café Owner
Literacy: Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context
Literacy in GCSE Business: planning and writing an extended answer that makes a judgement, as assessment objective AO3 asks. From a case study of an invented Cynon Valley café owner choosing between a second café and a catering van, pupils sort evidence against her four aims, turn simple points into developed chains with connectives such as "as a result" and "whereas", mark a weak answer against a practice mark scheme, plan in a logical order, then write a 200 to 250 word recommendation on their own that uses figures and weighs up both options.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Writing a Recommendation for a Café Owner
- Stimulus: Caffi'r Bont case study (aims, two options, what people said and a practice mark scheme)
- Worked example and answer key: evidence grid, developed chains, marked answer, plan and model recommendation
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Highlighters
Software / weblinks
Describing Festival Visitor Figures in Welsh
Numeracy: Interpreting data
Mae disgyblion yn darllen taflen ysgogi am ŵyl werin ddychmygol yn Llanfeirion: graff llinell o nifer yr ymwelwyr rhwng 2021 a 2026, siart cylch o ble daeth yr ymwelwyr ac erthygl newyddion. Maen nhw'n darllen y raddfa, yn cyfrifu newid canrannol ac yn profi honiadau'r erthygl. Numeracy practice for GCSE Core Cymraeg, where Unit 2 stimulus sheets may include a graph, chart or statistics (Unit 2 overview) and Unit 3 reading includes non-continuous texts such as tables and graphs (3.1.2 Reading). Pupils work out the scale of a line graph, calculate percentage changes (a 20% fall and rises of 50%, 33.3% and 100%), turn fractions such as dwy ran o bump and tri chwarter into percentages and numbers, find the one claim in the article that the data does not support, write 80 to 110 words in Welsh backed by figures, and practise a short paired discussion in Welsh (practice only, not NEA work).
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Describing Festival Visitor Figures in Welsh
- Stimulus: Gŵyl Werin Llanfeirion, an invented festival sheet with a line graph, a pie chart, the organisers' facts and a news article, with an English translation
- Stimulus: Llanfeirion festival figures (CSV)
- Worked example: answer key with percentage change working, a model 102-word paragraph and a model paired discussion, with English translations
- Calculators, one per pupil or pair
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
- Computer/Laptop (optional)
Software / weblinks
Writing a Welsh Article from English Sources
Literacy: Translanguaging
Mae disgyblion yn darllen tair ffynhonnell Saesneg ddychmygol am grŵp sy'n glanhau Afon Helyg ac yn ysgrifennu erthygl Gymraeg i gylchgrawn yr ysgol. Nid cyfieithu gair am air yw'r nod, ond dewis Cymraeg naturiol ac addasu'r wybodaeth i ddarllenwyr newydd. Translanguaging practice for GCSE Cymraeg Language and Literature Unit 4a: Linguistic Connections (4.1.3, writing accurately when translating short text) and the specification's integration of learning experiences, which lists translanguaging or mediating from one language to another. Pupils read a council notice, a volunteer's blog post and a fact box in English, build a Welsh glossary with genders, plurals and mutations, compare literal and natural Welsh versions of 5 sentences (idiom, meaning, word order, mutation), then select, reorder and adapt the information into a 150 to 200 word Welsh magazine article with a headline and a quotation.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Writing a Welsh Article from English Sources
- Stimulus: three invented English sources about a river clean-up in a Welsh valley town, a council notice, a volunteer's blog post and a fact box
- Worked example: the glossary, the 5 natural versions with reasons, an article plan and a model article, with English translations
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Highlighters
Software / weblinks
Fitting a Dance Solo to the Music
Numeracy: Strategic competence
Numeracy in GCSE Dance: pupils solve a multi-step timing problem. They find a track's BPM from a stopwatch count, work out how long one count of eight lasts at four tempos, turn the GCSE solo time limit of 1 minute 30 seconds to 2 minutes into whole eights, check and fix an invented pupil's solo plan that miscounts half speed and double speed sections, test the plan on other tracks and plan their own solo to end exactly with the music. Desk-based, no dancing or music needed. Practice only, not NEA work.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Fitting a Dance Solo to the Music
- Stimulus: solo tracks and Elin's plan (time limit, BPM facts, four tracks and a solo plan to check)
- Worked example and answer key: seconds per eight, time limits in eights, corrected plan and model solo
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
Software / weblinks
Punctuating a Screenplay
Literacy: Punctuation
Literacy in GCSE Digital Media and Film: pupils use the full range of punctuation inside screenplay conventions. They read a conventions card, proofread an invented pupil's opening for a short mystery film and fix 12 errors in apostrophes, commas, question marks, colons, semicolons, brackets and layout, explain the rule behind each fix, then write and proofread their own next scene against a checklist. Links to the screenplay option in Unit 3. Practice only, not NEA work.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Punctuating a Screenplay
- Stimulus: Y Goleudy screenplay conventions and first draft (conventions card, punctuation reminders and Jac's draft)
- Worked example and answer key: the 12 errors, corrected draft, rules and a model next scene
Tools required
- Pen and paper
Software / weblinks
Using Survey Statistics to Plan a Website
Numeracy: Interpreting data
A numeracy lesson in GCSE Digital Technology on Unit 2, Section 2.1.2: using descriptive statistics to find patterns and audience needs. Practice only with an invented client, not NEA work. Pupils summarise 20 invented visitor survey answers for a Welsh outdoor adventure centre: they turn counts into percentages, find the mean, median, mode and range of booking times, spot an outlier and explain why the median is the better average, and compare mean ratings and booking times for phone, tablet and laptop users. They write three website design decisions that are each backed by a statistic and explain two limitations of a small survey.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Using Survey Statistics to Plan a Website
- Stimulus: Canolfan Antur Cwm Nant visitor survey (the client, 20 survey answers and a statistics reminder)
- Stimulus dataset: Cwm Nant visitor survey (CSV)
- Worked example and answer key: percentages, averages, the outlier, device comparison and design decisions
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
- Computer/Laptop (optional)
Software / weblinks
- WJEC: GCSE Digital Technology (Made for Wales, teaching from 2026)
- Government Analysis Function: data visualisation, charts
- Hwb: Literacy and Numeracy Framework
- Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets (optional, to check answers with the CSV)
Scaling a Cawl Recipe for a Lunch Club
Numeracy: Calculation
Numeracy in GCSE Food and Nutrition: scaling and adapting recipe quantities to meet the needs of an audience (Unit 3, 3.3.3), using an invented brief (practice only, not NEA work). Pupils scale a cawl recipe from 4 to 30 portions with a scale factor, convert grams and millilitres to kilograms and litres, round up to whole items and packs, use percentage multipliers to cut the lamb and salt and add vegetables for an older audience, cost the healthier version from a price list, find the cost per portion against a £1.50 budget, and explain why cooking time does not scale.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Scaling a Cawl Recipe for a Lunch Club
- Stimulus: Cawl for the lunch club recipe pack (brief, recipe, price list and useful facts)
- Worked example and answer key: scaled recipe, amounts to buy, healthier amounts, costing and quick questions
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
Software / weblinks
Working Out New Words in a French Article
Literacy: Reading strategies
GCSE French Unit 4 Reading and Writing (Areas of content, page 19): reading a range of text types for meaning, without a dictionary. Pupils read an invented French teen magazine article about young volunteers on a small Breton island. They skim the title, map and first sentences for gist and scan for facts, then work out 15 new words and log the strategy for each one: cognates, false friends such as actuellement, sensible and librairie, word families such as nager, la natation and le maître-nageur, and context. They tell past, present and future from helper verbs and verb endings, answer exam-style questions in English and translate three sentences into natural English.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Working Out New Words in a French Article
- Stimulus: Vent du Large magazine article, Un été utile sur l'île de Kerlaouen (map, six numbered paragraphs and a short word box)
- Worked example and answer key: headings, facts, strategy log, tenses, exam answers and translations
Tools required
- Pen and paper
Software / weblinks
Planning a Day Out with German Opening Times
Numeracy: Measurement
GCSE German, Appendix B, Everyday language, Telling the time: learners must know the 12 hour and 24 hour clock in German, with days and dates. On a school exchange, pupils read an invented German town's leisure page with opening times, closing days and a boat timetable, a Saturday bus timetable and a voicemail full of spoken times. They convert spoken times such as Viertel nach neun and the trap halb drei into the 24-hour and 12-hour clock, read German dates and weekdays, and work out durations, waiting times and last-entry times with working. They then build a day plan that fits a guided tour, a feeding time, lunch, a boat trip and the last bus, find three timing mistakes in a classmate's plan, and write their plan in German with um ... Uhr and von ... bis ....
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Planning a Day Out with German Opening Times
- Stimulus: Ellernsee summer leisure page, bus timetable, walking times and Jonas's voicemail
- Worked example and answer key: time conversions, durations with working, the day plan, Cai's mistakes and model German
- Rulers
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Ruler
Software / weblinks
Keeping a Resident's Observation Chart
Numeracy: Measurement
Pupils practise measurement in a Health and Social Care context. Acting as care workers for an invented care home resident, they read the scales on 6 measuring jugs to 25 ml, total his fluid in millilitres and litres, turn pulse counts over 15 and 30 seconds into beats per minute, plot 4 days of temperatures on a graph, calculate his weight loss in kilograms, grams and as a percentage, and compare every reading with the limits in his care plan. They finish with a short handover note that states every reading with its units. Prepares pupils for physiological measurements in GCSE Health and Social Care, and Childcare Unit 1, section 1.3.1.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Keeping a Resident's Observation Chart
- Stimulus: Mr Emrys Pugh, care plan and readings (measuring jugs, pulse, temperature and weight)
- Worked example and answer key: jug readings, pulse rates, temperature graph, weight loss and handover note
- Calculators and rulers
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
- Ruler
Software / weblinks
Calculating Electricity Costs and Payback Time
Numeracy: Financial literacy
A numeracy lesson with money for GCSE Integrated Science (Single Award) Unit 1, Section 1.3.1b: using data to find the payback time of electrical appliances, including electric vehicles. Pupils help an invented Merthyr Tydfil family: they convert watts to kilowatts and minutes to hours, calculate energy in kWh and the weekly cost of four appliances, then work out the yearly saving and payback time of LED bulbs and of an electric car charged at a standard and a night-time price. They check answers a second way and write short advice that uses their numbers and explains how one limitation would change the payback time. Prices are invented practice data.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Calculating Electricity Costs and Payback Time
- Stimulus: The Price family energy pack (equations, prices, appliances, LED bulbs and the electric car)
- Worked example and answer key: kWh and cost table, LED and car payback times and model advice
- Calculators, one per pupil
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
Software / weblinks
Budgeting a Young Carers Awareness Day
Numeracy: Financial literacy
Pupils practise financial numeracy in a Social Studies context. As treasurer of an invented youth forum with a £500 grant, they compare suppliers who sell by the item and by the pack, work out VAT at 20%, costs per guest and mileage, build and total a budget, apply a rule to keep 10% of the grant as a contingency, decide what to cut when the budget is £33.30 over, work out the percentage spent on publicity, and explain their choices to the council in 3 sentences. Practises the budget in GCSE Social Studies Unit 4, section 4.2.1 Creating a social action plan. Practice only, not NEA work.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Budgeting a Young Carers Awareness Day
- Stimulus: Aberwennol Youth Forum plan and price lists
- Worked example and answer key: best value, VAT and costs, full budget, 10% rule, cuts and justification
- Calculators
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
Software / weblinks
Building Longer Sentences in Spanish
Literacy: Connectives and syntax
GCSE Spanish Unit 4 Reading and Writing practice on writing in Spanish for different purposes (Areas of content, page 18) and grammar accuracy (AO3, Section 3.1, page 20), on the topic of free time. Pupils compare two invented forum answers to ¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre?, one written in short, flat sentences and one built with connectives, reasons and three time frames. They highlight and sort 13 connectives by their job (adding, contrasting, giving reasons, time and consequence), join 6 pairs of short sentences with a named connective, extend them with a reason and a past or future sentence, and correct 8 errors in agreement, word order and tense. They then redraft the short post as 80 to 100 words about themselves and check a partner's work against a checklist.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Building Longer Sentences in Spanish
- Stimulus: Foro Joven Valdelirio (two free-time posts, connectives bank, time frames and grammar rules)
- Worked example and answer key: sorted connectives, joined sentences, corrections and a model 90-word answer with English translation
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Highlighters
Software / weblinks
Comparing Fertilisers by Percentage of Nitrogen
Numeracy: Calculation
A numeracy lesson for GCSE The Sciences (Double Award) Unit 2, Section 2.1.6: calculating the percentage by mass of an element in a compound. Pupils help an invented Tywi valley farmer choose a nitrogen fertiliser. They count atoms in formulae with brackets and write ratios in simplest form, calculate the relative formula mass of ammonium nitrate, urea and ammonium sulfate, find the percentage of nitrogen to 3 significant figures, then use it to find the nitrogen in each 25 kg bag, the cost per kg of nitrogen and how many whole bags a field needs. They write short advice that uses the totals and one real-world factor. Prices are invented.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Comparing Fertilisers by Percentage of Nitrogen
- Stimulus: Fferm Pen-y-Bryn fertiliser order (relative atomic masses, equations, price list and facts about each fertiliser)
- Worked example and answer key: atom counts, relative formula masses, percentages, costs and the order
- Calculators, one per pupil
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
Software / weblinks
Fixing a Cashflow Forecast for a Surf School
Numeracy: Financial literacy
Numeracy in GCSE Business Unit 3, section 3.3.3 Cashflow and cashflow forecasts. Pupils complete a 6-month cashflow forecast for an invented Pembrokeshire surf school, working out total inflows, total outflows, net cashflow and opening and closing balances with negative numbers. They find the months that break a £2,000 overdraft limit, correct two errors in the owner's draft, test two improvements (paying insurance monthly and paying for new kit in instalments) by changing only the rows they affect, and write a recommendation that uses their figures and names a drawback.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Fixing a Cashflow Forecast for a Surf School
- Stimulus: Tonnau Surf School cashflow pack (inflows, outflows, notes and two improvements)
- Stimulus: Tonnau Surf School cashflow figures (CSV)
- Worked example and answer key: completed forecast, errors, tested improvements and model recommendation
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
- Computer/Laptop (optional)