Year 6 have been working incredibly hard in the lead-up to their SATs, showing focus, resilience and determination every single day. One of their recent challenges was to write a longer piece of high-quality writing… and wow, did they rise to the occasion!
We’re so proud of the effort every single child put into their work. It was almost impossible to choose which pieces to share here, as the standard across the class was so impressive. But here are three exceptional examples that stood out.
Happy reading – and well done, Year 6, for giving it your all!
The Charge O’ ’55
John opened the door and entered the room. Inside, he saw a table full of his great grandfather’s memorabilia: his officer uniform; a couple of wireless uniforms; and some old dusty photos of John and him.
“Nobody here…” John sighed. Until he saw it.
Stood before him was a grand, mahogany wardrobe with intricate and delicate carvings of fleur de lys in the center. It also had a distinct woody smell that made him feel welcome. “I know you’re in there, James,” he said. “Well, there’s only one way to find out!” he exclaimed gleefully, yanking open the wardrobe door.
He opened the door. Nobody was there. He entered the wardrobe to look around – still, nothing.
“This chap has gone proper deep!” said John, perplexed as he pushed further and further into the wall of clothing. Raincoats and woolen sweaters enveloped him when suddenly…
Squelch! He slipped as his shoes stepped into something that felt like mud. He looked down and saw that the once-wooden floorboards were now slimy and brown. He looked up and saw a small group of men in military uniforms huddled around a map, discussing something intently. That’s when it struck him..
John looked back for the wardrobe – gone. “No, no no!” cried John, “This can’t be happening!” Around him was an empty, desolate wasteland where there was little to no life. Smoke and the smell of gunpowder lingered in the air. A once-peaceful paradise had now been reduced to a battlefield where there was only death and sickness.
He went further out to the trenches. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he saw the disturbing sight of wounded and dying men, laying on the ground. “Doctor, I need a doctor!” one of them groaned in agonizing pain. Attempting to swallow down his fear, John ran along the trenches, urgently looking for help.
At that moment, he felt a hand on his shoulder, “Hey, what do you think Yer’ doin’?” Behind John stood a tall figure wearing a red officer’s outfit with 3 medals of honour on his chest.
“I am…uhm…Henry’s Grandson, John,” the boy stammered, eyeing the man’s sabre.
“Henry? That’s my name too! I am Henry Somerset” he replied.
“Heh, what a good ol’ coincidence! Anyway, explain your doings here, young man!”
“It is…err… complicated, but I am looking for someone to help a wounded man.” There was a long pause.
“Lead the way,” insisted Henry.
On the way to the wounded man, John could not stop thinking about that name, Henry – the name, the army uniforms from before, the warzone.
“Excuse me, if I may ask, What year is this?” John asked.
“Why ‘tis 1855 of course, boy! We are in the Crimea, launching our assault on Sevastopol!” The officer said impatiently. John’s great grandfather had also taken part in the campaign. He looked at him again – something about his facial features seemed familiar – he realised… This brave and bold officer WAS his great grandfather.
Deep in his memory, John remembered his great grandfather telling him about the charge on Sevastopol – how it failed because of the Russians counter-attacking which had almost cost him his life. Many of his comrades – however – were not so fortunate. There was one thing that could prevent all of this from happening – preventing the attack.
“Henry, I know the answer to win the city – we should cancel the attack!”
“Are you out of your mind?!?” Henry blurted.
“Just listen to me,” John said urgently, dragging him to the command tent.
John went on to explain what would happen if they did not call off the attack. He outlined what they should do.
Henry stared at him for a long time.
“Yer’ a smart one, lad, really,” he said quietly.
Written by Emmanuel
Jasper and the monotone forest
“Ready or not, here I come!” shouted Edward excitedly, his voice bounced off the walls. After their almost never-ending quarrel, they had decided to play Hide-and-Seek while exploring the cavernous rooms of the huge house they were evacuated to. The children scattered along on the second floor, searching for a hiding place. Edward listened to his three younger siblings’ footsteps, determined to find them and win.
Jasper, the youngest one of the four, desperately searched for a hiding spot. He was about to give up before coming across an oak-like door with a golden handle. He cautiously looked around at his surroundings: once he saw it was clear he slowly turned the handle. Inside the room were moth-balls on the window and some crumpled papers on the floor. Jasper looked to the side, then something caught his eyes. A red wood coloured wardrobe. It had serpentine carvings of tigers and monkeys; mirrors on the bottom and it towered up to the ceiling. Jasper thought Edward would never find him in there, he crept towards the wardrobe, held the bright red handle and opened it.
As Jasper looked inside the wardrobe, moth-balls slid out and colourful, furry gowns were hung on the golden pole. They shone in the sun, the velvet gown stood out the most. Jasper adored gowns— specifically velvet ones— and crawled inside the wardrobe, grabbing the velvet one and rubbed his cheek on it . He suddenly remembered he needed to hide, so he closed the door behind him and walked through the wardrobe. It was so dark that Jasper had to hold his hands out. The soft gowns touched the side of his arms. Expecting to feel the back of the
wardrobe, Jasper was surprised to feel nothing, except hearing his footsteps tapping on the floor board.
Soon, he heard a soft chirp and felt something soft beneath his feet like he stepped on soil. “This is odd,” Jasper thought to himself. The sweet scent of flowers filled his nostrils as he stepped closer
Jasper gasped in awe. Gigantic trees with black feathers like leaves and white bark towered over him. Insects pitter-pattered across the green earth; butterflies collected nectar near the stream; birds flapped their wings while singing and monkeys swinging around on the vines from trees. Jasper loved all these things he was seeing but one thing confused him. Why was the world monotone? He raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he stared deep into the forest.
Jasper heard the sound of footsteps in front of him. The leaves on the ground were crushed against a striped foot. The creature didn’t have any colour but it carried a small box on its back. The fur was gray and stripes were black. Jasper noticed its ears were as white as paper. As he looked closer, he saw its teeth were sharper than daggers, although its eyes were as friendly as a harmless rabbit. Jasper was drawn to the fact the creature was double the size of a normal tiger which was quite strange.
The tiger turned to him, and jumped in astonishment, the box falling from its back. “My goodness!” the tiger exclaimed. Jasper, surprised from the reaction, had no words. The monotone creature ran to him and circled in curiosity before sitting in front of him. “My my, who knew you would come! Jasper, listen up!” Jasper was surprised the tiger knew his name. The creature, called Zehten, explained how an evil
lion had taken over the forest and washed its colour away and that only Jasper could help.
“Oh my,” Jasper explained in shock. “How can someone as little as me, help you?”
Written by Angel
The Secret World Of Rainwater
“Ready or not, here I come !” Marcus said full of excitement: his voice echoing as his siblings shuffled into hiding spots. The children were enjoying exploring their new home: it was distracting them from worrying about their parents. It had only been the night before that they had moved into their mysterious house. Above him, Marcus could hear fl oorboards creaking as Max, the second youngest, was still trying to fi nd the perfect place to hide.
Mina- the youngest of the three – had come across an empty, dark room. At the back of the room was an enormous rectangular shaped object, covered in a large black sheet. Mina, being curious, took a few steps towards the strange object and pulled the large dark sheet off , only to reveal a dark mahogany wardrobe, perfect for hiding. “Yes! He’ll never fi nd me here!” she quietly exclaimed: she opened the door and stepped in.
After scrambling in the big, dark wardrobe, she left one door open, thinking to herself not to be daft. Taking a step deeper in the wardrobe, almost falling to the ground, Mina had tripped over one of many soft, wet, blankets. Mina put her hand out to the sides with her eyes closed, hoping not to bange her head. Not being able to bear the smell of wet dog coming from the blankets: she pinched her nose with her right hand and continued to walk. One step, two step, three, four. She felt like she had been walking for ages. Then she started to feel drips of water dropping on her cheeks. “EHHH what is that!” she yelped as she opened her eyes.
Opening her eyes, she saw the most beautiful forest she had ever seen before. There were amazingly tall forest trees that to Mina looked like Christmas trees. A heavy but still waterfall that was surrounded by large chunky boulders stacked one on top of the other.Fear struck her face:she could see no colour. “I’ve gone blind !” she exclaimed in terror. But then she realised from a distance a big, blue crystal palace. “What?” she said, confused.
Mina, excited to explore, walked around. When suddenly she heard a russell behind her.With wide eyes, she turned around quickly, to see a cute little fairy. The fairy named Sofi a, was the size of Mina’s palm and wore a cute little bodysuit and tutu. Sofi a noticed that there was one problem-everything she wore was grey-even her. Her beautiful smile, her point shoes, her adorable short hair, all grey.
“Oh my god you’re fi nally here!”Sofi a exclaimed. “Hi my name is Sofi a the fairy and Mina we need you and your siblings help! We have a problem on our hands, as the Evil Wizard has taken all the magic and all the colour in the forest!” Sofi a said with a passionate look on her face, Mina, surprised by all the things she had just been told, had happily agreed to help.
“Ok Mina, here’s what we’re going to do,” Sofi a said with the most serious face she could make. “All the fairies, you and your family an dall the majestic animals will make our way to the palace. Then Mrs Beaver will dig a hole from the tunnel under it (which should be right in the middle of the palace) where the ruby red crystal should be: to break the curse you Mina needs to smash it,” Sofi a explained. “So, will you join us?”
Written by Sophia G
Michael Faraday 