Guess the age of the child that wrote this

[Cortina]

My niece wrote this at school. What would you gauge her 'writing age' to be from this ( admittedly isolated) example?:

With a good ten minutes to spare I settled myself down in a corner seat on a train to London, and for a time it looked as if my only companion was to be an old lady. Then, almost at the last moment, a man and a girl hurried up the platform. The man pushed the girl into the carriage and threw her case in just after her. "Only just in time!" He said angrily. "And now, don't lose this one!" Besides a flush and tightly pressed lips the girl took no notice, leaving the ticket where he flung it in her lap. The man said a cold goodbye and walked off. The girl didn't look at him as the train drew off from the station.

12 no I haven't read the rest of the thread to find out before I put that answer.

Not much point in not reading the rest-it has moved on somewhat from OP!

even if it leans heavily on things she has read that is way above bottom set comp level. Half of my bottom set y10s (scientists) can hardly write an entire sentance, never mind a paragraph.

I teach creative writing in primary and secondary schools, private and state, to small groups of G&T students and whole classes of mixed ability, so I have a fair idea of what children are capable of at different ages, and yes of course there is a massive range of abilities in a subject like creative writing. But even given a wide range, that writing is not typical of a 9 year old. It's way above it. Beautifully written with a natural ear for cadence and dramatic tension. It's what I'd expect from a top set year 7 or 8. I'd still be impressed if a yr 9 or 10 had written it. If your child were in my class I'd be praising her work to the skies and encouraging her.

It is slightly similar to the Sherlock Holmes but distinctly not plagiarised - plagiarism is exact copying of word sequence. And the scene from the Pilcher is very differently worded. Why do people loathe talent so much that they have to sneer by screeching: Plagiarism! A child of 9! Ignore them, Cortina. I am very impressed by the writing. Stuff the occasional glitches in grammar and punctuation, they can be amended at any time. The talent is there and shouldn't be languishing in a bottom set. Even if it is old fashioned in tone, emulating a previous writer, she's showing engagement with literature by copying (not plagiarising but paraphrasing) great writers. Painters copy paintings to learn how they work. My son writes reams of Alex Rider-ish stories. We learn everything else through imitation - why not story-telling?

Encourage her. Help her sort out her spelling and punctuation so that her work can't be marked down for those areas, overlooking the creative talent. Buy her lots of notebooks to scribble in and stories she might like to read. She should stick at it.

The writing is of a better standard than the OP's opening question. I'll go for 3.

the thread is six months old ... try to be on time

Im lookin at my 9 year old with disgust, is that how all of your 9 year olds write? Holy Crap...
Did we ever discover the actual age of Charlotte Dickens?