Last year of primary school - how long an essay should a child be expected to be able to write?

[Anna8888]

It is very hard here in France to get any information about schools and their standards.

So we ask around. My younger stepson, who is at the top of his class in a state primary school in rich-and-comfortable Neuilly-sur-Seine, panics when asked to write a text of about three sentences long.

Other parents say that their children in private primary schools have a similar level of writing ability.

What would you expect in the UK? My memory is that we did essay writing in primary school (private all girls in the 1970s) but does my memory serve me well?

ds has to write for about 45 mins- this usually works out at 2 and a half pages of A4

Thanks.

Is it a private or a state school?

DS1 could write reams and reams in Y6.
DS2 is Y5, but struggles to write more than a few sentences.

Ds is in Year 4 and is routinely expected to cover a couple of sides of an A5 exercise book as a result of, say, a trip, or a key homework assignment. He does this with some histrionics, true, but is quite capable.
He does one-page assignments a few times a week too, in class.
This is the independent sector btw but not an academically selective, results-driven school

Talking about the equivalent of year 6, btw (10/11 year olds).

state school - ds loves writing imaginative stuff so it's not a problem

ds is 10 btw

About a side of A4 is adequate really. Quality more important than quantity.

DD2 is 10, fairly bright and in Year 6 (last year of primary school). She can happily write 2-3 pages of A4. She's state educated, but I suspect girls may find creative writing easier than boys do at this age?

DS1 is 9, in Year 5, and is expected to write anything from 2 pages of an A5 exercise book upwards. He has very big untidy writing, so can fill that quite quickly.

BTW, DS2 is 6, in Y2, and has had 'story writing' homework, and he typically produces around 2 sides of A5 as well.

Ds is 8, in Y4 and can fill a couple of A4 pages with reasonably well-written and imaginative prose, though the spelling and punctuation can be a little erratic. He has very small handwriting, so equates to quite a lot of text.

Some of the subjects they are asked to write a story about a bit awkward especially boys.

Although last weeks assignment for DD, she was given the opening sentence of a story.. Megan looked round, she could not believe what her dog was doing......

it caused quite a stir

I bet it did leosdad!

My girls do "production écrite" once a week at their private school - 8yo says she has to write a minimum of 20 lines, usually a story. She loves it and finds it easy, but my 10yo (in CM2 like your stepson) is less inspired. She prefers to write about real things - she will fill pages with her knowledge of animals, for example, and sometimes writes a diary.

But both will struggle if it's a topic they aren't particularly interested in.

What sort of texts are they asked to write?

Recently DSS2 had to write the text for an "exposé" (slight overstatement) on a topic he and a friend had chosen. He could do the internet research, but he was completely panicked about writing the text.

DSS1 (5ème now) can write a couple of pages fairly quickly - I saw him write a piece of guided prose last weekend, about a car crash - he had about 20 words of vocabulary to include in a couple of pages of text. DSS1 was better at exposés in CM2 than DSS2 is.

I do worry a lot about this aspect of French education.

I wonder if it stems from the lack of creative writing earlier on in primary school? I was forever writing poems and stories at that age, but there seems to be little time for it here, and they don't seem to be taught much about how to put a text together.

My attempt to fill the void consists of a weekly written English lesson with an English lycéenne, mostly creative writing. It's definitely helpful.

I think that right through the "French system" there is much less emphasis on self-expression than in the UK, through whatever means (behaviour, ideas, art, writing, even cooking) and much more on adherence to rules, and it's just a product of that culture.

I bought the Aldo Naouri book btw but had to stop reading it - so depressingly bad in every way.

It was only recently that uk went back to story writing, my older children didn't really do much. Even at secondary school a lot of the work was filling in gaps in worksheets.

Gosh yes totally agree, particularly re cooking! It always makes me smile (or rage, depending on mood) that the pre-packaged meat in supermarkets tells you what it's for: "dinde sot l'y laisse" etc, in case people start getting ideas

I read an interview with Aldo Naouri in a magazine last week. He is really very scary. I'm sure his ideas will appeal to some sections of French society though... Reminds me of the control parenting favoured by my MIL.

Indeed, new ideas = very scary in this country

I expect my reception children to write more than three sentences.

Really mrz?
Your class would be no good for my children then - both dyslexic (although not diagnosed until they were older than reception age).
They would have been put of writing for life if made to do that in reception.

I am also SENCO and even my SEN children can achieve this with the support they receive.

DD is in y1 (just turned 6y). She has a book review homework every weekend and will write at least 6-8 sentences, often a lot more. At school when doing her independent writing work, such as News on a Monday she is expected to write more than 3 or 4 sentences.

I help out at DD's school in the Y3 class on a Friday morning. Those children routinely write pages of work. Even the weaker pupils write a good side of A4.

Having seen the work of the older children, I would def expect a Y6 age child to easily manage more than 3 sentences in a piece of work, unless they had some learning difficulties obviosuly.