Is this really true?

[menagerie]

My hunch as an English tutor is that this advice is handed out because, under pressure, many children will fail to use correct punctuation in a story, and may be marked down for it.

Also, many children called on to write a story under pressure will resort to some fairly hackneyed ideas which are clearly borrowed from Tolkein or Horowitz, or whoever is currently their favourite author. An opinion piece may at first appear to be more individual, and descriptive writing can easily demonstrate imaginative use of metaphors and similes without being too taxing structurally.

Many children will lose time trying to think what to write for a story, but feel more comfortable with factual or opinion based material. Again, this might result in them turning in a piece of half finished, barely realised work as they hadn't had time to get to 'the best bit' yet. Again, there are ways round this which can be taught.

I tutor children to be able to handle both with aplomb. Certainly the children who can correctly punctuate speech will stand out as being mature and more capable than many of their peers.

[menagerie]

I'd imagine that if all prep school children are taught not to write fiction then the ones who write fiction well, given a composition title that could go either way, would stand out favourably among the hoards of tidy little essayists. The danger of an essay at that age is that the thinking is not so mature. Fiction could, if handled well, give a far better example of the range and quality of the child's imagination and capacity for independent thought.

I'd love to read the article. Is it only accessible via a pre-paid online site?

[scary mum]

I think you can pay per edition of the Times.
Or maybe your local library would have it?

[menagerie]

Thanks Scary - think I'll check the library.

[Cranleigh]

I loved the book/author suggestions given by the St Paul's Head especially the wonderful but often completely overlooked Penelope Lively.

Astercote, The House at Norham Gardens, The Driftway, A Stitch in Time, The Ghost of Thomas Kemp, The Whispering Knights, Going Back, all worth reading for Y4s and up IMO.

Was surprised to see The House at Norham Gardens on the list - most seem completely unfamiliar with it.

[magwich2]

My experience of writing and re-writing considerable amounts of english homework leads me to believe that you can NEVER be too pretentious when seeking to impress english teachers!!!
Puts me in mind of "Private Eye" and their "Pseuds Corner" column!
Best mark I ever got was for a poem written after a bottle of rather decent merlot - absolute rubbish but the daft english teacher loved it. Even better if you need to impress the drama teacher - they are usually even more gullible!
I'm not against english as a subject per se but I remember the days when there was no english language A level because it was expected that any A level candidate would have excellent english skills. O level english language comprised Comprehension, précis etc not writing highfalutin nonsense and calling it "creative" writing!

[mad?]

I'm not against english as a subject per se but I remember the days when there was no english language A level because it was expected that any A level candidate would have excellent english skills. O level english language comprised Comprehension, précis etc not writing highfalutin nonsense and calling it "creative" writing!

I agree with this magwich2 I was and should be expected.
Picking myself off the ground again...I also remember that for O level English one had to write a letter. It was a simple task requiring a knowledge of how to address, lay out and end a letter correctly. From the correspondence I receive I would venture to suggest that 90% of the population are unable to do this.