For titles such as The Visit to Relatives, The School Trip, or My Fun Day at the Seaside, does there need to be a 'problem' or drama where something goes wrong?

These titles seem more like recount titles to me, or would there need to be a Visit to Relatives (and getting lost or injured whilst there). A School Trip (gone wrong?)

It's far clearer for titles such as Lost or Trapped!

Thank you

By recount do you mean non-fiction? That examiners might be asking for an actual description of a real event the children have experienced? That doesn't seem likely - the examiners couldn't be sure that all the children sitting had recently visited relatives or had a day at the seaside so can't be asking for actual recounts.

Also, if the exam is clear that this is a creative writing piece then I would imagine that some drama is expected. It's not supposed to be just an accurate description of an actual school trip.

thanks for your reply streathammum,

This would be a creative writing question, for example:

Write about "Your Visit to Relatives" using either your own experiences or imagination. Would this imply write a story and therefore expect some drama or problem or would it be ok to write a recount about their visit without much of a problem?

Well I'm not an examiner so slightly wary of giving advice but I would imagine that the marking structure will allocate a proportion of marks to the story, so better to be interesting than boring.

thanks - will work on that basis

A piece of descriptive writing does not need to be about 'getting lost or injured' in order to be interesting. I'm not sure why you would arrive at this conclusion. Do school trips have to 'go wrong' in order to be enjoyable?

Detail and being able to create the atmosphere of the seaside/castle/ city centre is what's required.

Thank you Piggys