As part of our IGCSE English Language curriculum, students experiment with descriptive writing regularly.

The purpose of these descriptive pieces is to make sure their audience is fully immersed in the words on the page using the senses and rich vocabulary. This takes a considerable amount of effort to master, and we would like to showcase an A grade essay by Wiktoria in Year 11, who has mastered this skill at IGCSE Level. Those students who choose to take English Language at A Level will develop this skill even further.

A noisy playground

The agonizing whine of a swing was contrasting with the happy laughter of the children that surrounded the place. The high pitched squeaks broke the silence of the empty neighbourhood and the small and cranky voices of children were hanging emptily around the air. Children swarmed like ants around the playground and the only thing noticeable was the fight about which one of the toys kids can go play first. The small slide which was scraped with old paint and noticeably painted several layers slightly bent with each child smashing their bottom on it and keeping it going in an agonizing loop. A small roof above the slide which protected from the searing sun that felt as if it wanted to burn your skin off was slightly shining in the sunlight, and the light metal looked eager to be touched leading small children into trap only to be burned by the flaming hot steel and turn around with tears in their eyes desperately clutching their hand.

A big tree powered over a small small sandpit almost creating a protective stance over the rectangle shaped object. Wooden planks poked from its sides looking like a hedgehog yet the yellow paint contrasted strongly with the vibrant green of the leaves that were secretly covering the sandpit from clammy and greedy hands of small children that looked more like small wrecking balls filled with energy destroying everything in its path. A tiny laughter could be heard from behind the tree where on the whiny swing a girl and the boy played together while pushing each other around. A girl had long auburn braids that created a nice oval shape around her puffy cheeks that had freckles splattered on them as if with a paint brush. She was reluctantly holding her dress in her fat fist wrinkling the beautiful sage green material and creating ugly lines that dented her beautiful dress, while she was staring with big sly eyes at the boy who just fell from the swing, while a Cheshire grin stretched her pouty lips and breathless laugh left her lips sounding more like a puff of air.

The carousel was quickly spinning as if it was trying to show off its new dress while the children ran happily around it grabbing onto the hot metal only to let it go with a pout due to the temperature. The spin was becoming faster and faster with each second creating an illusion of a big red blob while the laughter of children grew louder and louder. The yellow patches in the middle of the carousel created a big circle making it seem like a sun, mocking the heat. The smell of open lunch boxes spread through the small but loud playground like a bonfire and mixed with a smell of multiple different sickeningly sweet shampoos creating a nostalgic scent.

Wiktoria, Year 11

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