4.4 Part 7 Picture-Prompted Story Writing

Part 7 is the last task on the A2 Flyers Reading and Writing paper and the only one that is not one mark per question. It is 1 question worth 5 marks. That is why the paper has 44 questions but 48 marks. Children write a short story based on three pictures. A total of 5 marks are available. The part tests the ability to communicate ideas and to link those ideas in written English.

The instruction on the page is: look at the three pictures; write about this story; write 20 or more words. The Handbook for Teachers (2024) adds the teaching that parents and tutors often get wrong. Children should write more than 20 words, but they should be discouraged from writing too many words, for example going on to the next page, because writing more means they are more likely to make language mistakes. Candidates can write below the lines if they need to, but quality should be encouraged over quantity.

There is no official 35–50 word target. Do not teach a second, invented minimum. A few connected sentences that cover all three pictures and pass 20 words are enough. A long, messy extra paragraph is not “more A2”. It is more chances to lose the reader.

Look first, then write one or two sentences per picture

Children should spend time looking at the pictures first in order to understand the story. They should then write one or two sentences about each picture and consider how they can connect the events happening in picture 1 to those happening in pictures 2 and 3.

A practical three-step look:

1. Name the people and objects with Flyers words: a girl, a kite, a hill, a tree, Grandad, a ladder.
2. Name the problem that appears in picture 2: the kite is in the tree; the ball is in the sea; the cake is burning.
3. Name the ending in picture 3: someone helps; the object comes back; everyone is happy.

Then write. Do not describe picture 1 for ten lines. Do not ignore picture 3. The mark scheme is built on all three pictures and on connection.

Connecting words that stay inside Flyers grammar:

• and, but, because, so, then, when
• First… Then… After that…
• suddenly is possible at Flyers; do not build a whole story from one dramatic adverb

A story that is three separate captions — “A girl has a kite. A kite is in a tree. A man has a ladder.” — has pictures but almost no explicit connection. A story that says “Emma took her kite to the hill, but the wind was strong so the kite flew into a tree. Then Grandad brought a ladder and got it down.” has the same three pictures and the links the band descriptors want.

Past tenses or present continuous — both are acceptable

The Handbook is explicit. Children can write their stories using past tenses. For example: An astronaut arrived on a strange planet. He talked to an alien. Alternatively, they can use present continuous forms as if they are describing the picture. For example: An astronaut is arriving on a strange planet. He is talking to an alien.

That pair is the official model. It is not a hidden rule that “good stories must be past” or that “exam stories must be present continuous”. Choose one time and stay there.

Past (narrative):

Emma took her red kite to the hill. The wind was strong and the kite flew into a tall tree. Grandad brought a ladder and got the kite down. Emma was happy.

Present continuous (picture description):

Emma is holding a red kite on a hill. The kite is flying into a tall tree. Grandad is using a ladder to get the kite. Emma is smiling.

Both cover three pictures, both can pass 20 words, both can connect events. Mixing “Emma took her kite. Grandad is using a ladder. She was happy.” makes extra work for the reader. The mark scheme cares about reader effort. A mixed-tense muddle is not automatically a zero, but it can turn a 5 into a 4 or a 4 into a 3 because the reader has to repair the timeline.

Present simple (Emma takes her kite) sometimes appears in children’s scripts. It can still communicate a progression. Do not panic if a child is not yet secure in past forms. Teach past or present continuous as the two Handbook-approved ways, then check that the three pictures are still there.

Check, then correct neatly

Tell children to check their sentences carefully after they have written them. If they want to make corrections, they should do so as neatly as possible. A marker who does not know the child must be able to read the final words. Crossing out one word and writing the new word above it is better than overwriting letters until the line is black.

A 30-second check list:

1. Did I write about all three pictures?
2. Are the events connected (then, so, because, but)?
3. Am I still in one time (past, or present continuous)?
4. Are there more than 20 words, without a second page of extras?
5. Can a stranger read the letters?

Spelling still matters because unreadable or totally confused words increase reader effort. Perfect spelling is not the only route to 5, but a story the examiner cannot decode cannot be a 5.

The 0–5 mark scheme (Handbook sample)

Cambridge publishes a sample mark scheme for Part 7. Teach it as the official ladder, not as a private classroom rubric.

5 — The response describes a progression of events which are explicitly connected to each other and the response is based on all three pictures and minimal effort is required on the part of the reader to make sense of the response.

4 — The response describes a progression of events, some of which are explicitly connected, and it is based on all three pictures, and some effort is required of the reader.

3 — Either: a progression of events that addresses at least one of the pictures; or a progression that addresses all three pictures but imposes a significant strain on the reader, who may have to read it more than once.

2 — The response includes at least one phrase that is clearly comprehensible. Without a progression of events, the script cannot go above 2.

1 — The response includes some English words discernible by the reader.

0 — The question is unattempted or the response is totally incomprehensible.

The three keys at the top of the ladder are therefore: all three pictures, explicit connections, easy for the reader. Grammar can be imperfect at 5. The Handbook sample 5-mark space story still communicates a visit, a meeting with an alien, a request for food, and a happy ending with little strain. Perfect spelling is not listed as a separate band. Communication and linking are.

Original teaching scripts on one three-picture kite story

Pictures: (1) a girl with a kite on a hill; (2) the kite in a tall tree; (3) Grandad with a ladder, the kite coming down. These scripts are classroom models, not copied sample answers.

Towards 5 (connected, all three pictures, easy to read):
Emma took her kite to the hill. The wind was strong so the kite flew into a tall tree. Then Grandad brought a ladder and got the kite down. Emma was happy.

That is more than 20 words, covers three pictures, uses so and Then, and a reader understands it the first time. Past tense is used throughout.

Towards 4 (all three pictures, some connection, some reader effort):
There are children’s. Emma holding kite but the kite kick to tree but friendly Grandad get kite with ladder.

The three pictures are there and there is a progression, but the reader must repair grammar and missing articles. That is some effort, which is the 4-band language.

Towards 3 (progression, but not all three pictures — or all three with heavy strain):
One day a girly on the hill play kite. A kite in the tree. girly it very sad. But the kite

This starts a story and may only really give pictures 1–2. The Handbook sample 3-mark beach script described a progression and some understandable phrases but did not address all three pictures. Missing the ladder ending is how a kite story falls to 3 even if the English is partly clear. The other 3-mark route is all three pictures written so unclearly that the examiner must read twice.

Towards 2 (a comprehensible phrase, no real progression):
Once upon a time a girl come to the hill and one

There is a readable phrase, but the events do not move through the pictures. The Handbook is clear: without demonstrating a progression, the candidate cannot score higher than 2.

Towards 1: scattered recognisable words (kite, tree, is) with no phrase a reader can hold.

0: a blank page, or marks that are not English.

The practical classroom implication is blunt. Attempt the task. A blank Part 7 is 0 of 5. A short, readable, connected three-picture story can be a 4 or a 5. A long, unreadable second page can be worse than a short clear one.

Quality over quantity, and the 20-word floor

Count in class until children can feel 20 words without counting on fingers during the last minute:

“Emma took her kite to the hill.” = 8 words.
“The wind was strong so the kite flew into a tall tree.” = 13 words. Already 21, and picture 3 is not yet written.
One more sentence about Grandad and the ladder takes the script safely over 20 and completes the story.

If the printed lines are full, write below the lines. Do not start a new saga on the next page. Extra plot about Emma’s breakfast, her school, and her cousin’s birthday is extra error surface. The pictures do not include breakfast.

Names are useful. Giving the girl a Flyers name (Emma, Katy, Helen) and the adult a role (Grandad, her dad, a firefighter if the picture shows that job) makes connection easier than repeating “the girl… the girl… the girl”.

Time: protect the five marks

Part 7 should have about 5–6 minutes at the end of the 40-minute paper: 1 minute to look, 3–4 minutes to write one or two sentences per picture, 30–60 seconds to check. Children who are still copying Part 5 sentences at minute 38 will either omit Part 7 (0 marks) or scribble five unconnected nouns (1–2 marks).

If time is short, still write three connected sentences, one per picture, in past or present continuous. That attempt can still reach 3, 4 or 5. An unattempted page cannot.

Traps that lose Part 7 marks

• Inventing a required 35–50 word band and then writing until the English collapses.
• Describing only picture 1.
• Three captions with no then / so / because / but.
• Mixing past and present continuous until the reader must rebuild the timeline.
• Going onto the next page “to be safe”.
• Writing so faintly or so joined-up that the words are not discernible (the 1-band and 0-band problem).
• Leaving the page blank because the kite story “is not interesting”.

Lock the rule: three pictures, more than 20 words, connected events, one time frame, neat enough to read, quality over quantity. That is the whole of Flyers story writing, and it is the last 5 marks of the 48.