Writing question
Write a creative story based on this title:
The First Day
Practise this exact question with personalised feedback on your writing.
Understand the task
“The First Day” is open-ended: pick a specific first experience and shape it around a small challenge, a turning point and a memorable final impression.
- story structure
- originality
- character emotion
- descriptive detail
Requirements to keep in mind
Write a creative story inspired by the given title.
Plan your response
- Show first-day nerves through small actions.
- Include specific sounds and sights of the new place.
- Give the character one memorable difficulty.
- Use dialogue to reveal relationships.
- End with a change in how the character feels.
Check your response against the task requirements. Leave time to review sentence clarity, punctuation and spelling.
Original atoply example response
Written by atoply, not an official school answer or mark scheme. Other successful responses are possible.
Reveal example and teaching notes
The First Day
By the time I reached the school gates, I had checked my timetable seven times. It was already creased and damp from my nervous hands.
Children rushed past in noisy groups, calling to friends they had apparently known forever. I knew nobody. The building rose ahead of me, all tall windows and unfamiliar corridors.
“Room 14,” I whispered. “How hard can that be?”
Very hard, as it turned out.
I took three wrong turns, walked into the music cupboard and nearly collided with a teacher carrying a mountain of books. When the bell rang, I was still standing beside a staircase, trying not to panic.
Then I noticed a smaller boy sitting alone on the bottom step. His tie was crooked, and he was staring at a timetable just like mine.
“Are you lost?” I asked.
He nodded miserably. “I can't find Room 14.”
I almost laughed. “Neither can I.”
We compared our maps, decided that the science block must be behind the hall, and set off together. At the classroom door, our teacher raised an eyebrow.
“Late already?”
“Exploring the school, sir,” my new companion said solemnly.
The teacher smiled and waved us in. I sat down, my heart still racing, but the empty seat beside me was soon filled.
My timetable remained crumpled. Somehow, that no longer mattered.
Learn from the example
- The example focuses on one situation, keeping the action easy to follow. Notice how a detail, action or decision moves that situation forward.
- Use the task's requirements to plan the development and ending of your own response; an opening alone does not demonstrate a complete story arc.