SCHOOLCHILDREN proved their powers of persuasion by marketing a house for sale.

In Looe, Year 6 pupils visited a house to take down the particulars. The budding negotiators then came up with pieces of writing that would engage potential buyers and sell the property.

The real-life lesson took place thanks to a collaboration between teacher Lorainne Gribbin and local estate agent Gemma Reilly.

The property in question in East Looe is currently being marketed by agents Purple Bricks.

With the homeowner’s agreement, pupils made a tour of the house and went back to class to capture its best selling points in a cleverly worded ad.

The piece judged to be the best came from Lexie Beniston, who urged would-be buyers to enjoy ‘a slice of the Cornish life in the picturesque town of Looe’.

An elevated deck area ‘is a sun trap’, writes Lexie, and with ‘views of the town, is ‘perfect for alfresco dining’.

She writes: ‘This property has a hidden secret…the current vendor has converted the garage into a fully self contained annexe that has the potential for business rental opportunities….please book a viewing today to avoid disappointment.’

As the author of the winning text, Lexie received a gift voucher for £50, while runners-up Freya Kelly and Josh Henwood were presented with chocolate eggs.

The activity was part of the Year 6 work on writing for particular genres.

Gemma was very impressed with the youngsters’ writing skills, said their teacher.

‘The results were fantastic,’ said Lorraine.

‘Gemma was blown away with the quality of the children’s work.

‘What made this whole genre writing so good was the fact that it was all real life.’