Handwriting

At Malcolm Sargent Primary School, we pride ourselves on the neat presentation of work which includes children leaving us at the end of Key Stage 2 meeting the writing expectation of maintaining legibility in joined handwriting when writing at speed. We achieve this by using the Letter-join scheme from EYFS through to Year 6.

EYFS

Children in EYFS begin their handwriting journey through sessions that:

• Enhance gross motor skills such as air-writing, pattern-making and physical activities.
• Develop fine motor skills such as mark-making on paper, whiteboards, sensory trays etc
• Become familiar with letter shapes, their sounds, formation and vocabulary
• Correct their sitting position and pencil grip for handwriting.

In the early years, children are introduced to handwriting using the printed method. At the end of the year, children should be able to recognise and form all the printed, lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Key Stage 1: Years 1 and 2

In KS1, teaching progresses by continuing with gross and fine motor skills exercises, learning and practising numerals, capitals and printed letters considering where and when to use. Pre-cursive letters are introduced in Year 1 in preparation for Year 2 where children will learn how to join their letters correctly.

By the end of the key stage, following regular handwriting practice, children should have developed their fluency and speed of writing. Children should be confident in joining their letters in a cursive style.

Lower Key Stage 2: Years 3 and 4

Children in lower KS2 should be using a cursive style throughout their independent writing in all subjects, helping to refine their handwriting. Lessons will cover topics such as: dictation, double letters, number vocabulary, palindromes, tongue twisters, onomatopoeia, similes and statutory spellings.

Completion of Year 3 should ensure improvement in the legibility, consistency, and quality of the children’s handwriting to other areas of the curriculum.

In Year 4, lessons are focused on using handwriting practice to support other subjects in the curriculum and, at the same time, builds on fluency and consistency. By the end of Year 4, children will have practised applying size-appropriate handwriting to all areas of the curriculum whilst maintaining fluency and legibility.

Upper Key Stage 2: Years 5 and 6

Handwriting in Year 5 continues to build on combining fluent handwriting with other subjects across the curriculum. Learners will have plenty of opportunity to develop the stamina and skills to write at length, with accurate spelling and punctuation. By the end of Year 5, children should be producing cursive writing automatically, enabling them to focus on the content of their work rather than the process of writing.

Year 6 presents learners with a range of tasks where they have to decide on an appropriate style of handwriting. Promoting speedy, fluent writing continues to be a strong feature. By the end of KS2, children should be able to adapt their handwriting for a range of tasks and purposes and to create different effects. They should be clear about what standard of handwriting is appropriate for a particular task e.g. quick notes vs publishing a piece of written work.