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The information below has been taken directly from the current National Literacy strategy:
Handwriting policies
A handwriting policy should include information about:
- what the school’s specific aims and objectives for handwriting are
- how the curricula for the Foundation Stage and National Curriculum are to be covered with direct reference to the objectives in the National Literacy Strategy Framework for teaching
- how letters are to be formed and the agreed ‘patter’ to accompany the movement (ideally there should be a sheet showing both individual letter formation and which letters are joined and how)
- how the school’s preferred style of handwriting is to be shared with parents
- the extent to which children are encouraged to develop individual writing styles
- provision for left-handed children
- how handwriting is to be taught throughout the school, including the Foundation Stage
- recommended writing materials and implements, eg paper sizes, line spacings, when children are expected to write with pens
- provision for children with special educational needs
- advice on classroom management, eg balance of whole class, group and individual instruction; furniture layout
- provision for children who join the school in Year 1 or Year 2 with a different, but equally acceptable style of writing.
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Is there a recommended style of handwriting?
Each school should have a handwriting policy which aims to teach children to write in a way that is legible, fluent and fast. This entails a style which enables the letters to be joined easily. If children find the physical act of scribing taxing, they will be unlikely to develop into confident effective writers. Continuity from Foundation Stage through Key Stages 1 and 2 is vitally important. Not only should a school have an agreed style, but also an agreed ‘patter’ for helping children to recall the required movement for each letter. Teaching assistants and student teachers should be aware of the style and the 'patter'.
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Why is a good posture important?
Developing a good posture is as important as developing a good pencil grip. Over the years children spend a great deal of time writing, and sitting in an awkward position can cause headaches, fatigue and pain in the shoulder, arm or hand. It can also slow down a child’s writing. Children will be able to sustain writing for longer if they become used to sitting comfortably.
- Ensure that they have a good pencil grip – use commercial pencil grips only if other methods have failed.
- Check that tables are large enough so that the children aren’t jostling each other’s arms.
- Check the height of tables and chairs so children can sit comfortably, with their feet flat on the floor. Their legs should be free and not come into contact with the underside of the desk top. They should be able to sit up at the table without having to lean over it or stretch to reach it.
- The lighting should be good, so that the children can see what they have written.
- Children should have a direct view of the teacher/board
- Children should use their non-writing hand to steady the paper and bear some body-weight.
- The paper should be tilted slightly.
- Provide a slanting board for those who need it ( a partially filled A4 file is a useful shape).
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Why is a good pencil grip important?
If children are to develop a fluent and fast handwriting style, they must learn to hold a pencil with a grip that is relaxed but allows for efficient control of the pencil. If children grip a pencil too tightly, they won’t develop a free-flowing movement and they will tire very quickly. Experts agree that children should be encouraged to hold the pencil between the thumb and forefinger with the pencil resting on the third finger. The thumb and forefinger should also be able to move slightly so that very fine movements required for writing are possible. Commercial pencil grips, or triangular pencils, can be used to encourage this pencil hold but their use must be monitored as they can be misapplied. Care should be taken that children do not grip the pencil too tightly as this produces tenseness in the arm and shoulder and also increases pressure on the paper.
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Left-handed children
At least 10 per cent of the population is left-handed – a slightly higher proportion of males. There is no need for left-handed children to be disadvantaged when writing, if a few simple strategies are employed:
- Model letter formation, sky writing, etc. specifically for left-handed children, with your left hand.
- Make sure that left-handed children sit on the left of right-handed children, otherwise their writing arms will clash.
- Put a mark at the left side of the page to indicate where writing begins as some left-handed children mirror-write from the right.
- Left-handed children usually need to have the paper slightly to the left of centre of their body and should be encouraged to tilt their work clockwise so they can see what they have written.
- Experiment with seat height – some left-handed children may need a higher seat to view their work clearly and to prevent the elbow locking into their side as they work across the paper.
- To avoid smudging their work
• Left-handed children should be encouraged to position their fingers about 1.5 cm away from the end of their writing implement.
• The pencil should sit in the ‘V’ between thumb and forefinger, sitting parallel to the thumb.
• The wrist should be straight.
- Writing from left to right is more difficult for left-handed children. They should, therefore, be given more attention in the classroom to ensure that they do not learn bad habits of position, posture and pen hold which will deter a fast, fluent and legible hand.
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When should I introduce joined up writing?
As soon as possible once children are secure in the movements of each letter. Words such as at, am, it, in, up make good starting points. Some rimes work well: pin, win, tin, bin, din, etc. Rimes containing the vowels a and o are harder to join into from the base because the pencil has to travel up and round to the starting point of the letter, e.g. cat, dog
And should be avoided at the beginning.
In Progression in phonics, digraphs – where two letters stand for one sound – are introduced from step 3. If you introduce each digraph as one joined unit, that reinforces phonics and handwriting, using multi-sensory channels to reinforce both. As soon as possible, you can start encouraging the use of joined writing for practising some of the high frequency words too ( see below for a full list of high frequency words), to help to reinforce the fact that these words need to be remembered as wholes, e.g. the, little, was, one
Most letters join with diagonal lines, e.g. man, child
When children start joining into n and m , there is a tendency to go into the base of the letter rather than using a diagonal join to the top of the letter. Draw children’s attention to the letters which join from the top: o , v , w . The actual shape of the letter e depends upon whether the preceding letter finishes at the top of the x height or the bottom. For instance, when e follows d, it will simply be a loop; when it follows f , it is more likely to have the traditional e shape. Joining all letters has been shown to inhibit fluency. Many styles do not join after letters that finish to the left (s , b , j , g , y ).
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