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St Saviour’s Primary School Handwriting and Presentation Policy

Expectations and Guidelines

Date: Summer 2016 Review: Summer 2019

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What is the aim?

• For every child to have a fluent, legible, cursive handwriting style.

• To ensure consistency in the teaching of handwriting at Thomas Buxton Primary School.

• To raise expectations and thus the standard of presentation at Thomas Buxton Primary School.

Why Continuous Cursive?

‘Continuous Cursive’ is the most widely recommended handwriting style. Its most important feature is that each letter is formed without taking the pencil off the paper – and consequently, each word is formed in one, flowing movement. Another key feature of this system is that letters are always formed from the bottom (on the line).

The key advantages to this system are:

• By making each letter in one movement, children’s hands develop a ‘physical memory’ of it, making it easier to produce the correct shape;

• Because letters and words flow from left to right, children are less likely to reverse letters which are typically difficult (like b/d or p/q);

• There is a clearer distinction between capital letters and lower case;

• The continuous flow of writing ultimately improves speed and spelling.

(Includes guidance from the British Dyslexia Association)

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It takes a long time for children to develop the physical control and coordination required to sit at a desk and write. Early Years practice must involve lots of opportunities for movement through: • self-chosen active play, particularly outdoors; • smaller-scale play-based activities, such as making things, puppetry or sit-down games involving

motor control; • patterned activities, such as action songs, PE and dancing; • opportunities for mark-making in various ways, including drawing and painting; • activities involving hand-eye coordination, such as using tools, threading, jigsaws and so on.

• Once children have reasonable control of body movement and hand-eye coordination, the key to

good handwriting is sound letter formation • This does not mean worksheets! • Children need to start with large scale motor movements: writing with a stick or finger in the

sand tray; using paints, chalks or big felt pens to make colourful collages; and sky-writing the shapes, using their whole arm, right from the shoulder

• Introduce each letter with big movements from the shoulder, using the whole arm; • Next move to finger-writing in the air; • When the children have the hand-control to do it confidently, they can write on wide-lined

paper (EYFS) gradually moving on to more regular-lined paper.

The foundations of handwriting in the EYFS

Physical Activity

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• In Shared Writing demonstrate how to apply handwriting in words and sentences • Choose sentences that include the sounds/letters/spelling patterns of the moment, and give a

running commentary as you use the handwriting (linked to phonics and spelling) to create words and sentences

• As they become more competent, give an occasional sentence as a dictation

• The pencil should be gripped comfortably between forefinger and thumb with the third finger

below to steady it • The thumb and forefinger should also be able to move slightly – this is known as ‘froggy legs’ • If you pick up a pencil which is lying on the table in front of you with its nib towards you in line

with your forearm, you instinctively pick it up in the correct grip

• If some children lag behind others in motor control, let them join in with large scale movements only

• Provide plenty of opportunities for manipulative play (lacing, threading, cut-and-stick, construction toys etc.) to develop hand-eye coordination

• Ensure these children get extra help to catch up with handwriting as their motor skills develop • Identify left-handed children as soon as possible. Give extra help, modelling all practice

movements and letter formations again for them using your own left hand (do this well away from the rest of the class!)

• Keep an eye open for children who hold their pencils awkwardly. For those who can’t remember the best way to hold the pencil, provide a pencil grip or chunky triangular pencil for guidance.

Dealing with difficulties

Putting it into practice

Developing an effective pencil grip

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• When writing, a child’s feet should be comfortably flat on the ground and his/her forearm resting on the table

• The non-writing hand should rest on the paper to steady it • Seat left-handers so the movement of their arm does not clash with the right arm movement of

a right-handed child • All children should have a clear view of the board on which letter formation is demonstrated, and

should not have to twist in their seat to watch or copy

• For the direct teaching of handwriting children will be expected to work on lines to ensure they understand the orientation of the letter on the line

• In EYFS and into Year 1 handwriting can be done on wide-lined paper to help with letter formation

• From Year 2 onwards, children will practise their handwriting in their handwriting books

• Left-handed children should sit on the left-hand side of double desks or tables • They must be able to rest their left forearms on the edge of the desk • The book or paper must slope in line with the left forearm • As writing is completed down the page, the paper must be moved away from the body in the same

line • The aim is to keep the left arm in much the same position at all times to avoid the elbow being

cramped by the chest • Moving the paper away from the body prevents writing becoming cramped at the foot of the page • The right hand must be used to control the movement of the page • The left hand should end up below the line of writing to avoid smudging and to give a clear view of

what is being written • Children should be discouraged from hooking their left hand above the line of writing to avoid

smudging

Posture

Choice of paper

Guidance for Left-handers

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If a child’s handwriting is to develop into a pleasing and consistent style, it is helpful to examine each piece of writing in light of the following criteria: • Shape - Are all the letters formed and clear? • Joining - Are as many letters as possible joined consistently? • Slope - Is the slope of letters consistent? • Evenness - Are letters of a consistent and reasonable size? Capitals can be too big, tall letters

too tall, small letters too small • Floating and Sinking - Do letters sit on the line? Words sometimes float above or sink below

the writing line. This happens because the writing hand is not moving steadily across the page. • Particular Letters - Which letters are really well formed? Which ones need careful rehearsal?

• It is an expectation that handwriting is explicitly taught, modelled and demonstrated 3-4 times per week (along the lines of Shared teaching with adults providing running commentaries on their handwriting and feeding back to children)

• Our handwriting scheme aims to have children writing in cursive script from Year 1 • We teach letter formation using ‘entry’ and ‘exit’ strokes with all lower case letters beginning

on the line • Individual letters are taught from Reception with an entry stroke and an exit stroke – these

strokes will form later joins • Children should get used to hearing adults say things such as, ‘All lower case letters begin on

the line’, ‘Capitals are the only letters that never join’, ‘We start at the bottom of the line and go up to the top/halfway/down halfway’ etc.

• Capital letters are the only letters which do not join • Capital letters are formed from just below the top of the line to the bottom of the line • All ascenders go up to just below the top line, apart from the letter t • All descenders go halfway down below the line • All lower case letters go up halfway between the bottom and top lines • We loop letters to help children’s flow of writing • We teach letters in sets and then as joins • It is expected that adults model the school’s handwriting style on the white board, on displays

and when marking children’s work

Checklist for teachers

Handwriting at St Saviour’s

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It is very important to ensure consistency towards presentation of work across the school. Staff should focus on the following guidelines to ensure this consistency, taking into account age and ability of children where necessary. English: Children will write in pencil until they demonstrate sufficient ability to write fluently and legibly, at which point they can use a handwriting pen as supplied by the school (‘Pen License’). Green pens will continue to be used for children to edit and evaluate their work, and blue to peer-mark. All work will have a date and Learning Objective, which should be underlined using a ruler. The full date should be written in all cases except in Maths books and English in KS1 (where digits should be used). Teachers should make a habit of ‘patrolling’ the classroom when children are writing the date and Aim, to ensure high expectations for presentation are set (to check capital letters are being used at the beginning of the days of the week/month for example). Children should write from the left hand margin, though EYFS does allow for more freedom when first exploring letter shapes and formation. Errors should be crossed out with a single line through it and not deleted with an eraser. Maths Children will write in pencil and rulers will be used for drawing tables, charts, straight-sided shapes, blank number lines etc. Children should put one digit in a box (except for informal jottings and calculations e.g. when using the empty number line). Guidelines for presentation of learning intention etc. are as for English. The date should be left aligned and written in numerals. Other subjects The guidelines for English also take into account other subjects where written work is also produced. Diagrams should be drawn in pencil with labels in either pencil or pen depending on age. Children’s books: All books should have the child’s name and class recorded by adults on a special label. All books should be covered with clear plastic covers. Children should be expected to keep their books well presented. They should not ‘doodle’ on the front cover or pages inside.

Presentation

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ASSESSMENT Teachers assess handwriting and presentation as part of their normal marking in line with the marking policy. They use this formative assessment to inform their further planning. Handwriting assessment to identify where a pupil is successful and their next steps is within the Resources & Assessment book. Where a child’s handwriting is an issue, an appropriate intervention should be used:

- If the issue is motivational, children should be expected to rewrite a paragraph of a piece of writing in their best handwriting (we would expect this to be evidenced in books)

- If the issue is related to slower progress in a child’s development of a legible cursive style and it is just that more practice is needed, extra homework can be given

- If the issue is more in relation to a specific difficulty, a handwriting intervention should be set up (see the Inclusion Manager or one of the Literacy team for guidance if needed)

- Teachers can refer to the Nelson’s Focus and Extension to support and challenge pupils of varying needs.

MONITORING Monitoring of handwriting and presentation comes under the main subject of English and is the responsibility of the English Subject Leader. The Head, SLT and Governors will also monitor, as with other subjects and in accordance with SDP. Monitoring can take the form of the sampling and moderation of work or checking for the provision of the teaching of handwriting (slots identified in a weekly timetable for example).

Year 1 to 6 Reinforce and practice all joins three to four times a week (15 minute sessions during register time for example)

Nursery Reception Year 1 Year 2-6 • Help children find

comfortable ways of grasping, holding and using things they wish to use eg. hammers, paintbrushes, teapots in home corner

• Encourage children in efforts to do up their own buttons when dressing, pour a drink and manipulate objects in play

• Draw lines and circles using gross motor skills

• Movements in the air in the same direction and orientation as entry and exit strokes

Starter Level Handwriting patterns, Pencil control Letter formation Numerals Nelson’s Workbooks A, B, C

Four Joins and break letters Book 1A, 1B books Workbooks

Y2- Pupil book & Workbook2A & 2B, Reinforce joins and include printing Y3 – Pupil Book 3 Writing with a slant, decorated capital and punctuation Y4- Pupil Book 4 – speed writing Y5 – Pupil Book 5 – presentation, paragraphs, individual style and difficult joins Y6- Pupil Book 6 – writing for different purposes