Handwriting

At Bignold Primary School and Nursery our teaching of handwriting is closely linked to the Read Write Inc. phonics scheme. Handwriting is taught progressively and in-line with the requirements of the National Curriculum.  Handwriting is part of our RWI lesssons in Reception and Year One.  From Year Two to Four, handwriting should be taught discretely to ensure that children form their letters correctly.

Aims

We aim for our children to:

• Understand the importance of neat presentation in order to communicate their ideas clearly.
• Take pride in the presentation of their work and gain a sense of achievement.
• Use the correct letter formation.
• Develop fluency and speed whilst writing, so that they are able to write in a neat joined style by the end of KS2.

Knowledge, skills and understanding

In the early stages children are taught:

• How to hold a pen/pencil correctly and form letters and numbers of regular size and shape.
• Write from left to write and top to bottom of a page.
• Start and finish upper and lower case letters correctly.
• Put regular spaces between letters and words.
• The importance of clear and neat presentation in order to communicate meaning effectively.

In the later stages children are taught to:

• Write legibly in a joined style with increased fluency and speed.
• Use different forms of handwriting for different purposes,

Teachers use a variety of strategies for the teaching of handwriting including:

• Direction
• Demonstration
• Modelling
• Scaffolding
• Explanation