What our handwriting looks like across Walkington Primary School:
EYFS
At 4 years old, children have not developed the muscles in hands/fingers that allow them to write properly with a pencil. Therefore, there is a primary focus on mark making in foundation. Children have the opportunity to mark-make with a range of different resources that are provided weekly by the class teacher. Each week, children take part in a ‘Dough disco.’ This allows children to work on their gross motor skills by moving their hands and fingers in a fun and engaging way.
Children will look at letters from the phonics session that has taken place that week. They will watch their class teacher write the letter and they will use fingers and different body parts to practice forming the letters. Children will write on whiteboards and lots of other different resources to the letter shapes that they have looked at.
KS1
Children take part in daily writing during their phonic lessons, where adults model how to form letters correctly. Any letters that are formed incorrectly will be focused on in smaller group/1:1 tasks. Children follow a specific order when forming letters: curly caterpillars, long ladder letters, one-armed robot letters and zig-zag monsters.
Handwriting sheets are sent home as well as the tripod grip information sheet.
In Year 2, children are taught to write in a joined style, gradually making the transition from printed handwriting to joined. Each child has a handwriting book for them to practice their letter formation; this is done every Friday morning for half an hour. Once children are gaining confidence in their letter formation, they begin to look at letters in the context of words. This is done through daily spelling and sentence practice.
KS2
In KS2, all children at Walkington Primary School will be given the opportunity to write using a pen. This can be for select pieces of work or final pieces. Children are often given the option to choose the writing implement that is best suited to the task in KS2.
In Year 3 and 4, children take part in a 30 minute handwriting session each week. Children are given a handwriting book in order to practice their letter formations. Children will look at a letter and how to form that letter correctly, before looking at that particular letter within a word. If a child shows good progress, they are able to use a handwriting pen in their handwriting books as well as copying up completed work across other areas of the curriculum.
In Year 5 and 6, children are expected to complete at least one piece of handwriting-focused work a week. In this lesson, children are expected to join. Children are not expected to join their handwriting all the time (some do prefer to still print), therefore it is important to have a specific focus on this each week. Children have lots of opportunities to use a handwriting pen in Year 5/6; this can be in any subject across the curriculum. Children will often do a first draft piece of writing in pencil, which will then be copied up in pen. This allows children to focus firstly on the content of their work and then on their presentation.
