We begin thinking about mark-making and developing fine and gross motor skills in preparation for writing as soon as children join us in Nursery or Reception. In Nursery, children are provided with fine and gross motor skills daily through continuous provision and adult-led activities. We use write-dance to support pupils in being ready to write. We use the 'Ready to Write' and 'Nip, Flip and Grip' protocols for establishing correct pencil grip and writing postures from day one and throughout the children's time at school. We use the 'Scribble Club' approach to help give our marks meaning.
In EYFS and KS1 children learn to form letters using the RWI handwriting phrases (see below). In Reception, we continue to provide daily writing opportunities including transcription practise, sentence dictation, fine motor skills and letter formation activities in continuous provision & daily writing groups. We follow the 'Drawing Club' approach to writing which supports us in developing and applying our phonic and transcription skills.
In Year 1, during the Autumn term we have a deliberate focus on transcription and dictation as part of our functional skills learning to consolidate our early writing skills. We continue to use the RWI rhymes to model and teach handwriting.
In the Summer of Year 1, children then learn to form pre-cursive letters and by the end of KS1 all children are expected to be able to form lower case and upper-case letters with the correct orientation, appropriate size and distance, remembering to leave spaces between words and beginning to join.
In Year 2, when teachers feel a child is ready, they will begin to teach cursive handwriting style through weekly handwriting lessons. They will be expected to learn to form letters of an appropriate size, leave fingers spaces between their words, join fluently using diagonal and horizontal joins and correct their mistakes with a single pencil line. Children will write in pencil until they are able to write legibly, with the expectation that most children will be using pen by the time they are in Year 5.
To support children in developing their handwriting, teachers will model writing at the age appropriate level at all times. Where required, additional practise and writing support aids will be provided to support children in developing their writing skills. All resources will be printed in the school’s font as well as any writing on display around the school.