Christ Church C of E Primary School Learning, developing and growing together into the people that God intends us to become.

Transcription

1 Christ Church C of E Primary School Learning, developing and growing together into the people that God intends us to become. Handwriting Policy Written February 2016, to be reviewed February 2019 At Christ Church C of E Primary School our aims in teaching handwriting are that the pupils will: Achieve a neat, legible style with correctly formed letters in accordance with our chosen cursive style Develop flow and speed. Have pride in their learning and presentation In order to achieve these aims, the following principles are followed: Teaching and Learning Children should Experience coherence and continuity in learning and teaching across EYFS, Key Stage One and Key Stage Two. Develop a recognition and appreciation of pattern and line and be given support in finding a comfortable grip. Understand the importance of neat presentation in order to communicate meaning clearly. Be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their work and therefore study handwriting with a sense of enjoyment and achievement. Be shown how to be able to write quickly to aid expressing themselves creatively and imaginatively across the curriculum and for a range of purposes. Be encouraged to use their skills with confidence and pride in real life situations. Teachers should take care to use the correct script when writing on the board when marking and when writing for display purposes. Our Chosen Cursive Script Capital letters should not be joined. After discussion with staff our chosen cursive style is:

2 Inclusion Children with SEND needs, where necessary, will be provided with specialist equipment such as pencil grips, whiteboards or wider ruled lined paper. Intervention through busy finger activities will be available for children who experience significant difficulties to practise pre writing skills and fine motor coordination as necessary. Posture Chairs and desks within classrooms are matched to children s age and height. Children s backs should be straight and feet resting on the floor. A right-handed child should have their book slanted to the left. For a left-handed child the book should be slanted to the right. Always make sure that the hand which is not holding the pencil or pen holds the paper EYFS Children develop their fine and gross motor-skills through a range of multi-sensory activities provided in both in the indoor and outdoor classrooms. Children are supported and encouraged to explore and experience a wide range of mark making tools to develop skills which include co-ordination and finger strength, recognition of pattern, language used to talk about shapes and movements and the main handwriting movements involved in the three basic letter shapes: l, c, r. Practitioners continue to support children through a holistic approach learning handwriting and phonics together because it is an ideal basis for emergent writing. Children become used to thinking about letter shapes and sounds together.

3 Gross and fine motor activities are incorporated into daily phonics teaching to reinforce letter formation patterns and control. Both classrooms have a designated learning area known as Finger Gym designed to support fine motor skills which the children can access independently throughout the day. Activities are planned and organised to meet the needs and next steps of the children throughout the year. Children working below EYFS expectation for physical development and SEND needs are tracked and supported across the year through daily Busy Fingers intervention activities. These activities are designed to develop attitudes towards mark making and support gross and fine motor skills. Parents are supported to work in partnership with teachers to ensure fine and gross motor skills are developed through Learning Library packs specifically tailored to develop good posture, co-ordination, balance, finger strength and letter formation. KEY STAGE 1 Children will continue to develop fine and gross motor-skills with a range of multisensory activities as necessary. Handwriting should be discussed within and linked to phonics and literacy lessons. Teachers and staff continue to guide children on how to write letters correctly, using a comfortable and efficient pencil grip. By the end of Key Stage 1 children will be able to write legibly, using upper and lower-case letters appropriately and correct spacing between words. Children should be taught handwriting weekly in a short session. Year 1 Pupils writing during year 1 will generally develop at a slower pace than their reading. This is because they need to encode the sounds they hear in words (spelling skills), develop the physical skill needed for handwriting, and learn how to organise their ideas in writing. Sit correctly at a table holding a pencil comfortably and correctly Begin to form lower case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place Form capital letters (these are never joined) Form digits 0-9 Understand which letters belong to which families and to practise these Year 2

4 Form lower case letters of the correct size relative to one another Start using some of the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters and understand which letters when adjacent to one another are best left unjoined (e.g z, x) Write capital letters and digits of the correct size, orientation and relationship to one another and to lower case letters Use spacing between words that reflect the size of the letters KEY STAGE 2 During this stage the children continue to have direct teaching and regular practise of handwriting. We aim for them to develop a clear, fluent style and by the end of Year 6. The children should be able to adapt their handwriting for different purposes, such as: a neat, legible hand for finished, presented work, a faster script for note making and the ability to print for labelling diagrams etc. By Key Stage 2 children should understand the language of handwriting e.g. descenders, ascenders, orientation etc. Lower Key Stage 2 - Year 3 and 4 Pupils should be taught: Increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting. Year 3 To practise correct formation of basic joins from the use of the four basic hand writing joins from Year 2 and use these in independent writing. To ensure consistency in size and proportions of letters and the spacing between letters and words. To build up handwriting speed, fluency and legibility through practice Year 4 To know when to use a clear neat hand for finished, presented work or informal writing for rough drafting etc. To ensure consistency in size and proportions of letters and spacing between letters and words. To build up speed To use a range of presentational skills, e.g.: o print script for captions, sub-headings and labels; o capital letters for posters, title plates, headings; o a range of computer-generated fonts and point sizes.

5 Upper Key Stage 2 - Year 5 and 6 Write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by: Choose which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding, as part of their personal style, whether or not to join specific letters Choose the writing implement that is best suited for a task (e.g quick notes, letters) TO USE FLUENT JOINED UP HANDWRITING FOR ALL WRITING EXCEPT WHERE OTHER SPECIAL FORMS ARE REQUIRED Advice to Parents: Parents are advised about the style of lettering used in the school and are provided with a copy of the handwriting style.