Early Years Foundation Stage

The children will access a range of learning opportunities to develop essential writing skills. Movements to enhance gross motor skills such as air writing and pattern making are essential. The children engage in tummy time regularly and write dance to develop these skills.

Development of balance skills/upper body strength puzzles or crayons and paper on the floor while on stomach, puzzles, crayons and paper on all fours on floor encourages shoulder/hand strengthening, squeezing wet sponges, finger painting, water play, sand play, play dough, rice play, gloop, cooking, cornflour and water.

They will develop fine motor skills, fastening, buttons, pull up a zip, threading, tweezers, cutting, pinching clay. The children will access a range of activities that requires them to grasp small objects: Making collage pictures using pieces of wool or string, decorating iced biscuits with small cake decorations, posting small items into narrow necked bottles.

The children will access a range of learning opportunities that will support the development of their shoulder, elbow, wrist stability and bi-lateral use of their hands. They will also develop control of writing implements and develop hand eye co-ordination and fine motor strength. They will learn directional sequences and movements.

The children will learn to sit in the correct position and hold a pencil correctly to allow fluid movement of the nib. They will hold a pencil using a tripod grip for writing and will be encouraged to correct any errors in grip and will understand the language “patter” to describe pencil movements in preparation of letter formation. The children will understand that letters are written on a base line and that all cursive letters ‘start on the line’ and ‘end with a hook’. They will learn that letters are part of “Letter Families” (shown) below and will begin to form letters, capital letters and numerals. Children’s name cards will most of the time be in pre-cursive.

Pencil grips and triangular pencils are used to encourage a good grip and the children are monitored so they do not hold the pencil too tightly, causing tension in the upper arm. They are given a ‘Writing Area’ to give status to their early writing.

By the end of the Foundation Stage, most children are able to use a pencil, holding it effectively to form recognizable letters, most of which are correctly formed using cursive handwriting.

Key Stage One

In Year 1, the children will learn to:

• sit correctly and use the right pencil grip
• form lowercase letters in the correct way: starting in the right place, moving the pencil in the correct direction and finishing in the right place
• form capital letters in the correct way
• forming the digits 0–9
• understand which letters are formed in similar ways
• to leave a space between words.

In Year 2, the children will learn to:

• form lowercase letters of the correct size relative to one another
• start using some of the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters
• understand which letters, when next to one another, are best left unjoined
• write capital letters and digits in a size that matches the size of any lowercase letters
• understand which letters are formed in similar ways
• use the correct spacing between words.

Key Stage Two

In Year 3, the children will start developing fluent handwriting skills, making their writing more consistent and easier to read. They will practise:

• writing neatly and legibly with letters that are all a similar size
• joining some letters
• deciding which letters to join and which letters not to join
• keeping their writing lines horizontal and keeping the space between lines parallel and consistent
• keeping the downstrokes of their writing upright and parallel
• making sure that descenders of one line do not touch the ascenders of the line below.

In Year 4, the children will continue to work on their fluent handwriting skills, making their writing more consistent and easier to read. They will practise:

• writing neatly and legibly with letters that are all a similar size
• joining some letters
• deciding which letters to join and which letters not to join
• keeping their writing lines horizontal and keeping the space between lines parallel and consistent
• keeping the downstrokes of their writing upright and parallel
• making sure that descenders of one line do not touch the ascenders of the line below.

In Year 5, the children will develop fluent, joined-up writing. This includes:

• deciding whether or not to join specific letters
• keeping letters of a consistent size
• choosing whether it is best to write with a pen or a pencil.

In Year 6, the children will build on their Year 5 handwriting skills and continue to develop fluent, joined-up writing. This includes:

• writing neatly and clearly
• deciding whether or not to join specific letters
• choosing whether to use a pencil or a pen.