Rickley Park Primary School Handwriting Policy (January 2016)

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1 A Co-operative Academy Rickley Park Primary School This policy should be read in conjunction with section 8 of the English Policy (November, 2015) and the Teaching and Learning Policy. 1. Key Values We have the same chances. We have the same choices. We persevere and work hard, not because we are told to but because we want to improve. We look after ourselves, each other and our world by taking responsibility for our actions. 2. Aims 2.1 As a school we aim to create a happy, safe environment that nurtures and supports all members of our school community which: ensures that everyone has the opportunity to excel irrespective of their background; sets every child high expectations, and provide appropriate support, so that they reach their full potential; motivates, inspires and expects all children to strive to improve on their personal best; provides a curriculum that embeds good working habits and develops independence; prepares children for the next stage of their education and beyond;and provides a balanced curriculum which develops a breadth of knowledge and relevant skills for the future. 2.2 The specific aims of this policy are to: To raise standards in writing across the school; To have a consistent approach across the school when teaching handwriting and presentation of work; To adopt a common approach towards handwriting by all adults when writing in children s books, on the whiteboard or on displays / resources; For children to achieve a neat, legible style with correctly formed letters in cursive handwriting; and For the pupils to develop flow and speed, so that eventually they are able to produce the letters automatically and in their independent writing. Handwriting is a skill which, like reading and spelling, affects written communication across the curriculum. Given effective teaching, handwriting can be mastered by most pupils by the time they are seven or eight years old enabling them, with practice, to go on to develop a faster and more mature hand ready for secondary school and adult life. Suzanne Tiburtius of the National Handwriting Association 3.Entitlement and Curriculum Provision 3.1 Handwriting is taught regularly through short, focused sessions and may be linked with spelling, grammar or phonics objectives. 3.2 There is an expectation that there will be at least two taught handwriting sessions and a further opportunity, outside the English lesson, for children practice independently during a week (see and in the English Policy).

2 3.3 Whilst the explicit teaching of handwriting occurs outside English lessons, shared and guided writing also provides additional opportunities for the modelling and monitoring of handwriting. 4. Teaching and Learning 4.1 Handwriting is a skill which needs to be taught explicitly. Since handwriting is essentially a movement skill, correct modelling of the agreed style by the teacher is very important; it is not sufficient to require pupils to copy models from the PenPals scheme or a worksheet. 4.2 Consistency in the attitudes displayed, the methods employed and the models provided is the key to effective learning. A mixture of whole class, small group and individual teaching is planned. 5. The Role of the Teacher: 5.1 The teacher must: Follow the school policy to help each child develop legible and fluent handwriting; Provide direct teaching and accurate modelling; Provide resources and an environment which promotes good handwriting; and Observe pupils, monitor progress and determine targets for development. 5.2 In addition, all members of staff (including teaching assistants, supply teachers, students) are provided with appropriate handwriting models and are expected to promote the agreed handwriting style by their own example. 6. Continuity and Progression 6.1 Early Years(Refer to Pre-PenPals Progression Appendix 1) Handwriting develops as children develop increased control over their bodies and a desire to communicate through mark making In the pre-communicative stage pupils play with writing and these experiments are recognised and praised as an important stage in the child s understanding that marks on paper convey meaning. Pupils are given the opportunity to experiment with a range of writing materials and implements; a multi-sensory approach is used to help pupils feel the movement in the hand In the Early Years, children s gross and fine motor skills are also developed by facilitating activities such as: dance, ball games, use of small apparatus, cycling, gripping climbing frames and building with large-scale construction kits. In addition, fine motor control is developed through activities such as manipulating dough, pouring water, making shapes in sand, weaving and controlling small objects with tweezers The early learning goal (ELG) for five-year-olds requires children to use a pencil and hold it effectively to form recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.it is also recognised that letter formation (starting at the right entry point and then moving in the right direction) learned at this early stage becomes automatic and has a profound influence on later fluency and legibility To aid movement, close attention is given to pencil grip, correct posture, the positioning of the paper and the organisation of the writing space. Teachers are vigilant to ensure that bad habits do not become ingrained and that the specific needs of left-handed pupils and those with special educational needs are met. 6.2 Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 (Refer to PenPals Progression Appendix 1) In Key Stages 1 and 2 the teaching and learning of handwriting is based on the Rickley Park Handwriting Progression Ladder (See Appendix 1). 2

3 6.2.2 It is the responsibility of the class teacher to assess the pupils handwriting and decide at which point on the progression ladder the teaching needs to be targeted at. This ensures that the teaching and learning is based on pupil s developmental stage rather than the pupil s age For most children the progression to fluent, cursive handwriting will be linear. However, the school recognises that, for some children, it will be necessary to revisit previous steps on the progression ladder to practice and refine skills. 7. Resources 7.1 To aid pupils handwriting we have purchased the PenPals scheme which is loaded on to all computers in the school. This scheme provides Interactive Whiteboard slides, independent practice sheets and teacher s notes (including information of posture and grip) and is directly linked to the Rickley Park Handwriting Progression Ladder (see Appendix 1). 7.2 In addition, the school provides the following resources to aid the teaching and learning of fluent handwriting: All children are provided with handwriting books; Children have access to individual whiteboards (handwriting tramlines on one side); Teachers are provided with flipcharts (for recording shared writing) which have handwriting tramlines on one side;and A SMARTBoard background which has the handwriting tramlines on. 7.3 As outlined in of the English Policy, children in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 are expected to write in pencil unless their class teacher deems that their letter formation and joins are accurate enough to begin writing in pen. 7.4 Children in Key Stage 2 are expected to move towards writing in pen, although it may be necessary for some children to continue to write in pencil until their class teacher deems that their letter formation and joins are accurate enough. 8. Inclusion 8.1 The vast majority of pupils are able to write legibly and fluently. However, some pupils need more support and a specific individual or group programme is drawn up in consultation with the SEND Leader. Thicker triangular pencils, pencil grips and wider lines may be used by children experiencing problems to develop their fine motor skills. 8.2 All staffare aware of the needs of left-handed pupils and make appropriate provision: paper should be positioned to the left for right handed pupils and to the right for left handed pupils and slanted to suit the individual in either case; pencils should not be held too close to the point as this can interrupt pupils line of vision; pupils should be positioned so that they can place their paper to their left side; left-handed pupils should sit to the left of a right-handed child, so that they are not competing for space;and extra practice with left-to-right exercises may well be necessary. 9. The Role of Parents and Carers 9.1 The Foundation Stage teachers play an important role in communicating this at an early stage, for example, to ensure that parents are informed and encouraged to offer good modelsto their pupils by using only capital letters for the beginning of their names, practising drawing patterns and playing joining up games which encourage left to right directionality. 9.2 As children move through the school parents are expected to support the development of handwriting by supporting our high expectations of presentation when children are completing their homework. 3

4 9.3 Additional information on how to support their child develop fluent handwriting is available via the school website. 10. Monitoring and Evaluation 10.1 The effectiveness of this policy will primarily be monitored by the English Leader, as part of their ongoing monitoring of Teaching and Learning in English However, all leaders have a responsibility to monitor the impact of this policy in their leadership area and feedback to the English Leader as required. 11. The Role of the Governing Body 11.1 The Governing Body, via the Standards and School Improvement committee, will review the policy every 3 years and review its effectiveness as part of their on-going monitoring of the school. 4

5 Appendix 1: Handwriting Progression Ladder Rickley Park Primary School: A Co-operative Academy A Co-operative Academy Rickley Park Handwriting Progression Pre-Pen Pals Progression Pen Pals pre-letter formation: Developing gross motor skills The vocabulary of movement Large movements Responding to music Developing fine motor skills Developing patterns and basic letter movements Hand and finger play Making and modelling Links to art Using one-handed tools and equipment Pattern making Responding to music Investigating straight line patterns Investigating loops Investigating circles Investigating angled patterns Investigating eights and spirals Review gross and fine motor skill development Grapheme formation Letters & Sounds Phases / RPP Phonics guide, using Read Write Inc. formation and mnemonics Review lower and upper case letter formation Beginning of Pen Pals Progression Long ladder letters: l i t u j y One-armed robot letters: r b n h m k p Capital letters for one-armed robot letters R B N H M K P Capital letters for long ladder letters L I T U J Y Curly caterpillar letters c a d o s g q e f Zig- zag monster letters z v w x 5

6 Capital letters for curly caterpillar letters C A D O S G Q E F Capital letters for zig-zag letters Z V W X Review long ladder, one armed robot, curly caterpillar and zig-zag monster families Diagonal join to ascender Diagonal join no ascender Diagonal join, no ascender, to an anticlockwise letter Horizontal joins, no ascender Horizontal joins, no ascender, to anticlockwise letters Horizontal joins to ascender Diagonal and horizontal joins to ascender to an anti-clockwise letter at, al, it, th, ch, cl, im, in, ai, ay, cr, tr, dr, lp, mp, ee, ai, ay ime, ine id, ig,nd,id, ng op, oy, one, ome, crdr, ipmp oa, og, wa, wo ol, ot, wh, oh of, if Review of diagonal and horizontal joins Next step: moving from joining letters to joins within words. For example: ice, ide Horizontal join from r to ascender Horizontal join from r url, irl, irt ere, air Diagonal joins to s dis, si, su, se, sp, sm Horizontal joins to s ws Diagonal joins to s to ascender Horizontal joins to r from an anticlockwise letter Horizontal join to and from f to ascender sh rs ft, fl Horizontal join to and from f, no ascender fu, fr, qu, rr, ss, ff 6

7 Review all new joins Next step: recap height of ascenders and size of capitals. Diagonal join of b and p, no ascender Diagonal join of b and p, no ascender, to an anticlockwise letter Diagonal join of b and p to ascender bi, bu, pi, pu ba, bo, pa, po bl, ph Review all joins End of Pen Pals Progression Once children have developed and embedded legible, joined handwriting, they can begin to learn cursive joins. This will help to increase the speed of their writing as well as allowing them to develop a greater depth of style. 7

8 Appendix 2: Rickley Park Letter Formation Guide (pre-cursive)