Good handwriting is an essential skill in the quest to spell and write fluently, confidently and competently. A joined handwriting style links kinaesthetic ‘muscle memory’ with the relationship between the sounds of our speech and the letter shapes, letter groupings and whole written words. The ability to write neatly can raise self-esteem and provides a motivating factor in the production of written work.
We have high expectations of handwriting in our schools and it is taught using a traditional cursive script. The teaching of the print form begins in Foundation Stage, with joined handwriting taught from Year 2 onwards. From Year 2, we teach Rocket Phonics Cursive Handwriting.
The Teaching of Handwriting
Rocket Phonics cursive handwriting is an all-joined style with two main joins – a diagonal line which starts with the pencil point on the writing line, and a smile join. Through teaching, we demonstrate the two main joins by drawing two separate squares sitting on a writing line. In one square, we draw a straight line from the bottom left corner to the top right corner to form the diagonal line join. In the other square, we draw a curved line from the top left corner to the top right corner to form the smile join. The joins are very important for spacing letters evenly and children need to understand that there must be a clear join between all of the letter shapes.
We teach the traditional tripod pencil grip. Children are taught to think carefully about which part of each letter is the letter shape and which part is the join. At the start of each handwriting focus lesson, children practise forming lower case letters as discrete shapes, starting with the pencil point on the writing line to form the diagonal lead-in stroke. The letters are grouped into handwriting families with similar formations. A lead-in stroke at the beginning of every word in lower case is particularly dyslexia friendly. This style is not taught by writing any long letter strings of the same shape letter.
Children are taught to think carefully about the letters they write and the join each letter needs in whole words. This engagement with the mechanics of the writing style, instead of just mindlessly copying strings of letter shapes and words, results in children proceeding rapidly to join any words they wish to write independently. Some children may be able to convert to this style almost immediately. The diagonal line join softens as the writer becomes increasingly fluent. The style is taught as separate letters at first– not letter strings– and all the letters with their diagonal lead-in joins are taught to proficiency and automaticity before starting to join the letters into words.
It is preferable to provide opportunities for intensive daily practice rather than one lesson per week. Handwriting is, therefore, to be taught regularly and modelled by all staff when they are modelling writing for children, marking work and on display.
Pencil Grip and Posture
We teach the traditional tripod grip. To do this, children place their thumb and forefinger on the bottom of the painted part of the pencil (not on the cone-shaped end part) with the pencil across the back of the hand. The middle finger supports the pencil to complete the tripod grip.
We emphasise the need for good posture while children are writing. The writing hand should rest lightly on the paper below the words being written so that the words are not obscured. The paper may be tilted slightly to increase comfort and the child’s non-writing hand used to keep the paper secure.
Modelling of Handwriting
It is recommended that all teachers and supporting adults who write on boards and mark work should use the school’s handwriting style consistently. All staff in our school model handwriting: if the children are writing in print, the adults write in print. If the children are at the stage of writing in joined writing, the adults should write in the school’s joined handwriting.
Print Formation
Children will be taught the print formation of lower-case and capital letters, with clear start and finish points. Rocket Phonics letter scripts will be used to support the correct modelling to children. There are scripts for both lower-case and capital letters.
Capital Letters
All capital letters are tall and sit on the writing line. Capital letters are the same style whether writing in print or joined handwriting. When writing capital letters, always start in the air. With joined handwriting, start a sentence with a capital letter at the beginning of the first word, then leave a small gap before starting the next letter of the word on the line.
Cursive Formation
The style is taught as separate letters at first– not letter strings– and all the letters with their joins are taught to proficiency and automaticity before starting to join the letters into words. It is important to teach the letters which start like the letter c to fluency before the other letters. For the subsequent letters, describe and model how to form each letter paying careful attention to the description of how to form the letter (where to start, the route to take and the finish point of the formation) as well as the orientation on the line (size and position on the line in relation to other letters).