It is that time of year when children at Edge Grove are sitting their assessments which help us in measuring the progress that they have each made this academic year.
For many children, their assessments are handwritten and the legibility of their work can be a determiner in the marks they gain; marks can be lost when writing is illegible and meaning cannot be deciphered. The ability of an examiner to read a pupil’s work is essential and this is why we teach children to hand write neatly and legibly from an early age.
For some children, particularly those diagnosed with dyspraxia which is defined by the NHS as a developmental coordination disorder, writing by hand may always present a challenge. For children diagnosed with dyspraxia, the use of technology for word processing work can be a means of support, particularly as they get older. Other handwriting issues can be caused by an incorrect pencil grip, poor letter formation, incorrect letter sizes and word spacing issues.
Within the National Curriculum, these are the expectations for children’s handwriting (which are surpassed by many children at Edge Grove who work beyond age related expectations):
In Year 1, pupils should be taught to:
In Year 2, pupils are expected to:
In Years 3 and 4, children should:
In Years 5 and 6, children are taught to:
In order to encourage children to hand write neatly we are offering pupils in Year 3 upwards an opportunity to enter the SATIPS Handwriting Competition. Every child has been invited to join a Handwriting Competition Google Classroom where the poem for their age group that must be copied is published. Details and instructions are also given.