As part of our commitment to Strong Foundations and The Writing Framework 2025, pupils at LSJ are taught handwriting precisely, in a clearly sequenced progression, starting from Nursery, to support their gradual acquisition of skills.
There is a whole school expectation of consistently high standards, making sure pupils practise handwriting regularly and consistently throughout primary school to develop and maintain fluency and legibility.
Handwriting is taught as a whole class most days, and then during the afternoons, Strong Foundations Interventions take place to support those who need additional practice.
EYFS
From Autumn 2025, there is a focus on ensuring pupils have appropriate pencil grip and letter formation before moving on to writing words. There is no longer the expectation that children can write their names in Nursery; but instead they are able to carry out pre-writing skills such as:
- the ability to control small muscle movements (fine motor skills)
- the ability to control larger muscle movements, from the shoulders and arms (gross motor skills)
- the ability to coordinate visual input with hand movements (eye coordination)
- the capacity to process visual information and translate it into motor actions such as copying shapes (visual motor integration)
- the ability to use both hands together, such as holding paper and cutting (bilateral coordination)
Children in Reception are given opportunities to practice taught letters in provision and through guided groups. We use technology within provision to ensure children are repeatedly exposed to correct letter formation and we no longer rely on tracing as a means to practice writing.
Year 1
In year 1, pupils are taught to:
- sit correctly at a table ("tummy to table, back to back" is our special handwriting phrase)
- hold a pencil comfortably and correctly (using tripod grip)
- begin to form lower-case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place
- form capital letters
- form digits 0–9
- understand which letters belong to which handwriting ‘families’
Year 2
In year 2, pupils are taught to:
• form lower-case letters of the correct size relative to one another
• start using pre-cursive handwriting
• 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 reflects the size of the letters, so that later joins do not create extra, confusing shapes
Key Stage 2
In key stage 2, we focus on increasing the legibility, consistency and quality of pupils’ handwriting, with the aim of increasing the fluency and speed with which they are able to write down what they want to say. Children are taught cursive handwriting from Year 3; however, we also discuss the importance of un-joined writing in some tasks, such as labelling a diagram or data, writing an email address, or for letters in algebra.
