HUNTER'S BAR INFANT SCHOOL
ENGLISH: Handwriting
At Hunter’s Bar Infant School we place a huge emphasis on teaching children writing skills. Clear, legible handwriting forms a large part of this.
Handwriting
Handwriting, and letter formation, is taught throughout the school, through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.
Children will be taught letter formation alongside their Phonics and Spelling lessons, as well as during explicit Letter Formation and Handwriting sessions.
When practising handwriting, children are encouraged to use the Little Wandle formation phrases and guides. Copies of these are linked to below, and can be downloaded from the year group Google Drives.
Pencil Grip
Holding a pencil correctly requires strong finger and hand muscles. A correct pencil grip will help children to move the fingers, controlling the pencil with efficient finger movements. A great way for children to exercise pencil grip is through art and mark making, where they will learn to draw and follow patterns.
This is the progression of grip development although there are big differences as to what age children acquire the skills. A few children will jump stages while others go through a phase of using a combination of grasps.
Pencil grips may be helpful in teaching children to modify their grasp. These pencil grips are often used in school to support children to learn the correct pencil grip.
Preparing to Write
Letter Formation
There are four letter formation families:
> Curly letters: a c o d g q e s f
> Bouncy letters: b m n p h r
> Long letters: l i t u j y
> Zigzag letters: v w x z k
