Handwriting Statement

All children need to achieve automaticity in handwriting to help them become fluent and confident writers. At New Christ Church, our children begin with daily letter formation as part of their RWINC phonics lessons as soon as they join us. As part of this routine, children are explicitly taught the correct and comfortable position for writing depending on their being left or right-handed and the tripod pencil grip. Once children are able to read their set 1 sounds, in addition to the handwriting in phonics, children then have handwriting lessons of letters taught in their families, using the RWINC mnemonics and pictures to help children ‘visualise to memorise’ on unlined paper.

In Year 1, children are then taught how to form their lower case and capital letters at the correct relative size and spacing using the RWINC handwriting resources daily. Children are encouraged to write only a sentence or two in their mature handwriting until they are secure enough to move on and letter formations are secure. Children write on wide lined paper and use partner check at the end of each lesson to celebrate and assess their progress. 

When pupils are secure with letter formation in Year 2, they are then taught how to use the diagonal and horizontal joins using the Letterjoin Handwriting scheme. These joins are revisited throughout the school as new children join or as needed. Please see the document below for a detailed breakdown of how Letterjoin is used at New Christ Church.

We teach children that handwriting can vary according to whether a child is making quick, brief notes or writing for an audience. However, high expectations for handwriting are held across the curriculum.

Some children may need additional adjustments to support their handwriting, which will be carefully planned between the class teacher and SENCo.