Hand Writing Retaining Skills

With the gradual demise of the handwritten letter coupled with the rise of texting and typing whilst communicating with others in their free time, students’ handwriting skills remain under threat. Buckswood considers, therefore, that good handwriting is an essential skill to practise and retain.

Handwriting lessons will become a regular feature of the junior school English syllabus in the new academic year and there will be lessons set aside throughout the year to ensure that handwriting is practised. As part of the summer holiday homework programme, we would like each of our junior students to complete a series of six handwriting exercises of approximately two hundred words on any subject. This applies also to those students about to commence form four.

Students may copy any text which interests them from a variety of sources. The emphasis is not so much on the text as it is on the quality of handwriting. Please look at the example below. INSERT scanned example of cursive writing. It shows a classic handwriting style and one which, ideally, we all ought to be able to emulate. However, we do recognise that although many of our students will have developed their own handwriting skills, they should use this opportunity to correct poor style and letter formation.

This might include, for example, making sure that letters with tails and stems (P,B,D,G,F, etc.) are noticeably different from shorter letters (e,m,n,r, etc.) All writing should be ‘joined-up.’ Handwriting exercises are beneficial in assisting spelling too, as they compel the writer to look closely at the words they are writing. Excellent spellers are often avid readers.

Finally, remember that GCSE and other public examinations require candidates to write clearly and neatly in their own handwriting.

Hand Writing (PDF)