The teachers at Fairlands are helping the children improve their presentation skills by getting them to think about the 4Ps of handwriting. Using research from the National Handwriting Association to promote good practice, we would like to share with you the importance of the posture, pencil grip, paper position and pressure when supporting your child with their letter formation and writing.

POSTURE - Poor posture can be a root cause of common handwriting difficulties, resulting in pain or fatigue. It will also present as a reluctance to write, poor presentation or legibility, slow writing speed and reduced output.

PENCIL GRIP - Children and adults use a wide range of different pencil grasps, often because they have not learnt differently or as compensation for postural instability. An inefficient pen/pencil grasp can cause discomfort, impact motivation, fluency and legibility and create difficulty in sustaining speed.

PAPER POSITION - Correct paper position is vitally important during the early years of handwriting development. Bad practice can lead to compensatory strategies, such as a hooked-wrist in left-handers. These behaviours are difficult to remedy in later years.

PRESSURE - When learning to write, pencil pressure is likely to vary depending on the demands of the task and stage of development. Most children will learn through experience how much pressure they should exert through the pencil onto paper. The shape of the writing tool and the way it is held, affects the amount of pressure exerted onto the paper. Trialling a range of pens, pencils and grips can be a good place to start.

This term, the whole school focus is 'Handwriting Heroes'

Why is handwriting a focus at Fairlands?

Over the last two terms, the Literacy team have been working hard to implement the Little Wandle phonics programme. We are proud of the fantastic progress that the children have made. Next, we would like to think about how we can improve the fluency and consistency of handwriting, across the school. 

What is happening at Fairlands to support handwriting?

All members of staff have set goals and targets on how they strive to improve handwriting outcomes. Some examples include:

• Reception and Year Five will be teaming up to share a piece of writing
• Children will be asked to write to governors to request a new school resource
• Staff will be identifying the 4 P's (posture, pencil grip, paper position and pressure) and implementing strategies to support the development of writing 
• School will be investing in pens, pencils and writing aides to ensure children can select an effective writing tool
• School council will be recording videos to share the letter formation rhymes with the children and parents 

How can parents and carers support their child to become a confident, fluent writer?

• Continue to promote high expectations when your child is practising writing at home or writing for a purpose (e.g. writing a birthday card or writing to a family member)
• School will be sharing handwriting videos with you, these will be accessed via the school website 
• The Literacy Team will be sharing the amended handwriting policy with you, in Summer 2 

Thank you to all of the parents who attended today's interactive phonics workshop. We were delighted to share with you that from tomorrow children in Reception will be bringing home a paper-based phonics book. We also hope that you found the tricky word activities useful. In the Spring term, we review and recap the phonics learning, so this is a great opportunity to practise, practise, practise! 

Finally, well done to all of the children for taking part in the tricky words bingo activity. 

At Fairlands, we are constantly striving to learn more and gain a deeper understanding of the diversity of our community. As a Literacy team, we feel it is important that children are reflected in the books that they read. Reading a wide range of age-appropriate texts can help children to learn about different cultures, experiences and understand a character's point of view. Teachers have been asked to select a 'No Outsiders' text or poem for the week commencing 27th February.

On Thursday 2nd March, all children are invited to come to school dressed as their favourite book character, customise a t-shirt based on their favourite book character or book or bring along a copy of their favourite book for our 'Bookflix' interactive reading display!

As always, we strive to promote a love of reading through 'World Book Day', so teachers will be planning a range of activities throughout the week, that promote reading. We will also be hosting a special assembly, where your child's class teacher will be invited to share and recommend their favourite book. 

We look forward to sharing our World Book Day experiences with you as we blog throughout the week!