Handwriting and Presentation

At Baines Endowed Primary School we recognise that developing clear, fluent and confident handwriting from a young age plays a vital role in children’s education. According to the Writing Framework published by the Department for Education, teaching handwriting and spelling systematically “from the Reception year is crucial to ensure that these skills become automatic for children” - freeing up working memory so they can focus on composing and expressing their ideas.

Our approach is firmly rooted in the well-structured phonics programme from Red Rose Phonics, and we complement this with their cursive handwriting style. By helping children to form letters with consistent joins and appropriate flow, we aim to build legibility, speed and stamina so that writing becomes a comfortable and natural means of communication. This aligns with the Framework’s message that “being able to write legibly, comfortably and at a reasonable speed supports composition and self-expression.”

Below you will find examples of our handwriting scheme, along with what good examples of handwriting look like at each stage of a child’s writing journey. These examples illustrate the progression we expect as children develop their confidence, fluency and pride in presentation throughout their time at Baines.

What a good example looks like...

Reception Class

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6