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The aim is to teach the children a fluent, legible style
of handwriting which will meet their everyday needs in school, and also meet the
demands of later life for a legible style of writing. The essential qualities of
handwriting writing are legibility and fluency.
- The child should acquire as habits a satisfactory
method of sitting at his desk and the correct method of holding and using a
writing instrument.
- Basic handwriting instruction should take place in all
classes up to and including 4th for
ten minutes per day
- Attention to be paid to correct letter formation –
clockwise /anti-clockwise
- Attention to be paid to the methods of joining letters
- The same standard of handwriting is expected at all
lessons, and not just during the formal handwriting lesson
- Fluency in handwriting is achieved through practice –
rhythmic pattern-making exercises help in the development of fluency (cf.
pre-writing books)
- Posture of children when writing should be such that
the writing hand and arm have unrestricted movement
- Pen or pencil must be held lightly, mainly by the thumb
and index finger. The top of the middle finger rests lightly against the
pencil to give additional support
- Order of letters in which letters are taught in Junior
Infants:
- c, a, d, g, q, o, r, n , m, h, b, p, I, t, j, f, k, x,
u, y, l, v, w, z, e, s
- Capital letters are taught in same order in Senior
Infants
- C, A, D, G, Q, O, R, N , M, H, B, P, I, T, J, F, K, X,
U, Y, L, V, W, Z, E, S
- Revise lower case and capital letters in First Class,
and commence process of using up-strokes
- Teach all rules with regard to the joining of letters.
(cf. School Handwriting Manual). The
aim by the end of Second Class is that most of the children will have
acquired a “legible joined script”.
- c, a, d, g, q, o, r, n , m, h, b, p, I, t, j, f, k, x,
u, y, l, v, w, z, e, s
- Cartridge Pen or biro introduced in Third Class.
Teachers assess the capability of individual pupils to make the transfer
from pencil to pen /biro.
- Handwriting competitions are organised twice a term by
Ms C. Brangan. Each pupil’s work is displayed. The results of the
competitions are aggregated, and there are overall winners in each class at
the end of the year.
Assessment
Although allowance is made for teachers’ professional
discretion in the use of assessment, the overall approach should be consistent
throughout the school.
Range of assessment tools
- Teacher observation.
- Teacher designed tasks and tests.
- Work samples, portfolios and projects
- Curriculum profiles.
- Diagnostic tests such as Belfield Infant Assessment
Profile (BIAP), MIST, Jackson, Daniels
and Diack, Young Reading Test, and Thackray are available from the Learning
Support Teacher or Resource Teacher.
- Micra T is used to assess progress in English reading
and comprehension [Standards 1 to 6th ]. The tests are held in December for
2nd to 6th and in January for 1st Class.
- Tests set by individual teachers are held in January of
each year, and the results are used as the basis for the reports to parents.
- The end of year tests are set at school level, and
consist of a piece of continuous free writing and a comprehension exercise.
A detailed marking scheme is made available to assess the free writing
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