Handwriting can be a controversial topic in schools. Should we teach cursive? If so, how? And when? Should pupils in Reception be discouraged from “mark-making”? (For the record, no, but starting formalised writing too soon is probably going to yield very little, so better to stick with oral composition for the main).
In every class I taught at secondary, I would have two or three students who really struggled with making their writing legible, including to themselves, and others who found it hard to write accurately at speed and length.
I tried to find ways to mitigate this, providing writing frames, offering laptops, or even acting as a scribe. Sometimes this was the right decision. If the most important element of the lesson was finding out what they knew about Macbeth, removing the barrier of writing was going to be a better way to find that out. If we wanted to let them explore narrative structure or vocabulary, me acting as a scribe was sensible.
Students struggling with handwriting
But over time I realised that some of my well-meaning attempts to help were misguided. Research indicates that there are important connections between .
In my own learning experiences, writing things down is a generative process, helping to shape my thinking, as well as helping to secure learning in my long-term memory. As a fluent writer, writing is a tool that supports my learning as well as captures it.
After Covid lockdown I met a number of leaders who noted that they had more and more students at secondary who struggled to write. This was making it difficult for these students to participate in learning and was storing up a huge logistical issue for exams.
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The leaders often linked this to a decline in their students’ writing stamina. While there may be some truth in this, on further examination it was possible to see that, for some of these young people, it was more about not having acquired the foundations that they needed to write at speed.
At some point they had not had the precise instruction and practice that allowed them to form their letters (and numbers correctly) and to write quickly. They had been given support, but it was often aimed at removing the writing barrier, not addressing it.
So how do we go about tackling the issue?
1. Find the handwriting gap
As with any gap, you need to identify the students who need support the most, and as quickly as possible. In some of my schools, we found that all students would benefit from handwriting instruction, and set up a programme of explicit teaching and practice, four times per week, at a set time. In others, we found that it was a small group that was behind on handwriting, and decided to support these students in a separate intervention each morning with teaching assistants.
2. Ensure staff understanding
Staff training is essential. Primary school teachers know how handwriting works because it is their bread and butter, but often in secondary there has been little guidance given to teachers. Staff need the training and time to practise carefully themselves, especially if they will be modelling. They need to know the sequence of letters and the process that they will teach. Just as with other aspects of teaching, they need to be given feedback and opportunities to develop their practice.
3. Keep the messaging consistent
Just as with reading, what happens beyond the intervention is often where the difference lies. In my schools, all staff are involved in the initial training on handwriting, meaning that they understand the importance of how students sit, hold their pen and the feedback that they receive. They know what needs correcting and why this matters. They know that sometimes the barrier of handwriting will still need to be removed if writing is not the main goal, but they also know that they should avoid never giving students the chance to practise. They are aware that these students need more time because their writing is slower than that of their peers. Good habits need to be instilled and rewarded, and opportunities have to be built in correctly.
The outcomes for students involved in these interventions has been positive so far. There is more to do to ensure that automaticity is reached and therefore transferred into the day-to-day habits when the complexities of the subject get layered on to the writing process.
But the more times students are reminded, the fewer the reminders and interventions needed. Some students who could not even begin to form letters accurately or legibly are now more confident in recording their ideas and spend less time masking their difficulties.
There is a more open dialogue about the problem that handwriting presents and honesty about why it needs to be tackled. These students are being given another tool in their toolbox to undertake the challenges of learning across the curriculum.
Zoe Enser is the school improvement lead for a trust in the North West of England
