Presentation & - PDF document

Presentation & Handwriting Policy January 2015 Presentation of Work It is important that we have a shared, consistent high standard of presentation of written work throughout the school. This is necessary for the following reasons:  Continuity of skills development for the children.  Best value use of resources.  Development of individual and shared pride and ownership.  Framework of high expectations and continuous improvement. All work in jotters will be completed in pencil and will have  The date written in digit form – eg 30.09.14 at the left of the page (P1 - P3)  The date written in full form (P4 - P7)  The title written in the centre of the page on the same line as the date if possible.  Numbers or letters in the margin.  No missed lines, except when there are four or fewer lines left at the bottom of the page.  A line drawn with a ruler at the end of a piece of work.  The next piece of work starting immediately under the line.  The pages filled up – do not take a new page for a new piece of work.  For num eracy – one digit in one square, two squares missed between sums etc.  All question numbers shown by a bracket, e.g. 2)  The decimal point written on the line. Jotters Each child will be issued with the following jotters  Yellow Maths Jotter  Green Class Jotter  Green Homework Jotter  Red Snapshot Jotter Homework jotters should be covered and labelled clearly. All jotters should be kept in a neat, clean condition and clearly labelled with the child’s name, class and curricular area. Graffiti anywhere on the jotter is unacceptable. Monitoring Throughout the year the SMT will monitor jotters as well as having discussions with the children about their work during class visits and will provide positive and constructive feedback accordingly. Teacher Marking and Comments Numeracy Jotter – Formative comments should be linked to WALT, WILF, Learning Outcome. Stampers and stickers should be used when appropriate. Traffic light dots can be used to indicate level of understanding. Class Jotter - Formative comments sh ould be recorded to inform pupils what was successful and what their next step should be. Peer/Self Marking – Children from P4 onwards should be encouraged to mark their own/others work. Class teachers are responsible for monitoring this. Correction code – The correction code should be displayed in all classes and used by all teachers. Learning Outcome – Should be recorded under the heading using the abbreviation WALT or LO. Success Criteria – Should be visually displayed in class for children to refer to. After a piece of fully completed work children from P5 onwards should record their success referring to the criteria. Always ensure that children have the tools to do their best work, ie a sharp pencil, a rubber and a ruler. Handwriting Po licy “Handwriting is a tool that has to work. It must be comfortable, fast and legible.” Angela Webb, Chair, National Handwriting Association Aims As a school our aims in teaching handwriting are that the pupils will:  Experience coherence and continuity in learning and teaching across the Nursery and School  Develop a recognition and appreciation of pattern and line  Understand the importance of clear and neat presentation in order to communicate meaning clearly  Take pride in the presentation of their work and therefore study handwriting with a sense of enjoyment and achievement.  Be supported in developing correct spelling quickly through a multi - sensory approach to handwriting  Be able to write quickly to aid expressing themselves creatively and imaginatively across the curriculum and for a range of purposes.  Use their skills with confidence in real life situations.  Develop a fluent, joined handwriting style. Knowledge, Skills and Understanding During and at the end of nursery  Use a pencil, and hold it effectively to form recognisable letters [with ‘kicks’/’flicks’], most of which are correctly formed At Primary 1:  Write most letters, correctly formed and orientated, using a comfortable and efficient pencil grip  Write with spaces between words accurately  Use the spacebar and keyboard to type their name and simple texts At Primary 2 and beyond:  Write legibly, using upper and lower - case letters appropriately and correct spacing within and between words  Form and use the four basic handwriting j oins  Word process short narrative and non - narrative texts Teaching and Learning We teach handwriting as a specific skill rather than as an independent task (which can often reinforce poor formation having a reverse effect than the intended outcome). Litt le and often is the most successful way – at least 10 minutes 3 times a week is ideal with additional, independent practise. Basic structure of a handwriting session: - relaxation - Posture check, feet flat on the floor, back touching the chair - Teacher mo delling - Children practising independently with teacher model, then from memory Sessions should be fun, varied and multi - sensory: write letters in the air, on backs or on hands, backs then palms if they can bare it!; orally describe letter shapes and joi ns with children ‘the patter’; Books can be used and whiteboards and pens are ideal as mistakes can be wiped away leaving no record of poor performance. In Nursery the children are encouraged to:  Develop gross motor control  Develop fine motor control  Use a range of mark making tools such as pencils, pens and crayons, with confidence and enjoyment  Develop a recognition of pattern  Develop a language to talk about shapes and movements  The main handwriting movements involved in the three basic letter shapes; l, c, and r  Make marks on their planning cards of the appropriate colour  Develop letter - like shapes on their planning cards e.g. ‘s’ for sand  Produce letter - like shapes on planning cards for the appropriate session  Their first name, using a Capital letter for the beginning and correct letter formation In Primary 1 the children continue to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding from Nursery in addition to:  Learning letter formation alongside phonics using the Jolly Phonics scheme  Learn letter formation using ‘shape families: long ladder letters l i j t u y one - armed robot letters r b h k m n p curly caterpillar letters c a d e g o q f s zigzag letters z, v, w, x, At the end of Primary 2 or the beginning of Primary 3 the majority of the children should be introduced to joins. Lined paper or line guid es are provided. Lines can be widely spaced (15mm) or 8mm. It may help children to leave a blank line between each line of writing initially to avoid ascend ers and descenders overlapping. The Joining Style “Joins between letters are only worthwhile if they increase the speed, rhythm and ease of writing without reducing legibility” Which letters join? Joins are made both to and from the following 17 letters: a c d e f h i k l m n o r t u v w Joins are made to but not from the following 8 letters: b g j p q s x y Joins are never made to or from the letter z The 4 basic joins: 1. Diagonal joins to letters without ascenders e.g. in, on, at 2. Diagonal joins to letters with ascenders e.g. at 3. Horizontal joins to letters without ascenders e.g. on 4. Horizontal joi ns to letters with ascenders e.g. the ‘eb’ in z - eb - ra Additional Help and Support The vast majority of pupils are able to write legibly and fluently. However, some pupils need more support and provision will be made for this. Teachers of children whose handwriting is limited by problems with fine motor skil ls should liaise with the our additional support for learning coordinator and parents/carers to develop a programme designed for the individual child. This may involve extra handwriting sessions and ac cess to extra resources. Other areas that could be considered are posture, lighting, angle of table etc. Outside agencies can be contacted where appropriate. All teachers are aware of the specific needs of left - handed pupils and make appropriate provision :  paper should be positioned to the left for right handed pupils and to the right for left handed pupils and slanted to suit the individual in either case;  pencils should not be held too close to the point as this can interrupt pupils’ line of vision;  pup ils should be positioned so that they can place their paper to their left side;  left - handed pupils should sit to the left of a right - handed child so that they are not competing for space;  extra practice with left - to - right exercises may well be necessary be fore pupils write left - to - right automatically. Teachers are alert to the fact that it is very difficult for left - handed pupils to follow handwriting movements when a right - handed teacher models them. Teachers demonstrate to left - handers on an individual or group basis, even if the resulting writing is not neat. The role of parents and carers Parents and carers are introduced to the school’s handwriting style through a leaflet and information sessions. Our infant staff play an important role in communicating this at an early stage, to ensure that parents are informed and encouraged to offer good models to their children by using only capital letters for the beginning of their names. All memb ers of staff (including support assistants, supply teachers, and students) are provided with appropriate handwriting models and are expected to promote the agreed handwriting style by their own example. ICT The growth in the use of word processing and desktop publishing has increased p upils’ awareness of the importance of presentation and the variety of handwriting styles/fonts available. Pupils are encouraged to evaluate a range of fonts and to select whatever is appropriate to suit particular purposes. Teachers discuss handwriting an d presentation in all curricular areas and aim to model good handwriting themselves. Teachers are explicit about different types of handwriting for example, personal note - taking or best handwriting for presentation, but remember not all the children will b e able to achieve this in the early stages . Teachers give handwriting a high priority in classroom displays. Teachers aim to make handwriting lessons relevant to the curriculum, by providing a purpose to the work where possible, encouraging the children to view handwriting as part of an overall presentation policy. And for teachers...writing on an interactive whiteboard Accurate handwriting using this technology takes practice, and yours needs to be as neat and legible as it would be on an old - fashione d whiteboard. Here are some tips:  Make sure you can calibrate the board and change the thickness of the pen or stylus.  Be aware of the legibility of different 'ink' colours. Red, for example, can be hard to read from a distance.  Press firmly and hold the p en or stylus at a 90 o angle.  Stand to one side of the board when writing so all children can see.  Explore the templates or gallery in your software — they will include lined and squared paper that will help guide your handwriting and offer a better model. Assessment and recording Teachers assess handwriting on a regular basis to note progress against the learning intentions in Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes and to determine future targets for improvement . Teachers aim to ensure that w hen marking written work, comments about neatness are kept in proportion in relation to those about content and/or meaning. Resources Pencils triangular and ordinary Paper and books The Phonics Handbook offers sound advice on developing correct pencil gri p. Nelson Handwriting