ABSTRACT

Like many new initiatives, literacy was rolled out during whole school training. Its importance was highlighted and strategies to tackle illiteracy were shared. Automaticity and fluency in writing is really important. In the context of answering exam questions, writing at speed is equally important. Take too long and people run out of time and inevitably rush towards the end. Slowing down also helps relieve one of the biggest issues with handwriting. Those with poor handwriting spend more time than others concentrating on the process. Initially, pupils are sceptical; joined up writing has been ingrained in them for so long; but once they try it they rarely go back. Taking away the need to join up their writing seems to lead to a sense of relief in pupils – taking the focus away from that and allowing more time to focus on the answer.