At Northern Primary School, children in Reception Class begin to form letters as part of the RWI scheme. 

In Reception Class, children take part in 'Funky Finger' activities.  These activities encourage the development of fine motor and language skills that are essential for hand writing.  Funky Fingers may be done at a set time or be in a set area all day and can be made to fit in with any theme, topic or interest. Any activity could be classed as a Funky Finger activity if it focuses on children using fine motor skills. 

What are the benefits Funky Fingers?

There are many benefits of Funky Fingers, here are a few

• Promotes fine motor skills
• Encourages communication and language skills
• Supports hand writing skills through fine motor strength and control
• Highly adaptable
• Can fit in with any theme, topic, celebration, interest
• Repetitive fine motor skills in a fun way
• If changed regularly such as weekly children are excited and intrigued to have a go
• Promotes characteristics of effective learning
• Allows children to develop the skills they need without causing any confusion around hand writing
• Through improving fine motor skills children develop independence in things such as buttoning their own coats or opening their own packets

Once they are secure with these letters, and enter Year One, they begin to follow the Nelson handwriting scheme; this then continues to develop throughout each key stage.  Once children are forming letters clearly and accurately, we begin to focus on making accurate joins, ensuring that writing is legible and all lettering is formed at the correct size.

We love to celebrate at Northern!  In Year 2, children work towards achieving their handwriting licence.  They achieve this when they can successfully form all of their letters correctly and prepare for cursive writing.  In Year 4 their pen licence is issued when children are correctly forming all joins correctly and that all letters are formed with correct sizing..