Getting to the Heart of Handwriting

The freedom to think, doodle and dream

It is the approach to my daughter’s birthday, and in the lead-up to this I know I will have to pencil in plenty of time to scour stationery shops up and down the land. You may well wonder what I am looking for and be surprised that the simple answer is a plain, non‑lined notebook. My daughter loves to write and draw by hand: to think, doodle and dream, but she hates to be constrained by lines while doing so. You would think such a simple request would be easy to fulfil, but unlined notebooks are often overshadowed by their more structured, lined counterparts, or those that go a step further and section up what you should be writing and thinking into endless lists of To Dos and future dreams.

Different writers, different needs

I, on the other hand, am a big fan of the lined notebook and own a whole shop’s worth. The reason for this familial difference is that we are different types of writer by hand, not just in our actual hands (she uses left and I use right) but in the way we use writing. She uses writing to help her do the thinking, whereas I do most of the thinking in my head and then ‘vomit’ the words out onto the waiting lines.

This introduction may seem a bit far removed from the business of writing fluently, legibly and with the correct letter formation but I would argue that it is these things that are a fundamental part of what makes us writers by hand.

Handwriting as part of thinking

When I first sit down to compose something that requires deep thought, whether that is beginning a new training course or writing a blog such as this, I will have walked about with all those thoughts whirring about my head until one morning I wake up, sharpen my pencil and select the ‘right’ notebook. This process slows my pace, so different from my usual fast typing with its neat formatting. I always choose the writing by hand process when I am sorting out initial sparks of creativity or trying to put down my thoughts and opinions.

There is much noise about handwriting in the current primary educational landscape. The latest DfE Writing Framework, advice and inspections from Ofsted are all very concerned that our children must be taught to write as fluently and legibly as soon as possible, a key skill in life that is rightly being highlighted, but is our focus also on the actual skill, art and personal choice that comes after those crucial early stages?

What gets lost in the rush for fluency

As an English consultant, I will freely admit that my personal handwriting is a scrawl at best. I do, like so many teachers, have ‘board’ writing for demonstration purposes that is neatly spaced and perfectly formed. However, when I write to think, my writing is like a drunken spider that has trodden in ink and lurched across the page. This aspect does not matter though – when I write for me, it only matters that I can read it back and the scrawling has helped me in the thinking. Sharing that scrawl to communicate with others is a different matter. This artistry and choice surrounding purpose is an element of handwriting that I feel can get overlooked.

Much of early education seems to do this at the moment: in the rush to highlight and teach the fundamental and crucial skills, some of the purpose and meaning can get sidelined (consider the privileging of phonics first, which can dominate the experience of early reading if not taught carefully, with good exposure to a wide range of texts).

In the rush for handwriting to ‘fully align’, ‘show good progression’ and do all those other things that a good scheme or sequence demands, the fundamental, creative and ancient art form can get lost.

Writing with your whole self

The poet Ted Hughes expresses this clearly when comparing handwriting to typing on a screen:

“There’s always a bit too much there and it’s too thin. Whereas when writing by hand you meet the terrible resistance of what happened in your first year at it when you couldn’t write at all…when you were making attempts, pretending to form letters. These ancient feelings are there, wanting to be expressed when you sit with your pen, every year of your life is right there, wired into the communication between your brain and your writing hand.” (My emphasis)

Powerful stuff, and it is exactly this that leads me to seek out the pencil and notebook. Writing is an act of communication, and any act of communication includes a part of yourself. Fluency and legibility are, of course, integral too; any act of communication has to be received and understood (which is why this blog has been typed up, revised, proofed and edited, rather than asking you to decipher my first-draft notes).

Building a handwriting scheme with purpose

In developing a handwriting scheme for schools to use and teach this vital skill, it was important to the SLN that the two ‘ends’ of the process were totally robust, and we began with those in the design. The first stages being the readiness to write, a crucial phase that can sometimes be overlooked in the rush to get to letter formation. The first two stages of our scheme work on fine motor, gross motor, visual perception, scissor and instruction following skills. Once these are in place, this leads to explicit instruction about the 4 Ps of handwriting – posture, pencil grip, paper position and pressure.

Exploring tools, styles and choice

At the other end of our programme, the sessions become much more discursive, really exploring things such as implement choice and writing styles for a purpose. Of course, in between these beginning and end stages there is clear and explicit teaching of the letters in letter families, followed by how to lead out and join. All thoroughly researched and aligned with the latest DfE advice (I have never in my life had so many long discussions about the letters k, f and x, and hope to never again!).

In short, the SLN handwriting scheme, as with all of our resources, puts the heart of the skill back into it whilst also making the fundamentals clear and easy to teach. So, for now, I will put down my Blackwing pencil (my implement of choice) and literally dot all those i’s and cross all those t’s to set about typing this up clearly.

Over to you…

I’d love to hear what you most enjoy about the teaching of handwriting, what your personal pen or pencil choice is, and any tips for finding blank notebooks gratefully received!

Dora Allen is the School Literacy Network Manager. Drawing on extensive expertise in English, literacy leadership and classroom practice, she brings a creative yet practical approach that helps leaders translate the National Curriculum and DfE guidance into meaningful classroom teaching. Her training and resources are designed to ensure that key expectations are embedded thoughtfully and effectively.

[1] Ted Hughes in the Paris Review, The Art of Poetry, no 71. Last accessed here on 05.03.26.