Focus on Handwriting & Book Work:

This year Good Samaritan will join with all other schools across the state to implement the new English and Mathematics curriculums from Kindergarten - Year 2. We will also be taking the time throughout the year to become more familiar with the new curriculums planned for Years 3-6.

One aspect of the English curriculum that has a renewed focus is that of Handwriting and general book work. At Good Samaritan we have developed a Handwriting Statement of Practice which explicitly outlines the expectations of all students. Based on research the following points are made about handwriting.

Handwriting: Why is it important?

• Research findings indicate that handwriting is causally related to writing and that explicit and supplemental handwriting instruction is an important element in preventing writing difficulties in the primary grades.
• Individual letter processing is an especially important component of both reading acquisition and skilled reading.
• One interesting hypothesis that has emerged from this literature is that letters may be processed differently than words partially because of our motor experience with them. When we write, we write one letter at a time, so there should be motor information affiliated with the stored visual information about individual letters, and perhaps not with representations of the changeable combinations of those individual letters.

The attached pdf has more information about the NSW Foundation font and general tips for parents to support handwriting development.