A neat, fluid handwriting style is an essential everyday skill for children to develop. The ability to write neatly and with minimal effort allows children the opportunity to dedicate ‘mental space’ to the content of their writing including ideas, word choices, spelling and punctuation.

In the early years, children who struggle with cutting, buttoning, tying shoelaces, undoing lunchboxes, using cutlery, pencil and paintbrush control, writing their name, colouring, dot-to-dots and tracing activities are likely to have difficulty developing effective handwriting skills.

In early to mid primary school, children who struggle with handwriting are prone to letter reversals, inappropriately large letter sizing, letters that are not sitting on the line, lack of spaces between words and excessive pressure on the page.

At the top end of the primary and early secondary children still struggling with the fine motor skills required for handwriting will take an extremely long time to complete written work, and will often verbalise answers but be reluctant to write them down.  If children have difficulty with handwriting then they will struggle to keep up in class, particularly on timed handwriting activities such as class tests or written exams.