Need advice please (primary teachers?) re school issue

[SerenaJ]

Hi there, We've recently moved to Brisbane and our 7 year old son has just started Year 2. He already completed a term of Year 2 in his previous school in the UK and since the start of Year 1 he's been taught the cursive handwriting font (as a pre-cursor to joined up writing). He now pretty much does joined up writing, as he finds this easier than keeping the letters separate... He's not the fastest or neatest writer in the world, but he's only 7 and we're really proud of the progress he's making (especially as he's left handed which can make it a little more awkward). But now he's being told at his new school that he needs to strop writing this way and start forming his letters separately in the non-cursive style. I emailed the teacher when he came home and told me that this is what he's being told, and she says they "implement the Queensland handwriting font and this forms part of our assessment and reporting. I just need you to be aware of this as I feel your son can be encouraged to apply this font here at school whilst continuing to enjoy his success and progress with cursive writing in his free time."

 

My husband and I can't help feeling this is a little like going backwards, and we are also are worried about the effect this will have on our son's self-esteem, given that he's now being told he writes 'wrong'. He's rather a perfectionist, so we know it will really upset him if he has to start relearning to write and therefore making mistakes. What would your advice be? If it's really just a question of the school being able to score points in terms of reporting on the handwriting abilities of each year group, then we'd rather look after the interests of our son than the group interests of the school.

[Guest]

We had similar. In that in the UK the writing is geared to teaching cursive from day 1 and here its not brought in till much later (they did it in Y3 here for us). I find that often kids don't adapt to cursive as well starting it later like this but some do. Also its not pushed as something that must be done it seems, some kids use it as they go on, some don't. I think thats because its not an ingrained thing in their early learning and its harder to do, so kids stick to what they know if not asked to keep persisting with it. However, some kids who learn cursive early on and use it through school don't continue to write in cursive as they get older and into adult hood. Writing can and does change.

 

I'd say if you feel strongly about it, then say so and be prepared to make your case. TBH I can't see any issue if a child joins their writing up or not. Some kids read far faster and learn their words far quicker than other kids, some not so fast, same with writing, each kid is different. Some kids struggle for whatever reason to form non cursive letters, let alone cursive. Its not a fault or something to take the kid to task over. I don't feel its fair on a child to judge them by handwriting ability or to expect or demand they change it. Its can be upsetting for the child and honestly, there are better things to be concerned over from a teaching POV IMHO. However, the teacher and school may feel differently. If a child can write cursive 'ahead of time' why should they be made to change it to follow the teaching plan. Surely a teacher can cope with having a child who can write cursive as they should be able to cope with those are ahead or behind the curve in other aspects?

 

Our son was only in Y1 when we moved here so hadn't really gotten to grips with cursive in the joining it up aspect but had learnt all the flicks and kicks to his letters. Over the course of his first year some of those were forgotten or changed totally as he wasn't seeing them used by his teacher but they never once told us his writing was a big concern or he *had* to change it, they just did what they had to do in terms of their teaching and our son sort of fell into it. He did say it was different writing at his new school and he found it hard to not do the flicks and stuff and we said he could carry on writing that way if he wanted and to not worry overly about it being a bit different here. His teacher never made a big issue of it. We did say if he was happy, doing well, learning and enjoying school we'd not rock the boat over things that were done differently here, because we expected it to be different and that we'd have to adapt to things. We tried to keep in mind its a totally different education system and not the UK. However, had he been unhappy or struggled or was told he *had* to change we'd have spoken up about it to try to find a workable solution that our son was happy with, but as it was it was a gradual change with no pressure put on him or us so it never became a thing. He learnt cursive last year but honestly, he still writes in a non cursive way and they don't make it something that has to stick.

 

Writing cursive or not, the most important thing is he can write. Plenty of adults write non cursive and its not a bad thing.

[Quoll]

Queensland have always been hung up on handwriting style and it is part of the curriculum that they are obliged to cover. Other states are less anal about it but you always get the odd teacher who had to have the class in lock step no matter where your are. You could explain to him that in a new foreign country lots of things are done differently and isn't it a lovely challenge to learn new things and ways of doing even the simplest of things. Unfortunately it is in the curriculum and it is part of their assessment and reporting process, it's not about scoring points for the school, it's something the teacher has to do and is something your sons school report will reflect. Personally I don't think the Qld style is that much to write home about but you could always tell when a kid had come from Queensland! Kids moving in to Queensland have always had to change their style - that, along with different starting ages is one of the bugbears of not having a national system of education.

[AJ]

They teach cursive writing here in Perth, I hate it, looks so old fashioned, I dont know who writes like that apart from older people now. Because I write different from what my daughter is being taught it confuses her sometimes.

[Bound4Tassie]

When children worry too much about cursive writing, they can't concentrate on spelling or grammar. It can be too much too soon.

[Guest]

When children worry too much about cursive writing, they can't concentrate on spelling or grammar. It can be too much too soon.

 

Surely though the OP's son will need to concentrate more on NOT writing in cursive? Surely the point is handwriting is not the important thing and spelling and grammar are more important?

 

My son started back in the UK system at 10 with well established cursive and I'd have felt like the OP if he'd been told not to use it. Instead his teachers praised his handwriting and even now at 13 it was commented on positively by a teacher at parents evening.

 

Personally I'd be talking to the head and if that brings no joy then consider moving schools. If they are unable to accommodate differences in this small way then faced with more significant challenges I would question their capability.

 

My son was 5 when we moved to WA and we helped him deal with the differences as 'learning a new language' - this is how you write a 'z' in Australian. He was already familiar with Scots and English having differences so had no problem accepting Australian English as different (of course the way letters are formed isn't the language but as a 5 year old he wasn't to know and it helped him understand he wasn't 'wrong' it was just different)

[Que Sera Sera]

Hi there, We've recently moved to Brisbane and our 7 year old son has just started Year 2. He already completed a term of Year 2 in his previous school in the UK and since the start of Year 1 he's been taught the cursive handwriting font (as a pre-cursor to joined up writing). He now pretty much does joined up writing, as he finds this easier than keeping the letters separate... He's not the fastest or neatest writer in the world, but he's only 7 and we're really proud of the progress he's making (especially as he's left handed which can make it a little more awkward). But now he's being told at his new school that he needs to strop writing this way and start forming his letters separately in the non-cursive style. I emailed the teacher when he came home and told me that this is what he's being told, and she says they "implement the Queensland handwriting font and this forms part of our assessment and reporting. I just need you to be aware of this as I feel your son can be encouraged to apply this font here at school whilst continuing to enjoy his success and progress with cursive writing in his free time."

 

My husband and I can't help feeling this is a little like going backwards, and we are also are worried about the effect this will have on our son's self-esteem, given that he's now being told he writes 'wrong'. He's rather a perfectionist, so we know it will really upset him if he has to start relearning to write and therefore making mistakes. What would your advice be? If it's really just a question of the school being able to score points in terms of reporting on the handwriting abilities of each year group, then we'd rather look after the interests of our son than the group interests of the school.

 

 

Its not going backwards , it's different because you have moved to a different country. Ultimately the school and indeed Australia is not going to change its teaching style because our children were taught a different way in the UK. That said, the school should not be lowering his self esteem, my son's school certainly did not do that when he struggled with the exact same thing. It took about 1 term for him to get the hang of it, and after that there was never an issue. More of a problem was his swimming that lagged behind Aussie kids. Part of the curriculum was a swimming test and course each year and he was way behind despite private lessons, now that did embarrass him. Anyway to cut a long story short, he'll get it, just give him lots of encouragement. Our sons a straight A student exactly as he was in the UK. Handwriting of no handwrighting.

[SerenaJ]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice. Gave my husband and I some really good points to consider and talk about. We had a parents evening tonight with the teacher and have agreed that we will support our son in using the new style of writing and the school has also agreed to support and encourage him no matter what style of writing he uses during the transition period. We've positioned it with our son as 'learning to write Australian' and said we will all learn together. So he's happy to give it a go and knows he can also continue to write in the cursive style outside of school if he prefers. Hopefully it won't be too painful a process for any of us. Thanks again for the advice.

[Guest]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice. Gave my husband and I some really good points to consider and talk about. We had a parents evening tonight with the teacher and have agreed that we will support our son in using the new style of writing and the school has also agreed to support and encourage him no matter what style of writing he uses during the transition period. We've positioned it with our son as 'learning to write Australian' and said we will all learn together. So he's happy to give it a go and knows he can also continue to write in the cursive style outside of school if he prefers. Hopefully it won't be too painful a process for any of us. Thanks again for the advice.

 

Sounds like a good solution and one that gives you son the flexibility to carry on as he is without getting to hung up on things. Hopefully if he writing style does change it'll do so gradually and no one will really notice it much.

[Sammy1]

Its not going backwards , it's different because you have moved to a different country. Ultimately the school and indeed Australia is not going to change its teaching style because our children were taught a different way in the UK. That said, the school should not be lowering his self esteem, my son's school certainly did not do that when he struggled with the exact same thing. It took about 1 term for him to get the hang of it, and after that there was never an issue. More of a problem was his swimming that lagged behind Aussie kids. Part of the curriculum was a swimming test and course each year and he was way behind despite private lessons, now that did embarrass him. Anyway to cut a long story short, he'll get it, just give him lots of encouragement. Our sons a straight A student exactly as he was in the UK. Handwriting of no handwrighting.

 

This is also a problem for Australians as each state promotes a different style of handwriting, this causes many issues for students who move from state to state.

 

As a teacher I find it quite ridiculous to be honest.