Rod Grant: NO… literacy is far more important

When I was wee, and at the local primary school, handwriting was not taught. In fact, it wasn't even discussed. It was a strange mix of people, of methods and of general educational philosophy.

So did the lack of being taught a formal handwriting style damage me in any way? I don't think so. I can't help feeling that the importance of perfect handwriting is overplayed. That is not to say that it does not matter. What I do want to see from pupils is legible and easily read pieces of work but I really am much more interested in what a child writes about than the quality of their handwriting.

So much time can be spent in primary schools on the correct formation of letters that it impacts on the learning of other, perhaps more important, literacy skills. And, if I'm being really honest, a high proportion of children just don't have the innate ability to do everything "neatly"; then "handwriting" lesson becomes a tedious, disengaging activity that bears no relation to what the same child will produce later during a history lesson.

ROD GRANT

Headmaster

Clifton Hall School