My son is a Perfectionist when Writing and gets Upset about small Errors

[united4ever]

My son is 5 and in year 1 at school. In the mornings he often says he doesn't want to go to school and starts crying. When I ask him why he says its because he can't do the sentences and they are really difficult. When we spoke to the teacher she said he's doing fine but is often the last one to finish because he likes to do everything neatly and properly. He is a perfectionist and gets upset if he makes a mistake and wants to start the whole thing again rather than crossing out the tiny error.

I try saying to him, 'well we're just having a go aren't we, just trying' and that when daddy was that age he couldn't write much.

He has a small 'test' every Tuesday which has 8 words to practice writing, we write them out each day and by the time the test comes round he can usually write them all at home (though seems to get about 7 out of 10 when he does the test due to small mistakes).

I am really not concerned about his reading/writing - as long as he is progressing adequately which I believe he is. I don't want him to dread school though.

We read a couple of short books most nights. He loves books and we can usually share the reading between us so that's positive.

What can I say to him to make him relax about the writing? And just generally to embrace having a go without getting upset at making little mistakes?