Pen licences

[JassyRadlett]

Eldest has just hit year 4 which is when pen licences start getting handed out. I had no idea of their existence until this week.

Have they always been a thing? I didn’t grow up here - we just started using pens halfway through year 4.

They seem pretty grim to me, but that may be because I’ve got a 9yo next to me who’s just been crying that he’s useless, he tries really hard at his handwriting and he’s so ashamed that he didn’t get it.

Is there any evidence that they have a net benefit? I would have thought that for every child who’s spurred on by the desire to get one, you’d get another who’s massively demotivated by it.

It's a thing. Our school do it in year 4 but haven't started giving them out yet. Please set expectations that some kids don't get them until year 5. So no rush for him.

Thankfully DC's primary didn't do this sort of thing. I agree that they will demotivate/demoralise as many children as they encourage.

Pen licenses? Good grief! Poor kid.

Sounds a bit extreme to me but I haven't been in a school for some time and DS is only 10 months. Nothing useful to add I just hope your DS isn't too down about it. I still prefer a pencil now.

Yes my dcs ( now 20s) school had pen licenses. And O did in the 60s, progressing from pencil to fountain pen. No biros allowed

Please set expectations that some kids don't get them until year 5. So no rush for him.

Bit late for that. The school have set the expectations around it with precisely no information given to parents. Given his two best friends got theirs today, with huge ceremony, I’m not sure ‘you may have to wait a year!’ is going to help just now.

I thought they were meant to be encouraging intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation?

Has the teacher explained the criteria? There is no point him trying really hard if he doesn't know what the teacher is looking for. Usually it is all letters correctly formed and joined, so you can scan his writing to see where he needs to practice. It might be that he is still finding handwriting an effort so the teacher might think he is not ready for the change over. Encourage him to write lightly and quickly rather than labouring over it or pressing down too hard.

One of those learning motivation tools that can backfire imo. Ds's old school did it but we moved house and his current one don't. The one plus for him was it have him something to be good at/proud of when his peers were getting accolades for sports he was never going to achieve. So I think it can give the neat quiet kids an achievement but it all depends how the school handle it.

DS1 didn't get his until year 5. His handwriting then went backwards and he lost it again. Which was fine until year 6 when he was suddenly told he had to use a pen because of SATS
Hes in year 11 now and uses a laptop after his secondary school assessed him as needing one. Primary had always refused to admit there was a problem claiming it was because he was an August born boy

Has the teacher explained the criteria?

Certainly not to parents. It wasn’t in the curriculum pack at the start of the year and obviously we haven’t had any curriculum sessions in person.

We’ll obviously work with him on his handwriting. What I’m more interested in is whether there’s any actual benefit to this system?

Well, he wants to get his pen licence so he will probably cooperate with more handwriting practice. It is a good life lesson. If you try hard and learn a skill you get the reward.

Personally I never saw a benefit to the system. DS1 just got upset and disheartened that he didn't get a pen license, and when he did he didn't keep it.
DS2 couldnt have cared less about getting one. His aim is to write as much as possible as fast as possible. He wants to be an author but will write in crayon when he gets an idea if it's all he can find

I have heard of this. I'm not sure if my dc school do it as they are not at that stage yet. I don't think it's a good idea. My dd won't get one as her writing is atrocious but she's dyslexic and partially sighted. She won't get any awards for sport either.... Sigh it's going to be a tough few years.
Anyway op try celebrate your ds other achievements with him and assure him that all the most intelligent and interesting people have rubbish writing.

I think it's like anything, motivating for some, upsetting for others. School is one place where so many different things are expected of us. What is DS good at? Try to focus on the fact that everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

They weren't 'a thing' when I was a child, but it was much more if a culture of just getting on with things because you had to and none of the start charts, rewards systems, certificates etc. BUT I still remember being allowed to use a pen instead of a pencil!

Just encourage him to do his best because he needs to learn to write legibly & quickly. But reassure him that he'll be good at things that other children find more difficult

Well, he wants to get his pen licence so he will probably cooperate with more handwriting practice.

No. This sort of thing has the complete opposite effect on him. He’s been working really hard at it, we’ve seen a big improvement. Now he feels it‘s pointless, he’s not good enough, even though he made a massive effort he didn’t make the grade (a third of his class did), he’s so ashamed and he doesn’t see the point in trying any more.

It’s entirely predictable with him. We work hard on it but it’s the way he reacts to these sorts of systems. And he’s not exactly unusual.

That’s what I’m saying about intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, and interested to see whether there’s any evidence on the benefits of this system.

Non of mine got their ‘pen license’ because their hand writing was too messy
Very very unfair .
Some kids just don’t get those fine motor skills until much later on
My daughter just gave up with trying to get her handwriting ‘neat enough’ Luckily the secondary school couldn’t care less

I did point out that I work with 5 dentists who all have terrible ( unreadable) handwriting and since you have to be quite clever to be a dentist it clearly didn’t stop them!

@Notsurewhatsgoingon

I have heard of this. I'm not sure if my dc school do it as they are not at that stage yet. I don't think it's a good idea. My dd won't get one as her writing is atrocious but she's dyslexic and partially sighted. She won't get any awards for sport either.... Sigh it's going to be a tough few years. Anyway op try celebrate your ds other achievements with him and assure him that all the most intelligent and interesting people have rubbish writing.

It's very difficult for children that struggle, but a good teacher will also have 'awards' for the 'most helpful' 'most friendly' 'most welcoming' (to a new child) or other things they can see a child is doing well if they need a boost!

I await you visiting the swimming teacher to complain about the 25 metre badges, too.

Just encourage him to do his best because he needs to learn to write legibly & quickly. But reassure him that he'll be good at things that other children find more difficult

Yes, ta. This is something we do consistently. Again, I’m interested in the apparent benefits of this system.

I would ask the teacher for criteria. I’m a year 4 teacher and in our school we do indeed give pen licenses (school policy). Once a child can consistently join all their letters and keep writing neat and on the line with a pencil; then they are given a pen license and a pen. It’s usually the girls that get awarded it first and many don’t get one until year 5.
I always emphasise that everyone has different strengths and it’s absolutely not a competition. I also point out that many people in good jobs such as doctors have the worst handwriting! So not to be downhearted about it, but to just work on it.
It is an element of the year 6 SATS. If a child doesn’t join all their writing neatly by the end of year 6 then they can’t get the top grades which in turn lead to the top sets at high school.. etc. You can blame Michael Gove for that I’m afraid. So making it a priority in Year 4 & 5 is to help best prepare a child for Year 6 SATs. They can still be working on their handwriting in Year 6 and many will be, but if they’ve developed a smooth writing style earlier then it’s one less thing to worry about in Year 6.
By the way handwriting had been linked in studies with bike riding (weirdly). Practising one helps with the other and vice versa. Some children will naturally struggle with this and some will get it early on. A good teacher will recognise this and put in extra support and encouragement where needed.

Pencil until academy here.

No, the're an awful idea. I've only ever worked at one school where they were a 'thing' but I refused to take part. Nobody could provide any research or evidence showing any benefit.

I await you visiting the swimming teacher to complain about the 25 metre badges, too.

You must have them in the aisles at the local open mic night! Both original and hilarious.

Interestingly, he copes much better and is more motivated by (but still occasionally struggles with - we’re working on it) graduated systems like swimming badges, times tables level badges, etc. Binary systems - you’re good or you’re not, you’re a success or a failure relative to your peers - are what he finds massively demotivating.

Any evidence of the net benefit of the system? Or just witty insults?

By the way as mentioned above handwriting is not an issue at high school however the Year 6 Sats are - at least at first. Handwriting is an element of these sats as are being able to spell all the words on the Yr 3-4 spelling list and the year 5-6 spelling list which your child should also be going through.
It’s all a question of jumping through hoops. Lovely Mr Gove once again.

My son was never given a pen licence so the first time he used a pen in school was secondary.

I was the last one in the year at junior school to be allowed a handwriting pen, because I am a left hander and hold my hand is such a position when I write that everything I write ends up on the side of my palm 😆 They eventually realised that they couldn’t change that and handed me the pen. I’ve used biros ever since anyway. Less smudgy 🤷🏼‍♀️