When did you start using pens/fountain pens at school?

[Welcom]

Kids these days start using pens (erasable ones to start with) from around Y4 or 5 in Primary school. I seem to remember I started using them in Secondary (born in the 80s!) and got me wondering.

Please share if you remember when you started writing in ink pens!

I recall using pens from junior school which was years 4,5, and 6. That was back when and where there was a 3 tier system.

I remember using one for handwriting from year 4, everything from yesr 6.

ds didn’t use pen in school at all until secondary school

I can’t remember but fountain pens aren’t used in school now, well not in the schools my DS’ went too. I still absolutely love fountain pen, I have quite a few.

Year 5 I think, definitely was at primary, not everyone at once, top table first (I was on top table)

Year 3 we started writing in pen for handwriting - could write in it all the time once you got your "pen licence".

As a visually impaired person who found writing in pen easier, but who was held back because my writing in pencil wasn't good enough, I hated that whole concept. I was the last in my class to succeed I think.

From year 4 we always used pen.

It was a cartridge pen (very early 80's) my brother 3 years below used berol handwriting pens.

After Christmas in P5. My son bought me a lovely Momin one back from his school trip.

In primary school in the 1960s. We had ink pots and dip pens - yes I know, it sounds so Victorian

We had handwriting lessons and were taught to write cursive, but you wouldn't think so to look at my writing now.

Would have been year 4.
Had specific handwriting lessons to be allowed to use the fountain pen.

Year 5. It was a BIG deal.

Born late 70s.

We had 'fountain pen' (cartridge pen!) lessons in junior school, but I moved schools in what is now y4 and it was before then! I remember buying my pen from the local shop, because my parents refused to buy one for me, on the way to school.
Which also means I was walking myself (and younger bro) to school before y4! 😵

That ridiculous pen license thing... DD was the only one left writing in pencil when she moved schools summer of Yr5, new school just gave her a pen... and her writing improved as pen is easier to write in!

It was Yr5 I think in my day... handwriting pen.

I was at primary school in the 2000s, we had red berol pen in y3 and fountain pen in year 4. Had to do your pen licence to start using both.
We were not allowed to use biro ever, it was fountain pen only, they were clear coloured plastic and only wrote scratchily and occasionally the lids would shatter everywhere.

By the time we got to secondary we wrote with anything, I remember a week where I just had the floppy middle part of a green biro. I have never had handwriting as neat as it was in y6.

Fourth year juniors (year 6). We had pens with ink cartridges and italic nibs, and learned italic writing with thick and thin strokes. I had lovely handwriting then. I think before we had the cartridge pens we may have used rollerball pens or whatever they are called. This was in the 80s

How interesting! I must have got a chunk of my memory washed away somehow. And yes we used to call them cartridge pens! It was a big deal

90s kid. We all did from Y3 at one school, then I moved schools and they were all writing with pencils but they let me keep my fountain pen. Most kids moved onto pen sometime in Y4 and by Y5 everyone was using one.

I also remembering buying different coloured cartridges and had massive fun with them, although we were only allowed to use blue ink at school.

Italic cartridge pens from year 5 (we didn’t call Kirk year 5) in the mid 80s.

I was age nine when I first started using a dip pen.
At secondary school we were not allowed to use ball point pens had to be fountain pen.

“Please sir I ain’t go no ink. “
”If you haven’t got no ink you must have some ink, carry on. “
Different times.
😁😁😁

We used pens, not fountain pens, from year 5 (1990 ish. In secondary, we had to use fountain pens. Everyone was constantly covered in ink where they leaked.

Thankfully my kids are able to use any old biro, although have to have a blue and black one, as well as green, red and purple based on how things are set out/marked.

We started using fountain pens from Year 3 and it was fountain pens only from Year 4. That was in the mid 80s.

We used fountain pens (either filled from a bottle of ink or with cartridges) from about age 8 in the 1970s. The DCs had to go through the horrific pen licence thing, one of mine is dyspraxic and never got it, their school used those Berol handwriting pens but they were allowed cartridge pens too.

End of Year 3-Year 4, we each had to 'earn' the right by having handwriting deemed neat enough by the nuns. This was the 90s (1990s, not 1890s)!

German primay school in the early Eighties: After a couple of weeks learning to write individual letters we went straight to fountain pens, so with 6-7.

I find the idea to write with pencil and acquire a pen license awful. DD wrote with a fountain pen at home, fairly neat, but not with the pencil in school and only that counted. Until one teacher decided to go against the head's ruling and told her to use one for 2 weeks and then just told the head to issue the stupid paper.

She stopped using one when they had to use highlighters in secondary and the highlighter smeared the ink. So she started using gel pens and biros.

That’s ridiculous. I have terrible writing and never got my pen licence :( but no one cared once I got to year 5 so I just illegally used pen from then.