AIBU just tell my son he doesn’t have to do cursive writing anymore?

[Snowyslope]

My son is 9 and in year 5 so his reception and year 1 of primary school were quite disrupted by the lockdowns, he was also at a less than great primary school which we have since pulled him out of. He is doing great at his new school in all areas, except his handwriting. He joins from the bottom and it makes his writing hard to read and in spelling tests for example the teacher can mark it wrong because sure it looks like a different letter, when actually he has spelt it correctly it’s just his handwriting is letting him down. An example of this would be joining a p from the bottom to the next letter making the look like a lowercase e. It also takes him a long time to write anything in cursive which effects how much he actually writes and wants to write and will hinder him in things like his SATS exams next year for example. We have tried until we’re blue in the face to get him to stop joining from the bottom but it was left unchecked when he was at his previous school and now it is just ingrained. My question is- what are the actual consequences of him not doing cursive writing at school? I know the school is desperate for all kids to do it but I really can’t see the benefit of it, it’s just massively slowing him down and making him hate writing even more and it’s also hard to read- I’m going to speak to his teacher about it this week, but before I do I’m just wondering what will happen if he just stops doing cursive writing? Would he be penalised in his SATs exams for example? If it’s just a case of that the school want him to do it and there’s no actual penalty for him not, I’m quite willing to battle over it. Thanks

In terms of how much it matters in later life - not much.

But for now, I can't believe it's impossible for him to learn a different way. Bribe him with chocolate or something. I wouldn't expect the school to tell all kids to write cursive but not yours as he finds it hard. He needs to persevere. Working on one letter at a time if necessary.

I don't think 'if you find something hard, try a bit then if it still doesn't work give up and get your mum to see if they'll change the rules for you' is really the life lesson he needs.

I know why, but find it inexcusable that pupils are made to feel that they’re not good enough because of their writing. It’s usually boys, and it has a real effect on their self-esteem. There are supportive, positive ways to encourage good handwriting, it’s a shame more primary schools aren’t using them.

How do you know most aren't? I'm not saying the curriculum is right, it really isn't but it is what it is. It's a bit like choosing a strand from the secondary curriculum and saying "well that's a bit hard and might knock their confidence so we'll just ignore it if it gets a bit hard".

It's life unfortunately and while I don't agree with the previous government about cursive handwriting being a priority, it is what it is.

But cursive writing is unfair and quite discriminatory for something that is a completely unnecessary skill. It isn't just problematic for people with dyslexia/dyspraxia, it's a nightmare for a lot of people who are left-handed. A few people on this thread have said cursive writing is faster, and this might be true if you are right-handed, but it is often a nightmare for left handers. I have beautiful handwriting now, but I used to get marked down over and over again for being terrible at cursive. People who are left handed tend to hold their pen more straight, which makes it harder to join letters like that. You could try learn an alternative way, but most schools don't spend time on the difference between left and right, so it's frustrating. Don't even get me started on my school insisting on fountain pens, which is outright evil for a left-hander.

I could perhaps understand if this was a necessary thing you'd need later and which has no alternatives, but that isn't true. To me it feels like telling all girls they have to pee standing up, because 'that's how we do it'. Despite there being no issue with sitting down - the same thing is achieved.

I've been delayed in quite a few motor skills because the world only teaches the right-handed way, and it is super frustrating. Of course there are lots of reasons to struggle with handwriting, but in this day and age it's infuriating that we cannot just accommodate for it. It's so easy to do!

I completely agree with you, cursive is pointless if it's making his writing worse. Shouldn't make a difference to SATs at all. Where it might make a difference is speed when he gets to GCSEs because cursive is quicker if done correctly.
He would probably benefit from "un-learning" cursive then learning again in a year or so.
My DD is year 9 and they do still hand write quite a lot of work in secondary so legible handwriting is the most important thing

Lots of things are discriminatory in a school system where one approach is supposed to fit all. Putting me on an athletics pitch in PE back in the day was discriminatory. I could never throw a ball or jump and 20 years later instill can't do any of those things. Didn't help my self esteem anymore than kids who find hand writing hard or kids who have specific challenges. It's life and we either accept it, moan on Mumsnet or challenge the system through our MPs.
Education can never fit all and that's the problem.

Well mass education can't suit all is what I meant to say.

I wish I'd not been forced to write cursive, my handwriting is appalling. Mi sister who was a year below me, wasn't forced and has beautiful legible handwriting.

Would you say the same if schools forced black girls to straighten their hair? Or if a child with sight issues was told braille wasn't an option because we all need to learn how to read the normal alphabet?

Someone is being excluded from doing well in an academic context because the tools they are forced to use are not fit for purpose, when perfectly easy to implement alternatives are available. You suck at sports, so you don't do them. But I'm pretty sure it would be different if a teacher had told you that you can only pass your maths test if you clear a 100m hurdle race to your desk first.

My dd printed at primary school. It was neat enough, and she got very fast.

She got her pen licence a week after SATS as the teacher had basically given up!

For ages she just printed letters close together to give a impression of joins, but when you looked close you could see No joins (eg “at” would look joined, but there was really no join).

Eventually she has learned her own semi joined handwriting at secondary school and her writing is now lovely.

Go back to printing, tell the teacher that’s what you’re doing and she needs to stop pushing him because it’s not helping him at all.

No I suck at some sports because I have disabilities. Believe me I get it and I have said I don't agree with a one size fits all curriculum. What I also don't agree with it's just having a moan fest. Either put up with the system or actively try to challenge it.

DC1 never took to cursive.

He's academically very bright and in the end they stopped harping on about it.

DC2 has the most beautiful cursive writing.... I struggle to read it. It's so pretty but often illegible, she's working on making it less pretty and more readable.

DC3 has an EHCP and is globally delayed, no-one will be focusing on cursive writing.

Ditch the cursive! My eldest child has quite severe spelling dyslexia and a slow process speed, which somehow impacts his handwriting. He's otherwise very bright and now studying maths and science a levels. I wish I had been more forceful about him stopping cursive in primary school as his handwriting got progressively worse, not better. At secondary they didn't care, but by then the damage was done and bad habits are hard to break. He has to use a laptop during exams as no one can read his handwriting. In those where he can't use a laptop he misses out on marks where his writing isn't understood.
I now home ed my younger children and have completely ditched cursive. They write in whichever way is most comfortable to them. Their writing has naturally improved massively over the last 2 years. We did go back and re-learn how to form the letters, but with the emphasis on it being legible and the content of the writing being most important.

Cursive is just a hoop for primary schools and has no importance beyond year 6 SATs.

I think primaries should be much more discriminating in when they introduce it , how and for whom because it causes real problems in learning to write for many children. Our school decided to insist on cursive in reception, then changed policy as it created so many reluctant writers and their year 2 writing SAT results were through the floor for that year group. The damage was done for that cohort though.

There's no Y2 writing SAT and wasn't before they were made optional either.

Please don’t shout at me, I’ve already said in this thread that I don’t see why OPs son should be forced to use cursive, but just leaving this because people are questioning whether it has any value at all: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240122-california-signs-cursive-writing-into-law-what-are-the-brain-benefits

No, it’s not clear exactly how great they are compared to print, but it does seem to have genuine benefits for those who can do it. Those who can’t will likely find other ways to develop those skills.

I really do question the idea a pp brought up though that only he will ever need to read his writing as an adult. I can’t believe even in the digital age that he’ll never want to write a letter, leave a note to a loved one, give someone a list or phone number etc. But he will be fine to do so in print!

I haven’t read all the replies so apologies if anyone has already said this.

Im a year 4 teacher, but was in year 6 for seven years, my last SATs year was school year before last (ending summer 2023).

Unless it’s changed, for writing moderation (aka his writing SATs) the rule for years has been “joined, legible writing,” but if I remember right, that has now been dropped to just “legible writing.”

But I may be wrong, feels so long ago even though it’s only just over a year since I last did it.

you don’t need to worry about sats

uf he does badly then that will do exactly what it’s meant to do and get the teachers to help him because if he fails the says it looks bad on the teachers.

Doesn’t matter how it’s judged in SATs. They are an irrelevance from the perspective of the child.
I know GCSE examiners don’t care, because I was one.

I agree, my ds is the same, I can't read his writing and he gets humpy when I correct his spelling on homework etc.

I don't see the point of cursive anymore.

Not sure that's true. It used to be that the sats were part of a flight path and kids who achieved higher in y6 were expected/pushed to certain results at GCSE or the school's league table achievements would be damaged.

School league tables are of no concern, surely. It’s an internal system or a way to show off to Ofsted. I’d place my child’s well-being higher than that. I would hope that children are encouraged (not expected or pushed) based on their performance throughout secondary, not based on one snapshot in time.
I sat a European equivalent of SATs in the 90s. Couldn’t tell you anything about it now or what results I got. It’s a complete non-event which just caused a lot of angst at the time.

@Catza but it makes a difference to the child - if he scores low in sats the secondary school only has to get him to the corresponding flight path level which may be way below his actual capability. So he may end up with worse GCSEs and limited prospects from ignoring the unfortunate importance of sats.
OP I'd talk to the teacher and probably the key stage leader about this - maybe the SENCo as well. And I'd be teaching him to touch type at home and push for him to submit work that way at secondary at least.

Same here though it took till year 10 for the school to give in when they started worrying it might affect his gcse results.

So you are saying that in all the years of secondary school nobody will notice that a child is given tasks below their capability? Just because they have a piece of paper from year 6? I find it very hard to believe and if it is true, then we need to have a serious think about who is teaching our kids if a school is not capable of making ongoing assessments based on children’s’ performance.