Pen licence - Year 3

[whatk8ydid]

Morning all, was hoping to get a hive mind view on this - particularly from either primary school teachers or those with primary age children.

My 7 year old is in Year 3. His school apparently have "pen licences" - which I'd never heard of before. When their writing is deemed "neat enough" by whatever subjective criteria they use, they are given a pen licence and are allowed to use pen instead of pencil to write with.

He, and quite a few others in his class, feel quite disheartened and "not good enough". I think about a fifth have a pen licence so far.

DS is normally a pretty robust little thing, it's not often his injustice mode is activated but he's really quite sad about this. Last week I decided the whole pen thing was bloody nonsense, sent him in with a pen and wrote a note in his reading diary saying that as he is left handed, he finds it easier and neater to write with a pen rather than a pencil and as such had sent him in with one, and to contact me if there were any issues with this.

Yesterday, I received an email from his teacher - 7 paragraphs of clearly AI formulated text which didn't actually address any of the issues or explain what he is doing with a pencil that can't be done with a pen, or what objective rather than subjective criteria needs to be met. This has annoyed me further. Everything I've read online says that pen licenses are outdated, aren't part of the curriculum, and put dyspraxic/left handed children at a disadvantage as they end up having less time to practice writing with a pen in comparison to their peers.

I think as far as parents go, we have pretty easy to meet expectations. There have been a few annoyances along the way but we've broadly speaking let them go - as in we're not those parents that are emailing once a week, or catching the teacher "just quickly" at the end of the day (and delaying everyone else by doing so). I've approached it from a trust the school to do their job, and we'll do ours at home sort of way. So I'm not sure whether this is just the straw that broke the camels back and that's why it feels such a big issue. I could do with a bit of a sense check on how hard to push on this one issue.

Apologies in advance - I'm at work today so may not be able to keep up with the thread in real time.

YABU - let the school do what works for them and don't interfere

YANBU - nothing changes if nobody challenges systems that are outdated and no longer fit for purpose

They are a pile of nonsense.
Use this as a way to teach your child about questioning ridiculous rules and how to be a critical thinker (something primary schools don't do).
Give him a pen at home and teach him to laugh about using a pencil at school. Make it a game as to how long he can stay writing with a pencil in school.

YABU you’re undermining the school

Has your son become used to being one of the brightest in his class? Becoming disheartened because he's not one of the first to get a pen licence doesn't seem very resilient. (It sounds like only 5 or 6 children have earned their pen licence so far.) We all have different strengths and weaknesses but can't just give up everything we find difficult. I also think the email describes fairly well the letter formation skills he needs to learn, although I have no idea whether they are easier to acquire writing with a pencil or a pen.

@FloppyearedlabI don’t think that everyone thinks that way, even if their child benefits. Attendance awards are awful. Even though my DC have had them, I’d still rather they were abolished. I also won’t let my children attend school when they have covid, as that’s a rule which has caused significant harm to so many children and teachers. I think that’s far less entitled than attending with covid, even though it breaks a rule. There are lots of sensible rules and practices. There are some very questionable rules and practices (pen licenses, attendance awards, sun/rain charts) which I strongly disagree with but I swallow. We all have our hills.

I never got the ‘pen licence’, eventually I just started using a pen. Neither did my husband (his writing is still abysmal). We both work and are high earners, him much more so than me. I think it’s horrible that kids are made to feel badly about themselves.

I don’t think I’ve needed to present my writing professionally ever. I actually can’t think the last time I used a pen, I use a laptop always.

The point I have made elsewhere in this thread is that many ND children in mainstream primary schools don't yet have a diagnosis (mine didn't until March this year, aged 9, and after all the fuss about pen licences) so how do you know if a child has scruffy writing through lack of effort or an inability linked to disability? Because i can tell you now that schools cannot possibly know the difference as things currently stand.

I was until recently a secondary school teacher and marked GCSE and A level exams. Frankly, as long as writing is legible, it doesn’t matter how tidy it is, or whether the letters are formed ‘correctly’. It is true that kids’ handwriting has deteriorated over the years, but that has more to do with the fact that they do much less handwriting on a day-to-day basis, and they all struggle to write at speed for two hours or more. Schools that have these idiotic policies need to get their priorities sorted.

As an aside, I told my grandchildren that when they could write and post me a letter in joined-up writing that I could read, I’d gift them a quality fountain pen.

I’m the first to call out horrible AI - especially those god awful posters! Shudder.

But this doesn’t seem AI-generated to me and it does say something. She may have run it through for tone perhaps but it doesn’t read as purely AI. You’re being very sensitive on that point.

From the first post I voted YANBU but your subsequent posts have change my mind. The teacher explained it well and the school clearly has a policy. You could perhaps challenge the policy with the head, not the teacher.

Allowing your son to bring in a pen without first discussing it was also bad form.

Hope you take this on the chin and recognise the improvement you could make here. FWIW I do think it’s a bit silly but I also recognise that I’m not a teacher. You should pick this up with the school leadership and not just over-ride it and give the teacher more work to do.

I remember the ‘pen licence’ well and wish it didn’t exist - but it’s not doing your son any favours to over-rule his teacher and send a pen in. Apart from just adding more stress to the poor teacher’s day (it’s not going to be her personal policy, but a school one she has to follow), you’re setting your son up for grief from his classmates who will all be asking him why he’s got a special pen and will tease him if he says his mum sent it in. I’d just be relaxed about it, say it’s one of those hoops we sometimes have to jump through in life and that when he’s older everyone will be using pens and no-one will care who got a pen licence first. Remind him of his other strengths and just keep encouraging.

Thank you so much to (nearly) all of you who have offered solidarity, support or thoughtful and insightful comments showing different perspectives. You've shown an excellent example of how you can have alternate views without assuming to know everything about the way I parent generally.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have just sent him in with a pen and a lot of you are correct in saying the teacher is just following orders - it was the straw that broke the camels back after consecutive years of just letting things go, but it wasn't a helpful way for me to start off the conversation. However, I do still think it's the teachers job to advocate for the children within their care - and I still do only see disadvantages to "pen licences" (my god am I fed up of hearing that phrase now!). I'm sure the sage advice about how this will seem small in a few years is very true. But I'd still think this whole thing was ridiculous and archaic even if it were my son that had one and the child sat next to him didn't.

Particular thanks to @Runaway1 and @C152 for their evidence based responses, that's hugely helpful and much appreciated.

This

They have existed since I was a kid in the early 80’s. It was normal to still use pencil until year 5 at least

Ps I had to have special dispensation to use a pen because my hand writing was appalling, was sent to remedial handwriting lessons even. Both my dc are nd including one with dyspraxia so I suspect i have too

I’m a teacher and I’m so glad this nonsense isn’t a thing in any of the schools I’ve taught in, in my very extensive experience.

Get him a whiteboard and whiteboard pen and practise at home. I did handwriting EVERY day like this. (We also used jotters but a whiteboard allows for lots of practice without it having to be perfect.)

What you’re aiming for is muscle memory and quick, correct formation. Practise the same letter over and over until it’s automatic.

Then you can practise the joins. This doesn’t have to be onerous.
5 minute bursts work well.

I had a friend whose handwriting was awful and she was not thought of as particularly clever, as a result.

She has a degree, master’s degree and a PhD. Earns a fortune.

I’ve had to say to parents not to be put off by poor handwriting. I have taught many children whose handwriting was very poor but the content was excellent. Ditto with spelling.

This happened to my DD. Dismissed as an airhead with poor handwriting. Sailed through her exams and got all unconditional offers for university. Now studying dentistry. We had the last laugh.

Legible handwriting is not to be sneered at, and is even more valuable now most people type