Berol pens ..... why?

[aristocat]

At my DCs school they progress from pencil to Berol pens. The pupils are only allowed to use blue (not black) berol for their work.

Is this something that only our school does? We use all sorts of pens at home (have a pen fetish myself )

DS will be in yr 6 in a few weeks and I hope that when he moves to Secondary they will be thankful if he has a pen at all

Similar to what PPs were saying about German and French systems, in Belgium fountain pen use starts a term in to formal schooling (yest, one term after starting to learn to write).
I only used pencil for that first term and then everything was in fountain pen, including workings out in maths etc. Parents provided pens and every child brought their own pencil case so there was no need to label pens etc. And becuase everyone needed one, they were cheaply available in most supermarkets especially around start of schoolyear time. I still use a fountain pen because I find it much easier and less tiring to write with and my handwriting is much better with it. I use this really cheap one

Haven't read all the posts but Berol pens are really good for pupils. The colour is because we have to mark in certain colours (and then after a few years they change them to confuse everyone) so their work is best written in blue.

I was taught script and had to use a fountain pen in YR6. I use Berol Handwriting pens at school because I like them ...and they are free!

"Berol pens are scratchy and horrid." Totally agree I really hate Berol handwriting pens they blot and the ink seeps through the page making a mess of children's work ...disheartening!

I remember when I was in primary school that we could only write in handwriting pens or use a fountain pen.

I think most schools seem to have their preferred 'handwriting' pen. The school I teach in uses the Berol ones too. Personally I prefer the Staedtler ones.

I was over the moon when DDs school decided it was rediculous to specify one particular brand of pen. They did a bit of an experiement with different types to see which pens the children preferred - before realsing that they might as well let children pick which type of pen they use as long as they are designed for writing (rather than colouring). They just specify that they are blue.

Part of the reason for being pleased about it is that it stops the pens going missing. They got the first one free but had to buy additional pens (only about 50p) but because they were all the same, frequently got lost. Doesn't seem to happen any more that the pens are all individual.