KS1 writing: is it possible to get a level 3 without joined up witting?

[Campaspe]

DD in year 2 loves to write, and shows imagination and skill in doing so. However, her teacher has told me that her refusal to do joined up handwriting needs to be tackled. Her writing is neat and small and legible, but much less tidy if she does attempt too join. Just how much of a biggie is this? I'm worried that if I force the issue, she may stop writing for enjoyment. Hmmm...what to do...any tips oh wise mumsnetters?

I would say bugger the level tbh. Who cares what level she gets? I would concentrate on encouraging her to write more and with increasing improvement in spelling and fluency. There are adults who don't join up entirely. She's likely to start doing it more though herself but not if writing is drained of enjoyment. I would be clear with the teacher that you will keep an eye on this but don't want draconian measures.

DD and DS both got level 3 without joining writing (at least they could and did join on occasion - but normally only when teacher insisted!).

Although joined up writing is a pain while she's learing, ultimately it should help her to write more quickly.
Both my DC's schools have always encouraged handwriting exercises to work on speed/fluency of joining and not bothered what they were doing when writing longer pieces.

Is DD actually refusing to even try to do joined up writing? (i.e. maybe it's the refusal that's the issue, not the lack of joined up iyswim)

IIRC, there are 3 marks available for handwriting, if they use the old sats papers. It should be perfectly possible to get a l3 without joining.
It's been a while since I've done ks1 sats though, so I may be wrong. But I don't think I am.

OP I asked that very question to DDs year 2 teacher a couple of years ago and her reply was that if a child was fulfilling all of the other level 3 criteria then they would award a L3.

DS got a 3 in yr 2 and a 3A in yr 3 (KS2) with handwriting that is virtually illegible to me and certainly no hint of joining up. I think all of EY had better handwriting by the end of reception than his at 8.

School told me they mark on content and check spelling/grammar but not the actual handwriting and they seem to be able to read it. Very distressing for him though. Agree that he may have lost a few marks for handwriting but not enough to prevent a level 3.

Sounds exactly like my DD.

Neither of my DDs joined up at the end of KS1 and both got L3 - the vast bulk of the level is content, spelling, punctuation, grammar and structure.

At the moment DD1 is 12 - she tried and tried to master legible joined up writing and it just did not work for her. She could either do beautifully joined up and very very slow, or compelte scrawl. She's now in Yr8 and writes a perfectly clear and fast semi-cursive and you know what? No-one cares about handwriting in KS3 as long as it's legible.

DD2 is 10 and in Yr6 - she might lose a few marks for handwriting as she is trying for cursive but isn't very neat, but I couldn't care less because once she's in KS3 it all goes out the window anyway.

Let your DD continue enjoying her writing.

It used to be that you couldn't get a level 3 without legible, joined handwriting. This was back in the 90's when Sats were first inflicted on us. Now as long as a child meets the criteria for level 3 they are awarded it with or without joined writing.

My sister has really beautiful, quick writing (as an adult) but she has never learned to join her writing!

Mel

DS is now in yr4 and he got a level 3 in literacy without writing cursively.

Yes because, as others have said, handwriting doesn't carry many marks. Other areas, such as sentence structure, are more heavily weighted. Saying that I would really encourage joined writing because it's a good habit to learn when younger and is thought to help ideas flow and encourages good spelling.
Some schools will do anything to argue against level 3 writing in KS1 but that is a whole different argument!