Often good handwriting is associated with how neat and lovely it looks. Beautiful penmanship is not a guarantee of quality. Some children will spend ages forming their letters so that the piece looks great but have not produced a well composed piece of work.

So, what do we consider the important elements to a good handwriting style:

• a fluid hand movement that is comfortable;
• letters are of a consistent and appropriate size and positioned correctly;
• that the writer can produce and maintain a good handwriting speed;
• that it is completely legible to others.

Here at Teach Handwriting we believe that learning to join letters increases the accuracy, fluidity, speed and legibility of handwriting. However, we also recognise that for some SEND children learning to join their handwriting may not be a logical option. However, this does not mean that using a single letter font style stops them from handwriting with accuracy, fluidity, speed and legibility (though it may never be as fast as a joined font).