Last May I sat at the long table in my workroom, surrounded by piles of A4 papers. These were just some of the entries for the National Schools’ Handwriting Competition. A team of teachers had already made the first sift, putting to one side those where the handwriting was not quite up to scratch, or where the rules of the competition had not been adhered to. The fact that I had so many in this final batch is evidence of the continuing popularity of this competition.

It was my task, though it is always a pleasant one, to assess carefully each entry and to choose the final winners. Usually this choice is difficult. There are so many entries that deserve to receive a prize, and it is a challenge to have to make that final decision. The number of good entries with successful handwriting where the letterforms are well made, the slant consistent, the ascenders and descenders clearly extending, also with evidence of a personal style, makes the task harder. Each year presents different challenges, whether it is difficult letter combinations (ffs, str, aft), dealing with punctuation, or the position of the poem in the best place on the paper (long lines are a problem), and the winners in each category are ones who have dealt successfully with what is thrown at them.

Handwriting is important, despite the increased use of computers in schools and at home ...

The fact that the National Schools’ Handwriting Competition has been going for so long – some 17 or more years now – is testament to its continued success. The pattern established at the very beginning of three age groups (under seven years, eight to 11 years, 12-14 years) together with a category for staff, and different poems for each, has served it well. Schools are not asked to make assessments about the entries, with them selecting only the best to send in; the judges do that later. All that is required is that teachers ensure that the child’s surname, age and school’s postcode are written on the back of each entry, and that the entries are placed not in school year groups, but collated according to the age in years of the children at the time of writing out the poem – entries of all children aged six placed together, all children aged seven and so on. This is thought to be a fairer way of making the assessment, as a school year group may contain children of varying ages. Having only the child’s surname, age and school postcode on the back of the entries also ensures fairness in judging. None of us involved in the process is then influenced by whether there are too many boys or too many girls amongst the winners, or the location or reputation of schools. It is only when the prizewinners are listed that I know the names and gender of the most successful, and it is the competition administrator who has the list of postcodes, so knows which schools have the winning entries.

It is clear that many schools use the competition for whole class projects, and knowing that everyone’s effort will be entered, rather than simply those who are best at handwriting, must send out the message that this is an important task for everyone, not just the few who may have developed a naturally fluent hand already.

Handwriting is important, despite the increased use of computers in schools and at home, and being taught how to hold the pen, how to form letters, and how to join them successfully so that words are written with ease and fluency is just as important as being able to read well.

It really is very simple to enter the competition. All the rules are on the National Schools’ Handwriting Competition website (www.handwritingcompetition.co.uk), and the rules themselves are very easy to understand.

Entries should be on A4 paper  – most schools use photocopying paper which gives a reasonable ‘tooth’ between writing implement and writing surface – unlined and in ink for all entries of children aged eight and over, lined or unlined and in pencil or pen for age seven and under.

The child’s surname, the age at the time the entry was written, and the school postcode only must be written on the back of each entry.
Entries must be grouped into folders according to the children’s ages – all age fives together, all age sixes together, etc.

The poems are printed out on the website and can be downloaded so that individual copies can be made for the children. An entry form should be included as well as a cheque for the fees before the whole lot is packaged and sent off in good time – to arrive this year by 2nd May 2008.

Then it is over to the competition administrator, who has the mammoth task of sorting all the entries and ensuring that all is correct. She arranges for the group of first judges to be assembled, and they perform the most difficult task of the first sift. Sometimes entries have to be disregarded simply because there is a name on the front or full school address. Then, finally, it’s over to me to find the actual winners from the entries sent forward by the preliminary judges.

Patricia Lovett is a final judge for the National Schools’ Handwriting Competition

For more information see www.handwritingcompetition.co.uk