Kinetic Letters is a unique handwriting programme that believes good, fast and fluent handwriting underpins success in every curriculum area. It is based on a physical programme where children learn handwriting and letter formation through movement and multisensory experiences, developing core body strength. We are phasing Kinetic Letters into our school, so currently all children up to Year 4 are taught Kinetic Letters as of 2023-24. Children in Year 5 upwards have been taught using a previous handwriting scheme (Nelson Handwriting) but still follow National Curriculum objectives for handwriting

Learning letters by movement helps writing and concentration and also makes handwriting automatic, freeing up space in the working memory for other learning.

The Kinetic Letters programme uses four main threads: 

• Making bodies stronger

• Learning the letters

• Holding the pencil

• Flow and fluency

It enables children to develop legible handwriting that is produced quickly and automatically. With the development of automaticity, handwriting becomes a valuable tool and not a hindrance to learning.

All children up to Year 3 takes part in a Kinetic Letters lesson everyday which focuses on letter formation and then body strength and pencil grip are continuously reinforced throughout the school day in every lesson.

Each letter family is introduced to the children through a story about two monkeys called Bounce and Skip. Bounce is a brave monkey and helps write the tall letters whilst Skip is a scared monkey and helps write the other letters. Children are taught all of the Kinetic Letter families, upper case letter formation and number formation: