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To Develop Fine motor skills
To Develop Fine motor skills
Rationale and Aim
Baseline assessment information has shown a decline in fine motor skills of pupils entering primary 1. Staff feel this is potentially an effect of Covid-19 lockdowns due to the reduction in access to resources and social distancing restrictions during the recovery phase. This session staff will focus on fine motor development through play to positively impact writing skills.
Intended impact
Pupils will have increased pencil control which will then be developed further as they move into primary 2.
Measurement
To begin the study, class teachers and the EYP will audit the continuous provision on offer with a fine motor focus and complete a baseline of pencil grip using the 5 point pencil grasp development scale shown above. Given the nature of this case study, the data was difficult to quantify over a 1 year period. Staff have collated visual evidence of progress over the year and repeated the baseline assessment in term 4.
School Context
Corsehill Primary have play pedagogy on their school improvement plan. The establishment priority is to embed play pedagogy across classes and learning environments.
The school's vision is to develop children's curiosity through exciting learning opportunities. The school has defined open area zones for different stages. There is the Play Zone, the Learning Zone, the Discovery Zone and the Outdoor Zone. These are the highest quality environments children to explore new ideas and challenge themselves while developing skills to help them in the future.
This case study was undertaken by the P1/2 Class Teacher with an EYP working in the Play Zone.
September - December 2022
September - December 2022
Staff audited their play provision using the circle resource. This provided opportunity for moderation as staff compared and discussed results. From this they aimed to have fine motor opportunities throughout both P1/2 classrooms and the Play Zone area.
Staff completed a baseline assessment of pencil grip. The children identified as being in stage 1 or 2 of pencil grip development participated in a targeted intervention. Each morning they would make dough and do 5 minutes of dough gym with the EYP as part of the class soft start.
Children who were using a fisted grip were encouraged to develop shoulder strength and gross motor skills through using the interactive whiteboard, large scale painting, large block play and mark making with cars.
Class teachers set up fine motor activities daily based on the grip assessments. Traditionally all children would have been invited to practice letter formation daily during term 1. This year these activities were available to explore but not compulsory for all. This allowed all children time and space to develop their hand muscles before beginning with writing.
January - March 2023
January - March 2023
After Christmas, all children were invited to practice letter formation and handwriting activities daily. Fine motor activities continued to be set up by teachers daily with increasing levels of challenge to develop muscles further. The children were increasingly experiencing success with these activities and there were visible improvements in fine motor skills.
As the childrens' pencil grips developed, there was a focus on cutting skills alongside fine motor activities. These were set up in the creative area of the Play Zone and gave children the opportunity to develop different muscles.
PLA staff supported the schools EYP to focus on embedding literacy and numeracy across the Play Zone with mark making opportunities across all areas. For example, clipboards were added to the blockplay area and notebooks put in the home corner. Children who did not choose to go to the writing or fine motor area naturally, were happy to engage with writing experiences within the areas they enjoy playing in. Children were engaged in low stakes writing activities so they were happy to have a go.
March - June 2024
March - June 2024
Staff revisited the baseline assessment and found that children had made good progress and the majority were at stage 4 or 5 of the pencil grip progressions. In term 1, 63% of children were at stage 1-3 compared to only 4% in term 4. The number of children with a dynamic tripod grip at stage 5 increased by 29% over the year.
Children's progress has been extremely positive this year. Therefore staff will continue with this approach next session. The benefits of giving children time to develop their muscle control through play before beginning formal writing have been evident. There has also been a noticeable improvement in the children's willingness to engage in writing activities as they are embedded across the play areas and throughout teaching. As the current cohort move into P2 fine motor will challenges will continue to be offered. P2 children will play in the Play Zone to model their skills to the new cohort of P1s.
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