New Entrant / Year 1 Writing

Pencil Grip

Support your child to develop the correct pencil grip. Watch the pencil grip video for a quick trick for helping to hold a pencil correctly. To develop the muscle strength necessary, do a variety of fine motor skills activities - there are some ideas in the video.

Nip, Grip, Flip - Pencil Grip

Fine Motor Skills

Pencil control 1.pdf

Pencil Control 1

Pencil Control 2.pdf

Pencil Control 2

Pencil Control

Support your child to develop pencil control by tracing lines and patterns. Either print out the worksheets, or draw your own patterns for your child to trace. Make sure that they are holding their pencil correctly - watch the video above to see how.

Stage 1 Letters and Sounds

Your child will meet Milo and friends in the first few weeks of term as we learn the Stage 1 letters and sounds. Stage 1 friends are: Milo Monkey, Sally Snake, Tim Turtle, Izzy Insect, Ally Alligator, Peter Penguin, Felix Frog, Copper Caterpillar.

Practice tracing the letter shapes in the air, on the ground, or drawing them. Remember the correct pencil grip! Saying the sounds of the letters as we write them helps to secure them in our brain - however, it is very important to say the letters correctly - watch this video to ensure you and your child are saying them properly. If you are short on time, skip to the 2.18 minute mark, you will hear the sounds correctly pronounced. Learning to say the letter sounds correctly is one of the first steps in learning to write and read.


The pictures below show you the correct letter formation.

Each friend has its own catchy music track on Spotify under ‘Milo’s Birthday Surprise’. Listen for all the words that begin with each friend's letter. Scan the QR code to take you to the Spotify playlist.

Story Writing

Help your child to write stories using the Year 2-4 writing prompts (click the button to the right).

  1. Talk with your child about the writing prompts.

  2. Have your child draw a picture about thier ideas (a picture plan).

  3. Write a story with your child - they might be able to write some of it, or you might write down their story for them.

  4. Read your story together