Letter formation is essential for developing fluent, legible and fast handwriting, allowing children to focus on content rather than mechanics. It builds motor memory for automaticity, reduces fatigue, helps prevent letter reversals and aids in early reading by reinforcing letter shapes.

Across the school, we use the same language to describe the formation of each letter.

The videos below model the language and formation of each letter, to support you to practise with your child at home.

Formation of the letters in the long ladder family - l, i, t, u, j and y:

Formation of the letters in the curly caterpillar family – c, a, d, o, s, g, q, e and f:

Formation of the letters in the one-armed robot family – r, b, n, h, m, k and p:

Formation of the letters in the zig-zag monster family – z, v, w and x:

Formation of the capital letters: