GRADE 5 and 6 students at Swan Hill Primary School have switched out their netbooks for papers and pens, ready to have their handwriting judged at the Swan Hill show.
The judges will be looking at each entry to make sure they all meet the category’s strict requirements which include drawing a margin and writing in the Victorian modern cursive style.
Students will not only be judged on the neatness and appearance of their handwriting but also spelling, punctuation and whether the writing appears to be on an even-slope on the paper.
Students also must not have any rub-outs present in their entry.
Teacher and Grade 5 and 6 sub-school leader at Swan Hill Primary School, Belinda Free said having older students enter was important because they do most of their school work on netbooks.
“Every student has their own netbook,” she said.
“When I went to school, we had to write in our workbooks with our name and date on it every single day.”
“These days there’s not much of an emphasis on handwriting because we use our netbooks so often.”
Ms Free said the students found some parts of the process more challenging due to their reliance on netbooks to complete school work everyday.
“The measurements for the margins were actually very specific and the kids actually spent quite a bit of time drawing the margin correctly,” Ms Free said.
Students in each year level had been assigned to write out different verses of the poem My Country by Dorothea Mackellar.
“The handwriting category has been great for the students to get some classic Australian poetry into their education,” Ms Free said.
