Handwriting instruction in South Australia (SA) is based on the latest edition of the state’s Department of Education and Child Service’s publication Handwriting in the South Australian Curriculum. SA follows a progressive system that begins with simplified print style letters called “beginner’s alphabet” that are then joined to become the South Australian Modern Cursive style. Even though the department made the typeface SA Modern Cursive available in 2006, handwriting can be taught using any font that follows modern cursive conventions.
Excerpts from Handwriting in the South Australian Curriculum, showing how simplified print letters are transformed into joined ones.
After students learn to write simplified print letters in lowercase and uppercase, they are taught how to make exit strokes in letters in Year 2 (7–8 years old), and once they start showing signs of joining letters, proper linking techniques are taught from the beginning of Year 3 (8–9 years old). In middle school, students may be introduced to similar handwriting models and different writing tools for experimentation, and are encouraged to develop their personal handwriting style.
Lowercase letters are based on the foundation of a lightly sloped oval and the extenders are medium length. A distinguishing feature of the South Australian Modern Cursive is its lack of loops. Uppercase letters follow print style conventions.
This approach to handwriting is also used in some schools in Western Australia (WA).
