Cathy Barclay's 7 Stages of Writing Development

Stage 1: Scribbling

Children make random marks on the page, which aren’t related to letters or words. They’re learning the skill of keeping hold of a pencil or crayon, which prepares them for writing. They often talk about what they’re scribbling.

Stage 2: Mock handwriting

Children practise drawing shapes on paper, although it’s still not usually possible to work out what the drawing represents. Letter-like forms (pseudo letters) begin to appear in or with drawings as the first sign of emergent writing - an attempt to write letters.

Stage 3: Mock letters

Children produce random letters, but there’s still no awareness of spacing or of matching sounds with symbols.

Stage 4: Conventional letters

Children start matching sounds with symbols - writing down letters that match the sounds being heir/spoken. Words are unlikely to be spaced out. Children start using initial consonants to represent words e.g. h for horse. The initial letter might be read out as if the full word if they are on the page.

Stage 5: Invented spelling

Most words are spelled phonetically, though some simple and familiar words are spelled correctly.

Stage 6: Appropriate spelling

Sentences become more complex as the child becomes more aware of standard spelling patterns. Writing becomes more legible.

Stage 7: Correct spelling

Most words are spelt correctly