Playwrite is a typeface engine that allows the creation of primary school cursive fonts.
The NCAA publishes the national curriculum, and issues of language are dealt with in the Primary Language Curriculum, which was last published in 2019. This document is fully bilingual in English and Irish Gaelic. An additional guideline document for teachers called Primary Language Curriculum. Support Material for teachers. Writing, is also published by the NCAA. This devotes a full section to handwriting, and suggests that children can be introduced to cursive writing as early as junior infant level.
In practice, however, each school can choose their own methods for teaching handwriting. Most teachers start with either print script (locally called “manuscript”) or precursive letters in junior and senior infant levels. From Class 1 onwards, students are taught to add exit strokes to letters, and then to connect them to achieve a cursive hand.
This model showcases a sloped, continuous cursive style where uppercase letters connect to the following letter whenever possible. The letter 'H' is notable for its distinctive crossbar shape. Lowercase letters have short extenders with loops but, unlike other models in this category, do not start with curved entry strokes. The construction of the bowls in 'b' and 'p' differs significantly from each other. The letter 'z' features a curved top and a looped descender.
