Custom School Fonts

Background
Teachers have enough to do without spending valuable time hand-preparing display work and worksheets for lessons. With the increase in the use of IT by teachers to prepare such work, primary schools (k-6), each with their own set of requirements for written style, are forced to resort to using Elementary or Comic Sans fonts. The main downfall for commonly available fonts on computers is the way that the lowercase "a" is formed - there being an acceptable version in the Elementary and Comic Sans fonts. However, the formation of other letters such as "g" in these fonts usually leads either: to a compromise of school standards; or, to work having to be prepared by hand.

You will be able to see from the My School Font PG font that the style requirements for this school takes the first option for each choice character in the request form. The open forms of letters: "b"; and, "p", the loop form of the letter "k", the flicked versions of: "o"; "v"; and, "w", the round form of: "w"; and, "x", the continuing form of: "a"; "d"; "h "; "i"; "k"; "l"; "m"; "n"; "p"; "r"; and, "u", the cursive form of "r", and the descending versions of: "f"; and, "z", render all of the normal fonts useless as they fail to provide any of these characteristics.

With this in mind, I wrote the My School Font PG font especially for a local school, so that it would mimic hand-written, teacher-produced work, in any point size suitable for: displays; worksheets; and, because of its excellent legibility at small point sizes, letters and other communications. Using the font in this way has the advantage that the children will see that the writing style that they are learning is used in "proper" written communications thus introducing an element of pride into their work.

Like all TrueType fonts, once it has been installed in Windows, it can be used in any program that uses TrueType fonts from word processors, desk top publishers and spreadsheets to time management programs, databases and Windows itself - you can even set your web browser to use it as the default font. In this way, children get to see the characters that they are learning to write, used in applications that they encounter in school thus reinforcing the learning process - these fonts are not intended to replace the child's own writing as that would undermine the process.

A number of these characters are standard. (The version you will be sent will have a proper "e" in it.) However, there is a significant number of characters that have a number of variations. These are detailed on the order sheet. The My School Font PG font has all of the character options on the left selected so, if you download the font and install it, you can see how the font works. If you have any peculiar characters that are not included in the My School Font PG font or as an option on the order sheet, you can print out the Extra Character Form, filling in the appropriate characters and sending that off as well. Note that there is no extra charge for extra characters.

License
When you have bought a font, you may install that font on all of the computers in the school, including those in the admin office. In this way, not only can the children produce work that uses the font that they write with, but all appropriate documentation produced by the school administration can use the font. In addition, you can give copies of the font, at no charge, to any supply teacher that has to provide computer prepared work for use in the school.

Cost.
The cost to you of me providing you with one version of the font (including any extra characters) on 3¹/₂" floppy diskette, including: a printed out sample of the font; the license; postage; and, packing is £15.00 (UK Pounds). For the benefits solely in terms of time saved and the resulting uniformity of work throughout the school, even with supply teachers, this cost is minimal. Note that at no time are any credit card details exchanged at any time as the only financial transaction is performed using a cheque. Further, none of your information is sent over the Internet at any time.

If you have an infant and junior school in the same primary school and they require slightly different fonts (for example, if there are two versions of the letter "r"), or even if they are completely different, you can put in an order for both the infants and juniors together if you wish (if there was no difference, you would only need to buy one font). For two orders from the same primary school, the total price for the two orders is only £22.50.

If you represent an LEA, wishing to make enquiries about purchasing a multi-site license, contact me by e-mail.

Ordering a font
When you place an order, you should provide me with a print out of the Font Order Form (as it appears on the browser) with the selection for each character that you wish, for each option. You can either fill out the sheet while it is on the computer and then print it out (the Clear Sheet button simply clears the whole sheet), or you can print it out and then fill it in by hand - making a mark by each character selected. You should also fill out the Extra Character Form, should there be any extra character shapes that are not included and indicating so on the order form.

On the Font Order Form, there are spaces for the name of the school for which the font is licensed and the name of the LEA - these need filling in. You also need to write your name and address and a contact telephone number in case there are any problems.

Once you have filled out the Font Order Form (and the Extra Character Form, should there be a need), make a copy (to keep) and write out a crossed cheque (for £15.00 UK Pounds) made payable to "Paul Grosse".

On receipt, I will build your TrueType font for you and send you a copy on a 3¹/₂" floppy diskette, along with the license and a sample print out.

You should receive your font, ready to install on your computers (Post Office willing) within a week of sending me the application.