A private school in Scotland is trying to save the dying art of penmanship by requiring that all its students write with fountain pens.

The school's headmaster fears writing longhand will soon be a mere memory due to computers and text messaging, and he's doing what he can to keep it alive.

Bryan Lewis, the headmaster of Mary Erkskine and Stewart's Melville junior school in Edinburgh, has forbid students to use of ballpoint pens and pencils after the fourth grade. The school's younger students are encouraged to do away with the less graceful writing instruments as well.

According to the Scottish paper The Scotsman, Lewis said, "All teachers who join our junior school are taught a handwriting style by my colleagues and they, in turn, teach all our children the same style.

"Learning to write in fountain pen not only results in beautiful presentation but also has the not-insignificant bonus of developing children's self-esteem."

Lewis said writing with a fountain pen - which will smudge if you're careless - makes students more meticulous with their work and raises academic performance.

Ten-year-old student Cailean Gall said, "At the start it was hard because I kept smudging, but you get used to it," he said. "I still have to use a pencil for maths, and now I find it strange using the pencils. I like it because it makes me concentrate much more on my work."

Cailean has become so fond of fountain pens he uses them all the time. His classmate Katie Walker, 11, seems to benefit from fountain pens too, but she keeps them strickly for the schoolroom.

"I use it for schoolwork and homework only," she said. "It is quite easy using a fountain pen once you're used to it. My parents say it's improved my work enormously."