This is Part 1 of your KA1 workshop. Best practice for your Key Assignment 1 folio in ICT1 is to demonstrate a range of document types rather than lean on a single long document, so that your practical ICT skills show up across different real tasks. Today you build the second type in that range: a one-page formal letter tied to your Something Real project. By the end of the hour you'll have {{code:03_letter}} saved in your {{code:Digital_Portfolio}} as both an editable document and a PDF.
Think about the last time an adult needed to write to someone in authority, a landlord, Revenue, a school, a bank. It probably wasn't a text. What is it about a proper letter that makes people take it seriously, even today?
Before you open a document, make sure you understand what the assignment is actually asking for and what a formal letter looks like.
| Concept | Why it matters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| KA1 document range — best practice for the Key Assignment 1 folio in ICT1 is to present multiple document types (letter plus at least one other), so assessors can see different practical skills in action | Folio work is stronger when it shows range; relying on one long document of one type makes it harder to evidence the different ICT skills the assignment is designed to draw out | A folio built around a Work Experience placement might combine an application letter, a CV, and a short task log |
| Formal letter layout — six fixed parts in a fixed order: your address, date, recipient's address, salutation, body, sign-off | Irish workplaces and state services still expect this layout; a letter that looks like a text message gets ignored or put to the bottom of the pile | A letter to a local garage asking about Work Experience uses the same six-part layout as a query to Citizens Information |
| Salutation and sign-off pairing — "Dear Mr/Ms Surname," pairs with "Yours sincerely,"; "Dear Sir/Madam," pairs with "Yours faithfully," | Mixing them is the most common single mistake on folio letters and it's the first thing an experienced reader notices | — |
| Editable source vs PDF — the editable source file (.docx in Word, or a Google Doc) is what you keep working on; the PDF is the locked version you send or print | You keep the source so you can edit later; you attach the PDF so the layout survives whatever software the recipient uses | Email your Work Experience employer the PDF, not the editable file, so your formatting doesn't shift on their screen |
A finished letter fits on one page, is in a plain font (Calibri/Arial or Times New Roman, size 11 or 12), has three short body paragraphs, and finishes with a signature line. You're about to build exactly that in the walkthrough.
Follow the walkthrough to build a sample letter from an LCA student, Aoife Byrne, asking Mr Joe Kelly of Kelly's Motors (Navan) for a Work Experience placement. You'll use the exact same structure for your own letter in the next step, so don't rush the layout now.
Fixes for the things that typically go wrong on a first formal letter:
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| My letter runs over one page | Check margins are 2.5cm all round ({{menu:Layout -> Margins}} in Word Online; {{menu:File -> Page setup}} in Google Docs), drop line spacing to 1.15, and trim the body. A one-page formal letter is a mark of discipline, not a limit. |
| I used "Dear Sir/Madam" and "Yours sincerely" | Pick one rule and stick: named person, sincerely; unnamed, faithfully. Change the salutation OR the sign-off so they pair correctly. |
| The date keeps changing when I open the file | You inserted a live date field. Delete it and retype the date as plain text so it stays put. |
| My address looks squashed on one line | Press {{key:Enter}} after each part (road, town, county), not a comma. Commas keep the address on one line; Enter breaks it into the three-line block you want. |
| I can't find the downloaded PDF | It's in your browser's Downloads folder, not in the cloud yet. Drag it into {{code:Digital_Portfolio}} or use the Upload button in OneDrive/Drive. |
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