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Education

So cross but am I going over the top, really stressing now

46 replies

SecondhandRose · 12/06/2006 20:31

You'll probably think I'm being daft but my DD has come home with spellings to learn this week and last week. Last week the word naughtiest was spelt nautiest and this week she has to learn accommodation and accessible. BUT the school have spelt them accomodation and accesible.

NOW WHAT IS THE BLOODY POINT OF GIVEN THEM WORDS SPELT INCORRECTLY TO LEARN!!!!!

I feel like going to the head but should I stop at the form tutor?

DD is a long way ahead in spelling (she is yr 2) so she is only one in the year doing these spellings but surely other years are doing them, but who knows?

To top it all it's a private school so I'm paying for her to be taught incorrect spellings! I've already given notice for her to leave as she is starting a more academic state school in Sept and I really feel like having a go now.

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Blandmum · 12/06/2006 20:33

See the form tutor, it is only polite to talk to the person responsible before you go to her boss.

If you get no joy, then see the head.

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nothercules · 12/06/2006 20:34

I'm a teacher and that is bloody awful.

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KTeePee · 12/06/2006 20:35

Before you take the school to task, is she copying the words down from a board herself? I noticed my dd had spellings spelled incorrectly in her homework book and it turned out she couldn't see the board properly and needed glasses.

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hulababy · 12/06/2006 20:35

Definitely speak to her teacher. Then if you get no where speak to the head. Definitely not right at all.

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nothercules · 12/06/2006 20:36

Actually that is a good point. Ds copies spellings from the board.

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morningpaper · 12/06/2006 20:36

unbelievable

I would go to head

it's shocking

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WigWamBam · 12/06/2006 20:37

No, I don't think you're being daft. I think spelling is important, and there's no excuse for children being given wrongly spelled words to learn. I complained to my dd's reception teacher that they had been learning the life-cycle of the catapilla (sic) - maybe the teacher thought it didn't matter, but if the teacher can't spell what chance is there for the children to learn properly?

See the teacher, find out where these mis-spellings are coming from, and if necessary complain long and hard.

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Axolotl · 12/06/2006 20:37

I would be absolutely LIVID about this. I'm livid on your behalf, actually. That is just awful - for a teacher to be showing such illiteracy is just staggering. I'm glad you are changing schools anyway, Secondhandrose. It's only about five more weeks, but I would speak to the head and say you want a meeting with the teacher and the head. You are definitely NOT over-reacting!

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spidermama · 12/06/2006 20:38

That is bad. Very bad. I agree with MB about starting with the form teacher.

Off topic I know but I'm astonished they're being asked to spell accommodation and accessible in year 2.

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PanicPants · 12/06/2006 20:41

Thats awful. This once happened to me. the ta's sends the spellings home at our school and my ta, bless her, sent home a spelling spelt wrong. Yes the mother did come in, quite rightly, to point it out.

Had to explain it wasn't me - but I'm sure she didn't believe me.

I'd go in and see the teacher, I can't believe she/he would have spelt it wrong, maybe a helper?

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Californifrau · 12/06/2006 20:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SecondhandRose · 12/06/2006 21:04

Thanks for your comments, the spellings are on pre-printed sheets for her to copy for times in grids to the right hand side. So she is defnitely not copying them down.

spidermama, DD is the only one doing these spellings in year 2 so that's why I suppose no one else has said anything. She's been awarded a scholarship by the school but its only 15% and it makes only a tiny dent in the fees that's why she is leaving. Also the class sizes are so small she has no competition whereas at the state school she has a whole table of brighter children to work with.

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SecondhandRose · 12/06/2006 21:04

Sorry that should have been 'four' times.

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GDG · 12/06/2006 21:08

I'd be livid - I can't stand incorrect spelling!! Drives me nuts! So would be seriously cross if my ds was coming home with words to learn that were not spelt correctly!!!

It's up there with teachers that say 'haitch' instead of 'aitch' - aaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

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Smellen · 12/06/2006 21:12

Have to agree with others on this thread. Many teachers do spell some words incorrectly (I know, I work in school and see some howlers from colleagues). However, there is a big difference between, for example, a teacher mispelling a word in his/her own documents, and a teacher actually teaching words incorrectly.

Might be best to ask the head of dept. or head to check whether words are written up incorrectly or kids are making mistakes when copying them down. If this is the case, perhaps your DD's teacher should be checking the lists at the end of the lessons. After all, you're paying out big style for her education.

Good luck.

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SecondhandRose · 12/06/2006 21:12

The haitch thing really p's me off too. What about somethink instead of something while we're at it.

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tigermoth · 12/06/2006 21:12

I cannot believe such a gross mispellings like 'nautie' could come from any teacher. If it did, then that is awful. Not wanting to do down teaching assistants, but could it have come from a student helper? You must see the teacher and see what the explanation is.

Show her the list of spellings given to your dd, simply saying 'I think you need to look at these'. See if she offers an explanation or is horrified at the bad spelling. If she reads them and can't spot a problem (yikes!) then you should see the head pronto!

If the teacher offers a plausible reason, (as someone said your dd could be copying spellings from the board) then don't IMO take it further - unless it happens again.

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SecondhandRose · 12/06/2006 21:14

Evening Tigermoth, they are on pre-printed sheets! They don't have teaching assistants as there are only 12 in a class. I can't really ask her to spot the mistakes now I've written sarcastic comments on the top of the sheet!!

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robinpud · 12/06/2006 21:18

Rose- totally agree with MB way back in the thread!
As a state school teacher, I can't help feeling smug that this is a private school fgs! If you are going to speak to them, you might want to ask if this is the most interesting way they can think of to learn spellings.

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tigermoth · 12/06/2006 21:19

could you tippex them out and photocopy the sheet?
didn't spot the fact that this was a photocopy till after I had posted. It is shocking! accommodation I can forgive but nautie is just the sort of word you'd think a teacher of all people would know how to spell!

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tigermoth · 12/06/2006 21:20

and I know I spelt accommodation correctly in my last message...

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SecondhandRose · 12/06/2006 21:20

Naughtiest Tigermoth was spelt Nautiest by school.

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SecondhandRose · 12/06/2006 21:21

Accommodation I know because I provide it for a living!

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SecondhandRose · 12/06/2006 21:23

I am off to watch Big Brother now, hopefully I am far enough behind the adverts to miss them all. Night.

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frogs · 12/06/2006 21:28

We've had this too. Dd1 spent the whole of Y5 playing 'spot the howler' in the homework sheets. We had 'criteria' and 'bacteria' given as examples of words that were the same in the singular and the plural; dd1's spelling of 'gateaux' marked incorrect as the plural of 'gateau' (should have been 'gateaus' according to the teacher); and maths sheets showing what was clearly a square-based pyramid labelled as a tetrahedron. And so on. Correct answers being marked as wrong is even more galling than mistakes in homework sheets, imo.

Dd1 being herself of course tends to feel it is her duty to point out the teacher's errors, which can trigger WWIII, depending on how able the teacher is to admit mistakes. In Y5 dd1 spent more time standing outside the classroom than she did in it. And, going back all the way to Y2, I remember her getting into a standup argument with her then teacher who had written 'baloons' on the board and refused to accept that she had made a mistake.

I'd write a letter to the form tutor and copy it to the head, enclosing an amended version of the offending sheet. Actually I probably wouldn't, but that's what I'd like to do. What I actually did would depend on whether or not I cared about getting the school's back up. At the current school the head also can neither spell nor punctuate, and has never thought to ask himself what those little red wiggly lines are that Word scatters through the text.

The barbarians are at the gates, I'm afraid.