AIBU - spelling errors from nursery

[Jackstini]

Not loads but I am a bit of a pedant anyway!
There are usually 3 or 4 spelling/grammatical errors in the monthly newsletter plus the odd thing spelled wrong on daily report sheets. Also one of the wall notices has 'there' instead of 'their'.
dd is only in the toddler room but I still feel this is wrong. Am I being too picky or if not, how do I go about saying something?

[madamez]

DIfficult. Most of the handwritten daily notes from my DS' nursery are riddled with spelling errors as well. The way I look at it is: DS is only 3 and they are not teaching him to read and write (that's not their job), but more importantly, childcare is an undervalued, badly-paid job that girls who are not thought to be academic at school are often guided towards: couple that with the godawful mess the education system has been in for years and you have the answer as to why it happens...

[Jackstini]

Thanks Madamez. dd is so happy there and they are so lovely with her. Think it is just a real bugbear of mine.
Although dd is only 22 mo though the same newsletter goes to the pre-schoolers of up to 5 yrs and they are teaching them to read and write...

[bossybritches]

Jackstini it may be worth having a quiet word with the manager.

We have this problem with several of our staff & the general level of literacy/handwriting amongst qualified nursery nurses is TERRIBLE. I always ask for a handwritten application form because of this & some of the ones I've had back have been atrocious & yet the applicant themselves could be lovely & great with kids.

(scuse any typos late & tired!!)

[TabithaTwitchett]

Our daily reports are terrible in terms of spelling. It has never bothered me as long as I feel they are looking after dd.

[kiskidee]

the only thing I have corrected so far at dd's nursery is when the carers in her room were putting up a Christmas display that said 'Santa Clause'

for reasons which Madamez pointed out, I am not bothered with misspellings at nursery but it would grate on me to see 'there' instead of 'their'.

[Dynamicnanny]

childcare is an undervalued, badly-paid job that girls who are not thought to be academic at school are often guided towards: couple that with the godawful mess the education system has been in for years and you have the answer as to why it happens...

Just to say that as a qualified nursery nurse I not only have all (11) C grade GCSE's and above, 2 A levels, 2 A/s' but am also doing an A level at the local college one night a week - and am starting universtiy in September where I will do a teaching degree - I chose childcare and nursery nursing as I love children and find it a thoroughly awarding career!

In regards to spelling mistakes I am also pedantic - whenever I would see a spelling mistake at the nursery I worked at I would pull the manager up about it - theres no reason for not being able to spell - especially if your're typing in microsoft word which has a spell checker.

[Bubble99]

Depends.

Our pre-school teacher and some of our other staff have English as a second language. Three of them have degrees in pre-school education, gained in their own EU countries and translated to QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) here in the UK.

Their spoken English is perfect (better than most 'natives' we interview) but they sometimes make grammatical errors with displays.

BTW. I read an article a while ago by a journalist whose child came home from nursery with a sticker.....

'I done me own shoes up today.'

[morocco]

ok at nursery, wait til they start school, then it's really annoying

[scottishmummy]

Yes YABU - is it a good nursery?is your child happy?so what a few spelling/grammatical errors - big deal. would you prefer a grammatically correct punctuation pedant beat the children whilst composing a well composed newsletter???

[nurseryvoice]

My staff do not understand why I am so pedantic about spelling.

Most of them cannot spell. Their grammar is also terrible.

I have to go round correcting mistakes as I believe parents will notice it.

I agree the education system is terrible, however my neice and the kids club children are better spellers, so maybe its just the staff who are in their 20's ?? so it might be that age bracket.

Anyone and I mean anyone can pass a level 3 in childcare, as with everything nowadays you cannot fail at anything. I personally would not pass some students.

Having said that the staff are very caring and kind with the children, but the manager at least should be able to spell along with Foundation Stage Staff.

[Jackstini]

Thanks all - given me a balanced view now. I don't mind the odd error on dd's daily hand written reports as it is more important to me the nursery nurses are looking after her and she is happy.
The one that grates is the monthly newsletter sent out by the manager done on a computer! Montesorri are usually quite hot on these things I thought?
Anyway - been in this morning and have more to worry about as they are making 2 people redundant. Not sure how this will affect ratios/lunch cover and they are talking of putting tweenies and toddlers together so now I am even less comfortable. Will ring the head office later

[littleladylollipop]

eets a shayme wen peeple carnt spel proply int it?

It is a wurry wen they r teeching your children!

Sorry- that killed me then spelling incorrectly!

I would have a quiet word with the manager- as a Nursery nurse myself, I must admit I'm very particular about wall displays - they are a source of information as well as displaying work, so to have wrong spellings is a bit lame!

[LiegeAndLief]

I know exactly how you feel as I am a pedant about spelling/grammar (am now bound to make a mistake in this post ) and some of the nursery nurses at ds's nursery can barely write, let alone spell! But they are great with him and the other children, he is only 17months, so am trying to let it wash over me at the moment. Am hoping they have better spellers in the pre-school rooms...

I do think the manager should be able to spell though, especially as she could be using spell-check!

[scottishmummy]

Jackstini nurseries must comply with minimum Ofsted staffing protocols
Day Nurseries
Minimum staffing ratios (this includes children of staff and volunteers)

• one member of staff for every three children under two years old
  
• one member of staff for every four children aged two years old
  
• one member of staff for every eight children aged three to eight years old.
  
  my child's nursery occasionally also exhibits poor spelling, punctuation, grammar but i don't say, because the care is excellent and thats important to me

[Jackstini]

Thanks sm - I was going to look for that later so you have saved me a job
Spoke to the head office yesterday and am now awaiting a letter explaining the changes...