to think that if you send a letter from a school that might go public - you check for comma splices

[katmanwho]

School said it would give pupils bread and butter if they didn't have money.
Parents complain. Goes national in the news.
School retracts.

The letter is here:

www.albanacademy.org/assets/schoolmealsletterretraction-1.pdf

Part of it:

Following a number of parental concerns regarding the recent school
meals letter we have decided to rethink our policy and will not be
introducing the new system outlined in that letter.
I apologise if this has caused any offence, this was not our intention.
The letter itself was intended to explain the situation and trial a policy
that has been successfully adopted by other schools

Actually - commas seem lacking in the first sentence as well.

This is not a chatty letter. This is an official retraction.

Could do better

[tobysmum77]

If you added commas it would still be badly written with unnecessarily complex sentences.

[katmanwho]

It's the comma splice that gets me.

I apologise if this has caused any offence, this was not our intention

[tobysmum77]

I think the comma splice is the best written sentence. It is the only one I didn't have to read twice. The use of the word 'itself' is the low point for me.

[SmokingGun]

This is my old middle school 😳

[ghostyslovesheep]

again?

[ComposHatComesBack]

Are you the same arseache who was complaining about comma splices a few weeks ago?

[katmanwho]

No. I think that if you send out newsletters, you should make sure they are punctuated correctly. Especially if your school is at the centre of a media storm.

[FithColumnist]

Ye gods OP. YABU and desperately in need of a grip.

[katmanwho]

Why? Don't you think that a newsletter sent out to parents needs to be correctly punctuated?

Tell me why you don't think it needs to be correctly punctuated?

[StrawberryDelight]

Are you the same arseache who was complaining about comma splices a few weeks ago?

Love this whole sentence

I would notice it myself, I couldn't help not noticing (see what I did there?!)

I wouldn't mention it to anyone though. It's not so bad as to be worth mentioning.

[JohnLuther]

YABU I can read it perfectly fine.

[katmanwho]

It just jumped out at me - was on the BBC site. The sentence was there - and it did make me think of that thread.

[katmanwho]

YABU I can read it perfectly fine

That's not the point. I can read it perfectly fine as well.

[JohnLuther]

Well what's the problem then? Adding a comma to the last sentence would unnecessarily break it up.

[FithColumnist]

Because a comma splice is not an error in punctuation, rather a "fault of style". Leaving out a full stop at the end of a sentence is incorrect punctuation, a comma splice really isn't. The dispreference for them in prescriptivist style guides ranks up there with never ending a sentence with a preposition, or never beginning a sentence with a conjunction. I.e. it's bollocks and you are being deeply peculiar to give so many fucks over the matter.

[FithColumnist]

Also, for what it's worth, this is incorrect punctuation:

Tell me why you don't think it needs to be correctly punctuated?

That's a statement, not a question. It needs a full stop, not a question mark.

[Sallyingforth]

Goes national in the news.

You're not setting much of an example are you OP?

[KathyBeale]

I'm a writer and I don't know what a comma splice is. I agree the letter is written in a clumsy way but it's not bad enough to get annoyed about.

[katmanwho]

Are you the same arseache who was complaining about comma splices a few weeks ago

it's bollocks and you are being deeply peculiar to give so many fucks over the matter

Don't you just love MN? Some people find it impossible to debate without being rude.

As far as I am aware - and have been taught - a comma splice is not a "fault of style" but incorrect in formal writing.

If you were to use comma splices in professional reports, I suspect your employers would not be too impressed.

[GruntledOne]

I'm probably more pedantic than most, but comma splices really don't bother me - in fact I think if anything they can improve the flow of a sentence, especially if you're aiming to write in a friendly or colloquial style.

[eddiemairswife]

In all my years of education from Kindergarten to University and PGCE, through having 4 children and 5 grandchildren in the education system and teaching KS2 until retirement I had never heard of a comma splice until the previous thread.

[katmanwho]

Ooh - now we've got the "criticise the OP's writing".

Predictable. But this is internet chat and not professional writing.

So naaaaah

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

I agree with you OP.

I said the same on the thread about the letter issued by another school on the subject of dirty and unwashed pupils. It was a snotty and unsympathetic letter written by a headteacher in a very clunky style with poor sentence construction. (the website of that particular school also had appalling spelling and grammatical errors)

[KathyBeale]

Have just googled comma splices and now I know what they are! If I was editing the letter I'd have changed it and it does jar a bit but it's not the worst I've seen! I'm of the opinion that spelling, punctuation and grammar are important because they help you to be understood. The comma splice in this case is mildly (and I do mean mildly) irritating but it doesn't affect the meaning of the letter.