to think that schools should jolly well get their punctuation right in their newsletters?

[BellevilleRendezvous]

Just seen a newsletter from the primary school that ds will go to next year. I was surprised to see several errors with apostrophes, in particular two wrong uses of it's and its and another apostrophe before rather than after the 's'.

I know it may seem petty but surely a school should get its punctuation right?!

but isn't it important that anything going out from a school should be correct, for many reasons:

a) it's "from" the Head, but actually it's clear it isn't from him at all as he presumably can place apostrophes correctly.

b) it's from a school so it will be taken as being correct, by many of the pupils and parents who read it. So while some parents will spot the errors, perhaps use it as an object lesson for their children, others will take it as being correct and therefore the error becomes even more ingrained.

c) it's from a bloody school. If a school can't get basic grammar right, why should anyone else bother? why should pupils make the effort if their Head can't?

I'm not suggesting that they follow the Times Style Guide et al to the letter, just that they get the basics right.

There certainly are! We do end up doing most of them though!
Examples of tasks that should no longer be done routinely by teachers:
?Collecting money from pupils and parents
?Investigating a pupil's absence
?Bulk photocopying
?Typing or making word processed versions or revisions of manuscript material
?Word processing, copying and distributing bulk communications to parents and pupils
?Producing class lists on the basis of information provided by teachers
?Keeping and filing records, including records based on data supplied by teachers
?Preparing, setting up and taking down classroom displays in accordance with decisions taken by teachers
?Producing analyses of attendance figures
?Producing analyses of examination results
?Collating pupil reports
?Administration of work experience (but not selecting placements and supporting pupils by advice or visits)
?Administration of public and internal examinations
?Administration of cover for absent teachers
?Ordering, setting up and maintaining ICT equipment and software
?Ordering supplies and equipment
?Cataloguing, preparing, issuing and maintaining materials and equipment and stocktaking the same
?Taking verbatim notes or producing formal minutes of meetings
?Co-ordinating and submitting bids (for funding, school status and the like) using contributions from teachers and others
?Transferring manual data about pupils not covered by the above into computerised school management systems
?Managing data in school management systems

YANBU. I do despair about what's going to become of the world. But at least if the children grow up not being able to spell and punctuate they will not be upset by newsletters when they are parents .

A school around these parts had a picture up in hall, purporting to be of the school Chaplin....

I personally do 10 of the list above on a day to day basis because quite simply schools do not have the budgets for admin staff to cover them all.

I too get riled at this sort of thing. The issue is that schools are education establishments and as such, should be setting the highest standards in academia. Or at the very least, getting punctuation right!!

so Mowgli, chances are that the document was put together by teachers? so even more reason to expect that it would be properly punctuated!

BellevilleRendezvous you could well be right but in my experience the school newsletter is something that is put together by the school admin. Most letters sent home from our school are written by the admin team.

YANBU

Mowgli, how did you do the bullets ?

YANBU

I have just sent my DS off to first school and I'm damn sure he wouldn't of been going to the one we picked if their introductory letter hit me with a big fat Its when it was supposed to say It's. I mean, these people are going to be teaching my DS during the crucial first few school years of his life.

Whatever happened to spell and grammar check on their computers anyway?

Trefusis - are you me?

I've done our school newsletter today. I've taken the utmost care with it but bearing in mind I'm doing a myriad of other things at the same time (including those on Mowgli's list) plus dialled 999 for a child having a seizure perhaps you'd forgive me the odd typo.

YANBU at all. If they cannot write in correct English, what chance is there of your child learning to write properly?

YANBU but you may be optimistic. Primary school teachers and admin staff aren't exactly the sharpest knives in the box.

Yep, riles me.

I pass a nursery on my way to work called "Smilie Dayz". That really, really winds me up!

And you weren't blessed with very good manners fiordgirl.

fiordgirl that's a bit harsh

How insulting fiordgirl.

Perhaps you should do one of those jobs yourself if you think you could do better, so that we can all learn from your great intelligence.

YANBU, for all sorts of reasons.Including the fact that a newsletter is one of the ways a school communicates to its community, so it's daft to irritate and alienate some people because no one bothered to check.
I get to check our stuff on a regular basis, and it takes less than 5 minutes. Other teachers do the same.
Our admin/office staff are wonderful, but another pair of eyes is always good.

YANBU! We got the termly plan for DS's first term at school the other day and I was horrified to see that his teacher (she had 'signed' the document) had written the phrase 'to practice handwriting'. Quel horreur!

Aargh! I can't stand the misuse of practice/practise! Nobody seems to know (or care about) the difference these days. And don't get me started about there/they're/their...

Trefusis - spot on - not meant to be patronising at all - just that the focus is more upon getting the message across than accurate grammar / punctuation.