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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Should a primary teacher be able to spell?

125 replies

Cortina · 14/04/2011 15:05

Last year our primary teacher couldn't spell, I assumed that it was a one off. It's happened again this year with a different teacher. The teacher commonly changes the correct spelling for an incorrect one it seems, separate to seperate, a lot to alot and so on.

Does it matter for Y2 or Y3? I haven't complained as I see no upside. Perhaps it really isn't important, no one values it so much any more, that much is clear.

OP posts:

heliumballoons · 14/04/2011 23:07

I agree they should have basic spelling and know how to spell - hence why I'm trying to memorize (sp?) words that infant children use. I can actually use the correct here/hear allowed/aloud etc but knowing I'm bad at it I do check my writing.

I just think if you have a fantastic teacher who really motivates pupils to learn you can let the odd mistake go - as I did re DS report. I did start a AIBU about it though att. (not a serious one).

I had - in Juniors - a teacher who was a perfect speller, very neat writing, very precise - crap and horrid teacher though - only year in my whole school career I hated.

And yes, if your setting spellings for pupils to learn of course you should get them right.

madwomanintheattic · 14/04/2011 23:21

but what about correcting them in written work? or getting them wrong in letters home? or correcting correct spellings to make them incorrect?

the entire situation is mad. i run a youth group where i get to occasionally see the written work of 12/13 yos. i know they aren't in school. i know i'm not a teacher. but it's basic basic stuff that they should know by that age. it's far too late to be correcting it before gcses. your you're / there their they're / would of should of - yr 2 stuff! they shouldn't be getting it wrong in yr 7/8/9! but it starts with primary school teachers.

it's not new though. i started an english degree about 15 years ago as a mature student, and remember an exchange tutor from the us stopping a seminar, and basically saying his job was completely impossible because the undergrads had no grasp of spelling, grammar, or punctuation. he set up remedial classes.

for students doing an english literature degree. you would've thought that they might have come across examples in a few books which might have given them a clue... but if they've never had their errors corrected, why would they suddenly start at that point? they are effectively being taught that it doesn't matter whether you can spell or not, as long as your work is vaguely comprehensible.

i was offered two 'e's at a level to start four different teacher training courses at 18. two 'e's! that was the standard offer for teacher training. if you scraped through your a levels, you could be a teacher - if you wanted to go onto any other degree course, the pressure was on to get sound academic results.

it's no wonder (some) primary school teachers can't spell, really.

IntentionallyBlank · 14/04/2011 23:32

We should really put all these examples together so that Mumsnet can produce a Pedants' Corner Guide to Spelling and Grammar, explaining the correct use of your and you're, whose and who's etc. Ideally we would be able to order them to be sent anonymously to our children's schools each time the need arises. We have to try to break this rather depressing cycle somehow.

MrsSchadenfreude · 14/04/2011 23:34

We had a note home from the teacher once:

Could you're children please make sure they have there packed lunch's and raincoat's with them for there trip tomorrow.

NQT.

(Not Quite a Teacher?)

madwomanintheattic · 14/04/2011 23:35

madwomanintheattic · 14/04/2011 23:39

actually - on the whole mn campaigns issue, i do wonder if there is a little room for an interest in educational standards. is there anywhere else where vast numbers of parents actually fetch up to chat about this stuff? anyone want to start a thread on a tes forum?

hmc · 15/04/2011 00:01

As someone who has learnt not to be hung up about spelling ( I can't be, my nearly 9 year old dyslexic dd has a spelling age of 6 years old), I agree with Blu "It is absolutely imperative that a primary teacher spells things correctly! It is not imperative that she be an innately good speller - many people are not - but she should definitely realise it's a weakness and make every attempt to check and double check her spelling"

That's an important distinction - you can be both a poor speller and an inspirational teacher, the two are not mutally exclusive - but a good teacher should recognise his/ her own limitations and triple check spellings for accuracy

ilovesooty · 15/04/2011 00:31

anyone want to start a thread on a tes forum?

I started one recently. The responses were...interesting.

community.tes.co.uk/forums/t/474432.aspx?PageIndex=1

SolarPanel · 15/04/2011 00:33

YANBU. Yes, it does matter. There are enough people who can spell who could also be excellent teachers, and these are the people who should be employed and encouraged to teach.

EllenJane1 · 15/04/2011 00:42

So remind me someone, is it who's for who is or who has and whose for it belongs to who?

EllenJane1 · 15/04/2011 00:43

Or is that it belongs to whom?

echt · 15/04/2011 00:45

I always wondered if you were the same ilovesooty as the one on the TES boards.

madwomanintheattic · 15/04/2011 04:17

omg sooty. i've just read the tes thread from beginning to end.

i suspect i may have a girl crush on you.

who knew, eh?

Bubbaluv · 15/04/2011 04:40

If it's only occasional then maybe it's just when she marks after wine?

asdx2 · 15/04/2011 05:06

Every letter we get home from school has spelling mistakes in. I imagine someone has commented to the HT as he made a joke about his poor spelling in one of the letters home.I think it looks very poor tbh but it's a great school so I suck it up.
I did wince though when the letter inviting me to dd's AR had six spelling mistakes in a two paragraph letter that has been sent to professionals and is the bank letter kept on file Would have thought the office staff would have used the spellchecker before distributing tbh.

Original poster

Cortina · 15/04/2011 08:41

More cringeworthy is when a spell-checker has been used but the incorrect word chosen! Recent letter informed us the headmaster has a duel role on the horizon. Let's hope he wins! Also lots of 'realizes' dotted about and 'program' of events, but these can be more easily forgiven.

OP posts:

ashamedandconfused · 15/04/2011 08:53

PMSL at "duel"

ElsieMc · 15/04/2011 10:10

I looked through my DS2's reading record and the teacher had spelt friends "freinds". She had also spelt his name incorrectly.

The TA had written "Great reading Kipper, oops sorry your (sic) not Kipper".

Also she had signed her (own) name incorrectly and then put "I don't know who I am...."

Great.

BringBackGoingForGold · 15/04/2011 11:14

YusMilady, thank you for saying it. And LeQueen, . I'm all for teachers being better paid and supported, and given more respect (one of my parents is a teacher and I know very well what they have to deal with), but only if they are professionally competent enough to deserve better pay, support and respect.

Also, IF, and it's a big if, a teacher doesn't have decent spelling as second nature, they should at least have enough nous to check their own work with a dictionary or get someone else to check it.

Insert1x50p · 15/04/2011 11:28

Yes, it's absolutely imperative and I would complain to the Head about any teacher who was consistently misspelling words.

The one competitive advantage our children are likely to have in the global economy they will inherit is that they will be native English speakers. I would recommend that they maximise that advantage and not end up with a poorer grasp of the English language than some Chinese kid. It's embarrassing.

LeQueen · 15/04/2011 11:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Niecie · 15/04/2011 11:48

It matters and you should speak to the teacher. How are they supposed to know how to improve if nobody tells them they have it wrong? It would be like the teacher not correcting the child's spelling at this time of year because they were moving up to a new teacher in a few months and the new teacher could sort it out.

It is all very well saying that the teachers should self correct and that is fine but they don't always notice. If they have been spelling 'a lot' as 'alot' for the past 20 or 30 yrs and nobody has noticed then they aren't going to notice now unless it is pointed out. There is a difference between typos or having a momentary lapse (or the whatever the writing equivilent is of typo) and not actually being able to spell in the first place which is obviously the case when the teachers are correcting the correct spelling back to incorrect.

I also think it has to come from you. I know of a couple of children who take great delight telling the teacher when they have something wrong. It does not go down well. The teacher can get a bit snippy with the child. A friend's child has repeatedly corrected her maths teacher and she hasn't taken it well - the child doesn't think the teacher likes her much which is a shame. The child, and the others who have noticed the error, now don't tell the teacher any more. It isn't worth it, so she says, because the teacher either doesn't believe them or doesn't appreciate them telling her. Much better if you point it out - tactfully of course. It still needs doing though.

SlackSally · 15/04/2011 12:25

'Yours sincerely, or Yours faithfully, not Yours Sincerely! If you know the person by name the first is correct, if Dear Sir, the second.'

Since people were talking about spelling primarily, I thought you meant that 'sincerely' was spelt incorrectly. I do know how to address/sign off a letter, honestly.

mitochondria · 15/04/2011 12:44

I'm a teacher. I never mind if children correct me, in fact it pleases me that they know something!

I'd also like to know if I was getting something wrong, I wouldn't mind if parents pointed out mistakes.

olderandwider · 15/04/2011 13:06

Back in the day, we were taught all those tricky spellings, punctuations, homophones and contractions by having to a) choose the right word and b) construct and write sentences using the word correctly.

Thinking of and then writing a whole sentence encodes the word much better than writing one single word into a pre-printed sentence on a worksheet or ticking a box to select the correct word. Children are using more areas of the brain for the task.
Weekly spelling tests and lots of practice are the only ways to learn good spelling. Dull but true.

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