To think that spelling/grammar should count toward NVQs?

[sungirltan]

I made a complaint today at dd's nursery about the appalling grammar and spelling in her learning journey. I spoke to the nursery owner, not the keyworker who looks after dd. I love dd's keyworker, I think she is brilliant and I am 100% happy with her care of my child plus she makes a big effort to let me know how dd is getting on and what has been done during the day. She is and all around lovely girl.

Owner was very sympathetic and glad I had brought it up but explained that the college/company who run/assess the NVQs do not check spelling and grammar on the student's written work and that this has been a big problem in the past. One parent hit the roof last year because a card came home which read 'happy farther's day'.

I am appalled. At level 3 of an NVQ you are alowed to open your own nursery - yet nobody cares that you cannot spell/construct clear reports or paperwork.

AIBU to think that if you work in education in a teaching capacity that your written work should be of an accpetable standard? I am not cross with the NN themselves - just the poor, poor standard of support and teaching they are receiving.

LeQueen

and had no idea there was an argument to supposedly loose with you

With respect, I think you mean LOSE.

lavrai - arn't you hteo ne telling us we should stop bf to cater for our husbands? (disregards everything lavrai ever says, ever)

lequeen - it is patronising yes and makes it look as though these young people are remedial. Not academic doesn't equal thick.

its true though LeQ and your mil is a good example. eduacational standards at present are not very good! some bugger has been paid loads to rename tutor groups 'pods' but kids are leaving school (and an education systme famed across the world) who simply cannot read and write to a high standard. its pretty black and white to me. school is supposed to prepare kids for their working lives - how did spelling and grammar leave that equation?

Birdsgottafly

Would that apply to the more 'vocational' sort of degrees - like child care or nursery work? I don't remember allowance being given for NVQ or any other qualification (either reduction in duration or credit against any specific subjects) on my degree course.

I believe that only a minority of people with NVQs actually progress to a degree. Most use their NVQ as a certificate of achievement in it's own right.

ime lots of mature students use an nvq to gain access to HE degrees, and of course standards are high and marked according to grammar/spelling

and also schools seem too preoccupied with written standards of english (primary level) to the detriment of other subjects. balance isn't right at all.

queen - its just crap. they don't know what an adverb is but they also don't know how to budget, cook a simple meal, wire a plug, take up a hem, read the small print on a contract and lots of other essential life skills imo.

If you're going to complain about the poor spelling and grammar used by someone else, then you could at least bother to use capital letters and correct spelling yourself.

And yes, I am aware of the difference between a Learning Journey which you will keep forevermore and an internet thread which will disappear in a day, but if you're going to complain about spelling, grammar and punctuation I think you should be spot on yourself.

Pendeen it knocks a year off a Nursing drgree and counts towards other social care degrees (i don't know about any others), in its own right it isn't equilalent to an A Level, only in terms of moving on to further qualifications. All social care degrees need a equivalent to a GCSE in English and Maths gained within the last three years.

Sungirltan I agree that the NN ought to have a good standard of spelling and be able to spot and explain the difference in homophones such as farther/father.

I wouldn't be that bothered if someone said they didn't know what a verb or an adverb was because normally they do, and if you explain and give them examples and ask for them back, they're away.

Lequeen not being picky, but...

You can't post about how people are judged on their literacy skills, which they are, and then explain away your own mistakes by claiming you have different standards for different situations.

Lequeen okay. I don't claim my literacy skills are perfect either, not least because I once did and was utterly humiliated by my former boss who set me a test in front of the whole office.

I don't blame him. He was teaching me a harsh lesson in not to be such a know-all. My literacy skills remain the same but I've never forgotten that lesson.

I don't understand how you can turn it off and on like a tap. I can't do that.

Barring accidents, how to spell, punctuate or use apostrophes is in my head and it's not a choice to do it rightly or wrongly. I just do it.

Anyway, I'm not an English teacher, so it doesn't matter that much.

I must say I'd be coming to see you if you were teaching my child and you spelled apparently, for instance, as apparantly. Or misplaced apostrophes or split one word into two or used commas where I didn't think they needed to go.

But I understand that you're not an English teacher either, so it doesn't matter, does it?

I won't address this to anyone in particular or I may be told I to fuck off or that I have a chip on my shoulder. However some people really do take the biscuit.

Maybe, as they allow themselves to not bother to check their writing because they can't be arsed [how ironic given the subject] they could offer a little bit of empathy to a NN who is the key worker for up to 8 DC.

Said NN has probably just been clearing up sick, changing a nappy, cuddled a child who needs one, reading a story, playing a game and just at the time she is supposed to write the learning journeys for each of her key children, one of them pours water over themselves or is crying because they can't find the picture they have drawn for Mummy.

So the NN only has 1 min per learning journey instead of the 3 she is suppposed to have. I wonder what most parents would prefer, for her to ignor the child so she can do the LJ, for her to decide she cannot possibly fill them in then check for spelling mistakes in this time, or to quickly fill it in and hope the parent doesn't mind the odd mistake? I know which kind of NN I would prefer my DDs to have.

Also going back to the OP. Confusing words such as FARTHER and FATHER is one of the classic signs of dyslexia.

lequeen My ex-boss was still alive last time I looked. But I hold out hope for a lingering and painful death. Then I might deface his gravestone

I don't even know what an NVQ is.

I thought it was for people who weren't bright enough to do A levels or degrees. happy to have been corrected though.