...to roll my eyes and sigh heavily at this mistake in my son's school report?

[Tokamak]

Final Parents' Evening of the year last night. DS has done really well in Reception and has exceeded expectations in nearly all areas. This produced a warming glow of paternal pride in the old chest.

He also got a glowing report. However on reading it, I saw this is in the section on social development: "...he is aware of the way his behaviour effects others."

I did think about pointing this out to the teacher, but as she's really nice and DS has done so well and been so happy in her class, I bit my lip. I used to be a primary school teacher myself and am well aware how easy it is to make a typo in reports, so maybe I can give her a pass on that; but if she really doesn't know how to use 'affect' and 'effect' correctly, it's a bit saddening.

O Tempora, O Mores.

In reception my DS's report said how well he had participated at sports day, fine but he was actually in hospital after an asthma attack!

I'd like to point out at this juncture that sex-chromosome wise, I'm an XY.

Damn I thought you'd spelled 'parental' wrong in your OP .

Am I the only one who has seen a difference in the length of school reports? When I was in primary school, the whole end of year report was one A4 page with a grade A/B/C whatever and a comment. Sometimes the comment was 'good'. Or 'a nice girl'.

The reports DC receive now are 3+ pages! So I do think that having to write so many reports can mean mistakes will be made. A lot more difficult to make a mistake when writing the word 'good' 30 times, surely?

But on the subject of basic understanding and use of language, it is slightly unreasonable if she doesn't know the difference, but not unreasonable for a mistake to have been made. You don't know which it is, so let it go.

As Lynne Truss would say "No matter that you have a PhD and have read all of Henry James twice. If you still persist in writing, 'Good food at it's best', you deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave.?

I wouldn't say Lynne Truss is an evil witch, but since she's so fond of hyperbole, she probably would.

I am the most pedantic person I know, and I would have noticed the mistake. But I wouldn't even consider pointing it out to the teacher (though when I was a child I probably would have done!). I have occasionally made mistakes like this myself even though I know the correct usage perfectly well.

Actually just earlier today I was writing another post and somehow typed 'two' instead of 'too', and only noticed it in preview (just as I was about to click 'post'). That doesn't mean I don't know the difference between the words, just that it's very easy to make these mistakes and not notice until you proof-read (and occasionally not even then!).

I would be rolling my eyes too. Then again, I have worked with people who can't differentiate between 'accept' and 'except' and between 'than' and 'then'.

In the context of a school report, it doesn't really matter. If it was on a grammar/spelling test then I would expect it to be correct.

I was starting to get very excited at the last sheet of paper of DS2's report which gave him a grade 4b for Geography, 4b for History and 4a for science and commented on how well his French was coming along.

I was composing my MN stealth boast important question about grades when I remembered he is actually in Reception and there might be a possibility that that page wasnt actually his.

Oh dear, I'll have to content myself with the fact he is "a delightful, kind and caring little boy"

Did you spot the VPM moment there? :-)

I am feeling a bit sorry for the year 4 child whose last page comments on their expertise in forming cursive letters and knowing their number bonds to 10!

All you need to do, to avoid obvious errors in school reports, is to swap with colleagues for proof-reading purposes.

Otherwise they will go out, riddled with mistakes, which imo, is not acceptable.

And I don't think it's petty to mention it. If every report goes out with errors, some of which are glaring, it does say something about the standard the school sets itself. You don't have to go off the deep end, but a polite pointing-out is not unreasonable.

Get over yourself

Not read whole thread but...

When I am trying to get something typed out quickly I will often use the wrong their/they're or your/you're. I know exactly how they are meant to be used but trying to get through 30 school reports might be exactly the time when rushing makes me type the wrong one.

Of course in an official document like a school report proper proof reading should be expected, but, I don't think it necessarilly means that the teacher doesn't know the difference in when they are used, it could just be a reflection of time pressure and failure to proof-read throroughly.

Still not great, but doesn't mean she doesn't know the difference.

Each term this year ds has been sent home with a curriculum sheet and on the back a list of the general things they should be doing.

This includes '*Daily spelling practise' when it should be practice - not sure if this counts as a spelling or grammatical mistake but the irony of it being in the line that says to do daily spelling is

The more worrying thing though is that I pointed it out to ds's class teacher the first term, who agreed it was wrong and was going to point it out to the head of year who was responsible for the leaflet. The next term I also pointed out the mistake had been replicated again - and she was even more embarrassed and said she would be talking to the head of year to make sure it was changed on everything. And guess what - this term the leaflet came out again and it still had the same mistake on.

silverlace - nice to see they were paying such good attention! DS had similar last term - he was off the last week of term with flu and got back to discover he had been awarded a certificate by the local council education officer on the last day of term for a full term's attendance at school - when he'd actually had a week off. Ironically this term I don't think he will get one despite being there every day as I'm guessing they might include his sick days from last term...

Tokamak, I am not going to miss the opportunity you have presented.

Please explain when it it correct to use Effect and when it is correct to use Affect, I am confused myself.

Thank you teacher

Practise
This is the verb ?to practise? and also the adjective from that verb (bullet 4 below).

Examples:
I practise the piano.
You are practising golf.
The doctor has been practising for 10 years.
He is a practised man.
Practice
This is the noun ?the practice? (as in ?piano practice? and ?a doctor?s practice?).

Examples:
I have done my football practice.
Without enough practice, she would not get better at English.
Practice makes perfect.
She visits her local doctor?s practice.

When Should You Use Affect?
Affect with an a means "to influence," as in, "The arrows affected Ardvark," or "The rain affected Amy's hairdo." Affect can also mean, roughly, "to act in a way that you don't feel," as in, "She affected an air of superiority."

When Should You Use Effect?
Effect with an e has a lot of subtle meanings as a noun, but to me the meaning "a result" seems to be at the core of all the definitions. For example, you can say, "The effect was eye-popping," or "The sound effects were amazing," or "The rain had no effect on Amy's hairdo."

Back in yr1 my daughter apparently had "a flare for literacy"...

Thats very funny Ecolady

Some of these errors are so poor though that it really is not that funny!

Is your child happy at school? Are they doing well? Is the teacher hard working? Is your child hard working?
Are you perfect all of the time OP?

I've just read your posts again OP.
You sound like a real joy.

50shadesofstress thank you!!

Oh dear!
tryingnottofeckup posted this on the first page and I can't see that anyone has spotted it...

As part of my work I used to write reports, I had to be fast, concise and accurate. Whilst my grammer and spelling are pretty good (praying that I don't make a mistake in this post)

What is the world coming to?

Lol, grammer!

I am sure that was a test!

Has nobody picked up on tryingtonotfeckup 's claasic grammer spelling mistake?!

And my 'classic' typo. Facepalm!

Sorry, have been in meetings and working most of the afternoon so only just checked back in. Thanks for all the responses - some think I am being reasonable and others not. Fair enough. As I said I had no intention of saying anything to the teacher as DS has done so well and been so happy there.

Please explain when it it correct to use Effect and when it is correct to use Affect, I am confused myself.

It is a subtle difference, admittedly, but 50shades covers it pretty well.

Generally, 'affect' is a verb meaning to have an influence on something, so what the teacher meant was that my son was aware of how his behaviour influences others around him - ie how it affects them.

'Effect' is a noun and is the result of an influence. So to expand, the teacher could have said that DS "...was aware of the affect his behaviour had on others. The effect it had was to..."

You can use it as a verb, though - for example you can 'effect a change', ie make one.

I've just read your posts again OP. You sound like a real joy.

Apologies, Kitty.