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Original poster

Yr 1 Phonics Test - inappropriate word?!

25 replies

PrettyPenguin · 24/04/2015 22:22

I'm a bit Shock at the practise questions - which I presuming were downloaded from DfE or wherever it is they come from - that my daughter brought home this week.

There are real words mixed in with made up words (to test the child's grasp of phonics). The made up words all have little pictures of aliens/monsters next to them. Apparently 'thigh' is a made up word Hmm

But the biggest shocker is the inclusion of the word 'quim' in the made up words!!!! I suppose I ought to be glad it wasn't 'twat' or 'cunt' I suppose but still...

AIBU or should I mention this to the teacher/head?

OP posts:
Original poster
PrettyPenguin · 24/04/2015 22:23

Sorry for my double 'I suppose' !!!

OP posts:
Lavenderice · 24/04/2015 22:24

That's hilarious! Maybe mention it in a jokey way.

drbonnieblossman · 24/04/2015 22:24

What's a quim?

lomega · 24/04/2015 22:26

I had to google what it meant but yes that is not a made up word!! YANBU to be shocked but honestly it looks like that word is very old fashioned and outdated. just dont tell your DD what it means, or she'll remember to repeat it every day and tell her school friends too Grin

RachelWatts · 24/04/2015 22:26

Drbonnie, quim is an old-fashioned word which means the same as twat and cunt.

BigRedBall · 24/04/2015 22:26

What's quim?

Dd was made to write "zlog" last year. She still says it sometimes.

IrenetheQuaint · 24/04/2015 22:27

Grin Any six year old who knows what quim means should be on the g&t register for that alone.

Maybe suggest merkin and fanjo as other 'made up' words?

AuntieStella · 24/04/2015 22:27

Quim isn't a made up word!

Though I hope suppose six year olds won't have read books in which it features.

ElizabethHoover · 24/04/2015 22:28

would you really complain about this? REALLY?

MangoJuggler · 24/04/2015 22:28

Oh cripes I bet someone's Blush up at DfE!

Lavenderice · 24/04/2015 22:28

Actually it may be a Victorian word but it was used Reece toy in The Avengers, Loki called Black Widow a "mewling quim", at which point I may have snorted my diet coke out of my nose in the cinema.

Lavenderice · 24/04/2015 22:29

what the fuck is Reece toy? I meant recently, must learn to check my auto-correct!

Starlightbright1 · 24/04/2015 22:31

never heard of it...however no it wouldn't be on my list of complaints

drbonnieblossman · 24/04/2015 22:33

Shitting 'eck!!!! No way. God, I've led a sheltered life.

Yeah I'd mention it just for fun and to see her quim-- squirm.

ASorcererIsAWizardSquared · 24/04/2015 22:34

really Starlight? you wouldn't complain about the inclusion of a word that means vagina?

i would complain on two fronts.

  1. thats its there
  2. that its put as a made up word, which is isnt!
meglet · 24/04/2015 22:36

I'd know what it meant. how peculiar.

someonestolemynick · 24/04/2015 22:42

In the nicest possible way yabu.

Chances are the teacher/ whoever compiled the material probably hadn't heard of the word and just strung together some letters.

By all means mention it to the teacher so she knows not to use the word in future.

In the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter.

RandomHouseRules · 24/04/2015 22:43

I would complain about thigh being listed as a made up word first! Surely plenty of 5-6yr olds can read thigh and know what it means - hardly obscure.

I wouldn't worry about quim in the slightest tbh.

Nanny0gg · 24/04/2015 22:48

I'd mention both.

They (some) will be confused if they're told that 'thigh' isn't a real word and there shouldn't be a word in there that they're told isn't real when it is.

SingSongSlummy · 24/04/2015 22:49

Oh my, that's fantastic. That would totally make my day!! For some strange reason, one of my close social groups had always loved that word and we use it waaaay too much. I seriously object to it being used as a made up word!

WidowofBrid · 24/04/2015 23:51

Loki uses the insult mewling quim in The Avengers movie.

Lavenderice · 25/04/2015 00:11

Great minds and all that WidowofBrid

Original poster
PrettyPenguin · 27/04/2015 20:14

I'm not sure where all the other replies have disappeared to - there were two pages previously!

I decided to email school, but in a non-threatening manner Grin. Hopefully they'll take it as I meant it.

OP posts:
Pigriver · 27/04/2015 20:48

Last year, or maybe the year before there was 'nigh' as a real word. Now, how many 5/6 year olds know this as a real word was my first thought closed followed by Shock when a child with a poor grasp of phonics read it incorrectly as n-i-g-h "nigger". Not only was that bad enough and I had to pick my jaw up from the floor but my PGCE student (who is black) was sat next to me. She later said she couldn't look at me as she was trying not to laugh. She thought is was hilarious and the child had no idea what the word meant, thankfully.
They really need to think of every possible way to say each word!

guilianna · 27/04/2015 20:53

twat or cunt would be OK for the test, actually
maybe they could test entirely on 'real' and 'alien' genitalia

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