Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think this is a bit poor.

265 replies

Highlandfling80 · 23/07/2016 06:47

At the end of the year dds school does various Awards. Most do not involve a certificate but your name appears in the newsletter.
Well my Dd received 5 Awards but on 3 of these her name was spelt wrong.
Now I know this is trivial and the end of term is busy and the odd error is expected.
However to me this is a bit sloppy.
Aibu

OP posts:
ptumbi · 24/07/2016 18:15

I've worked in a position that would make your average school office assistant's head spin on their shoulders - that's great! Really. except there is no such thing as an 'average school office assistant'. We all do many, many jobs, all a the same time. you don't seem to respect the people who are in fact in loco parentis (that means, in place of the parents for the duration Grin) - and by extension, don't think much of parents either.

I am Grin at the idea that I might delay my lunch to, you know, do my job. I never get a full lunch hour (which is in fact in my contract) and I start early, and finish later than contracted. Do you suggest that I should maybe work weekends, you know, to do my job? I do extra, over and above (as we all do, in the office and in the wider school) because that is the sort of people we are. We don't do it for the money, that's for certain!
I'm sure there are hundreds of 'lackeys' out there slavering for my 'job', but not all of them will be the right sort of person. We do our best for the kids, but sometimes mistakes are made. For which, I am sorry, and I will of course rectify.

FuckingCoat - do you never make mistakes in your head-spinning job? I'd certainly hate to work for someone who expected me to go over and above, demanded I work through my lunch, and yet who had such disdain for the job I do.

I do it because I love the job, love the kids, love the people. And I am never made to feel as if it not enough.

Highlandfling80 · 24/07/2016 18:19

Still not admitted you were wrong re the forename/surname thing I see.

OP posts:
ailith · 24/07/2016 18:32

We do know what in loco parentis means, ptumbi. Jeez
I always think of the teachers being in that role rather than the dragons in the school office / in Admin.

ailith · 24/07/2016 18:34

HighlandFling:
They are not gracious enough to offer an apology.

2kids2dogsnosense · 24/07/2016 18:43

YANBU - mind, some parents cause trouble (Yes - I'm looking at you Kriztofer's mam. I wouldn't mind if you were Polish, but you're just a f*nny)

Beeziekn33ze · 24/07/2016 18:59

Perilman. and Pumbat - I guess we should be relieved that neither of you busy admin people who aren't bothered about mistakes don't work in pharmacies, hospitals or the law.

PerspicaciaTick · 24/07/2016 19:01

My 5 letter surname was routinely misspelled until I got married and changed my name. It wasn't hard to spell, it was exactly as it sounded. But people chose to assume they knew better and would change and/or add letters or sometimes just replace the whole word with a completely different name.
The occasional mistake can be laughed off. When it happens a lot it start to feel that you simply don't matter enough for anyone to bother with what you are actually called. I used to hate getting misspelled certificates, they never really felt like they were mine.

Shona52 · 24/07/2016 19:01

It's a school surely if that want the children to get things right they have to lead by example.

goose1964 · 24/07/2016 19:04

My son has a welsh name and, having moved to England, had to put up with numerous spellings, he now goes by a short form that even the English can't misspellGrin

Pearlman · 24/07/2016 19:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BiddyJ · 24/07/2016 19:20

Yanbu, if they can't spell the kids names right, then they shouldn't be working in a professional setting, you wouldn't get away with that in any other office setting, what sort of example does it set the children, if the admin staff can't double check the surname spelling??

And before I get "blah blah blah try remembering 600 kids names and all the spellings...." Try working in a doctors office and remembering thousands of different spellings and pronunciations, the manager would eat me for breakfast for this kind if sloppiness!!!

Missgraeme · 24/07/2016 20:12

The whole point of YOU getting an award /certificate is its for YOU! If the name isn't spelt the same as yours then it not really for YOU is it?? Yes school has lots of kids but surely if you give them the correct info at the start of school it can't really be that difficult to copy it can it?

SnowCurl · 24/07/2016 20:23

Actually, I think it is quite rude to spell someone's name wrong if it has been spelt out correctly before. Surely, having gone through the school application process and then through the class register you would think they may manage to get it right. So I don't think YABU. However, I think some peoples pet peeves are different to others. But then, if they go to the trouble of announcing an award and are keen to promote positive reinforcement and self esteem they could at least make the effort to spell it correctly.

I have one of "those" names that can be spelt differently (yet is not unusual) and find it extremely annoying when people spell it wrong (I.e.) in an email or other correspondence, identity forms etc. where I have clearly signed my name and the person responding simply has to LOOK HOW IT IS SPELT! Pure laziness, IMO! Angry rant over

ailith · 24/07/2016 20:40

Pearlman

"I didn't come here to be obnoxious at all. I have stated my view and that's it. I haven't called anyone a lackey or suggested they can't do their job, so I think I am streets ahead, frankly!"

Oh really? To behave as you have, and to utterly disregard the concern of the OP, citing it as "trivial", is pretty obnoxious by any standard.

Your stance is disingenuous and your desire was to be unpleasant.

ailith · 24/07/2016 20:42

The posts preceding this one certainly do not support your "idea".

Pearlman · 24/07/2016 21:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GeorgeBernardShaw · 24/07/2016 22:29

As I have said, I really don't care.

That is self-evident from your posts. It seems to be a common attitude from schools.Hmm

"Those who can, do; those who can't, teach."

Jedimum1 · 24/07/2016 22:30

HeyRobot
In the professional world it would be embarrassing to get someone's name wrong if they were a client and I've never been in a job where if someone has made a mistake in an email we haven't apologised and made sure to check in future as it's the polite thing to do. if we want children to be polite we model that behaviour.

This. And it's not that difficult to check when you are sending this newsletter to all parents and only a lilimited number of children appear on it.

Marymoosmum14 · 24/07/2016 23:20

YANBU and it isn't trivial, it is amazing how little things like this can hurt children. I always believe it is very disrespectful to get someones name wrong and even worse to spell it wrong. It can make you feel like you are insignificant and no one cares.

WhereTheFuckIsMyFuckingCoat · 25/07/2016 01:10

I've worked in a position that would make your average school office assistant's head spin on their shoulders - that's great! Really. except there is no such thing as an 'average school office assistant'. We all do many, many jobs, all a the same time. you don't seem to respect the people who are in fact in* loco parentis (that means, in place of the parents for the duration* ) - and by extension, don't think much of parents either.

Ptumbi, I think that what you have described above, is exactly an average school office assistant. Multi tasking, while taking care over making as few clerical mistakes as possible is the main part of the job description.

And as for being the right kind of person for the job, well that would be the kind of person who cares about attention to detail while carrying out their many, quite regular daily tasks.

As for my job, of course I've made the odd mistake - who hasn't, we are all human. The difference is, I see it as a BIG DEAL! Not least because a spelling mistake that I make could slow down a process which could sadly lead to people being badly injured or losing their life. Now while I fully realise that not many jobs have this level of responsibility and consequence, it's never a good idea to be 'meh' about mistakes, it's sloppy.

Oh and please, patronising much? I've a fairly robust understanding of what In Loco Parentis means, seeing as I've been In Loco Parentis myself on many occasions.

Pearlman · 25/07/2016 08:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GeorgeBernardShaw · 25/07/2016 08:48

I went into teaching because I care about education.

We have to take your word for it. For me, your posts do not sound like someone who cares about education; or, if you do, then you care about the theory of education and not the actual pupils whom you teach.

You sound like a wind-up merchant who is enjoying a ruck for the sake of it and is determined to win by having the last post on this thread.

Pearlman · 25/07/2016 08:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GeorgeBernardShaw · 25/07/2016 09:08

I have no idea who you are. I don't know if you are a teacher or not. I don't know if you care about your pupils or not. You could be a hairy-hander trucker for all I know.
All I know are your posts and you don't come across as a caring teacher. I did a quick search on you last night because I didn't recognise your name - you hardly ever post on the Education threads and spend most of your time in AIBU.
You come across as a person who argues for the sake of it.

DonkeysDontRideBicycles · 25/07/2016 09:11

I know this is trivial and the end of term is busy and the odd error is expected.
However to me this is a bit sloppy

YANBU and to me you don't sound like you were getting it out of proportion, just reasonably irked by it.