Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to expect school to communicate in decent English?

32 replies

MargeSimpsonMyAlterEgo · 31/10/2007 19:23

My DSs attend a secondary school which is one of the best in the country for GCSE grades, but the headmistress can't construct a decent letter to save her life. I have just received a notice to attend their Fireworks night which is "Formally held at D%$ School". It is obvious that it should be "Formerly held at D%$ school" whereas now they are holding it on their own grounds. How can we expect our kids to pay attention when the teachers don't? And it's not really about grammar, it's about caring whether something is correct and leading by example. Call me picky if you like - yes, I am!

OP posts:
dooley1 · 31/10/2007 19:24

maybe her secretary typed it out... but yes, that is bad...

olala · 31/10/2007 19:26

this is so common in our school it is a noteworthy event if we have a letter home that is not filled with errors. Even my Ds's spelling list once had a spelling mistakE! I kid you not:
Trembel
YEs. To help him learn how to spell tremble, he had to write out trembel 10 times. was breathtakingly informative!

willbiteyourneckandmakeulikeme · 31/10/2007 19:30

crikey, my spellings s**t. headteaching here i come!!
(i knew there was a job out there somewhere)

bookofthedeadmum · 31/10/2007 19:36

Her secretary probably typed it but that's no excuse for sending out it with the wrong spellings on. If you can't 'see' wrong spellings or poor grammar, there's usually someone about who can proof read a document for you.

Original poster
MargeSimpsonMyAlterEgo · 31/10/2007 19:40

Ah! Back to the dreaded school secretary - see BatteriesNotIncluded thread. Is anyone out there a school secretary?!

OP posts:
larry5 · 31/10/2007 19:43

I worked in a school office at one time as a secretary and all the school admin team used to cringe at some of the letters the head typed and wanted sent out. He did most of his own word processing and would post letters out after the school office had closed. So please don't always blame the school secretary.

bookofthedeadmum · 31/10/2007 19:47

I'm a secretary but not a school one. I've seen some appalling creations by my bosses though. Some couldn't spell to save their lives. This is the problem when people try to do their own admin at the same time as running something - be it an office or a school. Something is going to give.

Incidentally, I've noticed that some of the worst spellers tend to be engineers - and I include my own Dad with them! I guess they're so wrapped up with technical details, the minor stuff just slips through .

Original poster
MargeSimpsonMyAlterEgo · 31/10/2007 19:57

Hey - I wouldn't expect an engineer to spell well (my DS2 spells however he likes but he can make and mend things just like his dad & he's only 11. Actually his dad is an engineer and has perfect spelling but I think that's more to do with his perfectionist side....) But a teacher? And the headmistress of allegedly one of the best state schools in the country? Yes, I do expect it. (And larry5 I don't think it's anything to do with the secretary, actually)

OP posts:
ekra · 31/10/2007 20:05

Perhaps the headteacher dictates her letters and the secretary listens to the audio and types them up. It's feasible that even a good speller or someone who usually shows good attention to detail was having an off day and absentmindedly typed formally instead of formerly. I don't suppose schools put as many resources into proof-reading random letters home as they do school publications.

OverMyDeadBody · 31/10/2007 20:07

I'd correct the letters with red pen and send them back anonymously! I do this to publications that get sent to me for advertising

olala · 31/10/2007 20:09

overmydeadbody - i like your style! i did that once in a posh dinner fundraisey thingy which had a menu sat in the middle of the table stating that we were to be served 'roast potato's' WHY WHY WHY?!

Original poster
MargeSimpsonMyAlterEgo · 31/10/2007 20:10

OverMyDeadBody you are a genius and this is exactly what I will do!

Feel great now!

OP posts:
OverMyDeadBody · 31/10/2007 20:13

Don't get me started on the misuse of apostrophes! That is probably the most common mistake I find and it makes me cross!!! (I think there have been other threads on just this!).

It's not hard to get is right is it?

Glad I'm not the only one who corrects!

OverMyDeadBody · 31/10/2007 20:14

lol glad you feel better! It is a very satisfying feeling, sending a letter back with red ink all over it!

Wallace · 31/10/2007 20:16

How about this sentence in a letter from school:

"This will not be a bad experience - indeed quite the opposite - but it does make an impact on the children in a very positive way."

olala · 31/10/2007 20:17

wallace, truly a work of genius. inspirational.
how about this
'please remember that all children need a PE kit for tomorrow as tommorow is the winter sports day which will be held on 1 November'

Wallace · 31/10/2007 20:20

lovely

TheQueenOfQuotes · 31/10/2007 20:22

My Headteacher (who was also my English teacher) couldn't spell or write neatly to save himself - but my god he was a FABULOUS English teacher (anyone that got me through my English Higher exam with a B deserves praise - even if they can't spell or write properly LOL).

bookofthedeadmum · 31/10/2007 20:28

Olala - using the same word twice in a sentence (and mispelling it the second time)? [tut icon]. Whoever wrote that sentence should be made to rephrase it into English My yr6 teacher would certainly have made me re-write it.

Original poster
MargeSimpsonMyAlterEgo · 31/10/2007 20:30

Good point QueenofQuotes - but clearly you can spell and construct proper sentences! I guess he earned your respect by his inspirational teaching. I guess I might forgive these errors if the school impressed me sufficiently in other ways....?! Hmmm - bit hypocritical perhaps. I still think good english is important though.

OP posts:
TheQueenOfQuotes · 31/10/2007 20:33

spell?? me??? No I can't - my spelling has only "improved" recently since DH installed the latest Firefox browser which "detects" spelling errors and lets you change them (like in word)

Original poster
MargeSimpsonMyAlterEgo · 31/10/2007 20:39

Aha!! But presumably the school has Word too......

OP posts:
RustyBear · 31/10/2007 20:46

Yes, but Word wouldn't tell you that 'formally' was wrong in this instance, as both spelling and grammar are actually correct - it just doesn't mean what the writer thought it did.

PieMama2007 · 31/10/2007 20:52

YANBU. Always disappointed at bad English - you'd expect more from education professionals ;o>

What about lists of plurals where some have apostrophes and some don't, e.g. pie's, beans and chip's - what's the logic there? Grrrr - feel a rant coming on....

bookofthedeadmum · 31/10/2007 22:45

In the of the pie's and the chip's they don't need apostrophes at all.

Not unless the pies and chips were being shown to possess something which was being referred to in the same sentence.... and even then they're in the wrong places! What letter is missing which the apostrophe is rplacing??