to expect letters from my child's school to have correct grammar, spelling & punctuation?

[Rafi]

When my eight-year-old is pointing out misplaced apostrophes & spelling errors in the letters she brings home, it just seems wrong. And when there are also notices up in the building that are full of punctuation & grammar errors, it seems even worse. I know it's a fact of life that people make mistakes, but surely school staff should be taking extra trouble to get this right?

I agree with you but bet you get 1001 posts saying don't be so fussy/ it's probably the TA/ teachers work long hours...

I agree. Would make me mad.

Yanbu.

I think YANBU. If schools don't get this right, who will? Have they no pride?

YANBU but probably expecting too much. My DD's teacher wrote a letter to us the other week and I was reading it out to DH. I'd only got as far as the third sentence when DH commented that her sentence structure was awful.

I'm glad it's not just me . I'm an editor so I tend to be paranoid about this sort of thing. I think it's the office staff mainly, I've been tempted to correct stuff before & send it back. They're meant to be setting an example!

I am not a pedantic kinda person, but this one does annoy me a bit....I think it's one thing if they write a message into the homework book and there is a mistake, as that would be done in a rush...however, letters etc....they should be correct...we got a dreadful one, and I mean, it was dreadful, lots of mistakes, including their when it should have been there....etc...and in the days of Computers and spell checkers I think it is not to much to ask that letters are written correctly in grammar and spelling...
so, yanbu in my opinion

I actually mark the school's spelling mistakes with a red pen before throwing the letters in the bin. Just for my own satisfaction.

YANBU
Get out your red pen and change the signs, at least. Add a comment at the bottom: Must Try Harder. or similar.

I would be surprised to receive a note from our primary school which was well worded and correct in punctuation and spelling, correct dates a bonus feature!

After wobbegong's comment I'm going to make a confession: they have a big notice up in reception saying "IT IS A PARENTS RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THEIR CHILDREN ATTEND SCHOOL."
It's been driving me nuts for months. When I was picking DD up tonight, I stuck an apostrophe sticker on it & I'll be interested to see whether it's still there tomorrow.

Boffinmum - I wouldn't put them in the bin. I'd send them back.

I am a coward.
I would however be prepared to join a guerilla Lynn Truss style organisation that sneaked into schools at night with red marker pens and corrected misspelt signs. I have a balaclava and I am not afraid to use it.

I am a teacher and I think it is dreadful. Teachers should be able to spell. Most letters do come from the office but the office staff should also be able to spell. Once, I sent an e-mail to the office asking them to forward it to all the parents in the class. For some reason, they retyped what I had written, spelt words wrong then signed it from me! I was not amused.

(Hope I have not made any spelling mistakes )

(I'd be scared to use stick on apostrophes as I am never certain...)

How about returning them anonymously - from The Phantom Punctuator?

Oo, now there's a good idea. I could sneak them into the office letterbox.

YANBU. I am a teacher and this DRIVES ME MAD. I come across it all the time - on resource websites for use in class as well. I've now taken to asking the kids to identify the mistakes - they're really good at spotting misplaced apostrophes and the like now. Just wish they could do it in their own work...

Even though I find it appalling, please don't mark the mistakes in red pen and send the letters back. My dad did this when I was 10 and my teacher made my life a living hell afterward!

I send quite a few letters and postcards home myself, I am always paranoid about my spelling and grammar.

It should be right though

When I was 7 I asked my teacher how to spell nasturtium, what she wrote didn't look right so I looked it up in the dictionary...

& it wasn't.

Nasturtion.

Still traumatised.

Clam I think asking the kids to identify the mistakes is a great idea.

I am a teacher, and Literacy co-ordinator too. This drives me insane! Our previous head wasn't too bad, but would ask me to proofread letters which went out to parents, and I was happy to comply.

Our present head politely declined my offer and has sent out the worst mistakes I've ever seen to parents, including it's as possessive, parent's evening and a greengrocer's apostrophe in 'tomatoe's'!

He even made 2 spelling mistakes in his interview presentation to staff, and governors still gave him the job.

We wouldn't expect the same sloppy mistakes in Maths stuff - wrong dinner money invoices would be questioned, as would incorrectly totalled class photograph bills - so why accept the Literacy ones??!!

Please, keep adding apostrophe stickers - I favour the Lynne Truss balaclava and spray paint approach myself - and send back those letters circled in red biro!

Feenie, that's just scary.
And the parents don't seem bothered?

Nope. Strangely, because our parents do get wound up about weird stuff - they are a bit brown rice and sandals.

I correct spellings and punctuation in the letters that come home, and send them back.

Jux What do the school say about your returned letters!?

Letters from my son's primary school seem ok, BUT the Steiner School we have now left was dreadful!!! There were awful spelling mistakes, a lack of punctuation, and totally horrific sentance structure, to the point that on a number of occasions the letters were unclear! They even had mistakes on posters that they put up for events!!! (and yet they wonder why they are not a popular school!!!