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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to put a note in dds homework pointing out the teachers errors

236 replies

brook1 · 13/12/2009 20:30

My dd did some comprehension homework last week and brought it home on Friday after it had been marked by the teacher (or possibly ta).

One of the answers my daughter put to her question was "they would have been fed to the sharcks".

The teacher has crossed out fed and replaced it with feed and has crossed out the "c" from "sharcks" and replaced it with an "e" so it now reads "they would have been feed to the shareks".

We are not allowed to speak to the teachers in the mornings about any issues unless they are urgent so we have to make an appointment. I didnt think it was worthy of wasting an appointment but I do feel like it needs pointing out.

DH thinks I will look stroppy if I put a note in.

AIBU.

OP posts:

MaggieAnFiaRua · 13/12/2009 20:32

i wouldn't. i was so tempted to correct my dd's teacher a few times last year. but he was such a nice man and the children absolutely LOVED him. He was great, he just didn't know where to use an apostrophe. I'm glad now I sat on my hands and didn't write a pissy little note.

TimothyTigerTuppennyTail · 13/12/2009 20:34

Errm, I think the 'e' might be being used to indicate an error.

They use it at my friend's DD's school.

Original poster

brook1 · 13/12/2009 20:34

Thanks Maggie, but its not always the teachers who do the marking is it.

OP posts:

SleighBelleDameSansMerci · 13/12/2009 20:35

What a dilemma! I would probably say something given that she's responsible for teaching your child. So YANBU in my opinion.

I once had a letter from Ofsted requesting a reference for a friend who'd applied for a job. I've still never seen a worse letter for both grammatical and spelling errors.

Do think basic grasp of English and spelling is nice in a teacher...

Original poster

brook1 · 13/12/2009 20:36

Timothy, no thats not the case here, because the other words that have been corrected dont have an "e".

OP posts:

littleducks · 13/12/2009 20:42

cant you write a note saying something like:

dd is a little confused about the marking of her homework, i told her the sentence should read 'they would have been read to the sharks' and that you have used 'e' to signpost her errors, dd however is adamant that the sentence is 'they would have been feed to the shareks' corrected

Then it highlights the error without saying FGS cant you spell shark????

clam · 13/12/2009 20:43

How about re-correcting over the top. With a note, if you must, saying "hope you don't mind."
With any luck, she'd be too embarrassed to quibble. And if it wasn't her who marked it, but a TA (which surprises me, as I would think it fairly important as part of Assessment for Learning that the teacher does it herself), then it's important that she is made aware of what's going out in her name.

As a teacher myself, I think it totally unacceptable for such basic errors on work, particularly in a homework book, which they know parents are going to be looking at often.

CitizenPrecious · 13/12/2009 20:43

My nephew in Y5 put a note in his homework folder correcting his teacher's spelling, and saying he was appalled at the standard of her work

She handed it back to him with a note saying "yes, but what are YOU going to do about it, eh?"

corriefan · 13/12/2009 20:50

I wouldn't. What's it going to achieve? Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. It's such a bizarre error anyway it sounds like a sort of typo rather than lack of knowledge.

duckyfuzz · 13/12/2009 20:52

if you do, I suggest you check your own spelling/grammar/punctuation very carefully!

YanknChristmasCrackers · 13/12/2009 20:55

My father took it upon himself to correct, grade and return a letter from my 5th grade teacher (not sure what this corresponds to here, but I was 10).

Let's just say the teacher, who wasn't particularly nice anyway, was even more horrid to me for the rest of the year.

If this is happening consistently, make an appointment and discuss it. If not, let this one go, or you will look stroppy.

Original poster

brook1 · 13/12/2009 20:57

Yes ducky, but its irrelevant whether I can spell or not because I'm not being paid to teach. And if a teacher is going to correct a childs spelling then I think it just looks ridiculous to correct it incorrectly.

OP posts:

CristinaTheAstonishing · 13/12/2009 20:59

Sounds like some confusion.

DH corrected DS's teacher about some point of historical fact. They continued it in a friendly manner at some school function, it helped they were both passionate about history.

Original poster

brook1 · 13/12/2009 21:02

I am now thinking though that it may come across as stroppy and am undecided what to do.

The same homework referred my daughter to page 47 of the reading book yet the book only went up to page 45, and the answer was actually on page 37, not 47. And last week she brought a reading book home with the school name/address stamp stamped over a page of text half way through the book.

On the whole the school is good and the teacher is lovely and caring. But it just feels like a few things have happened and this has just tipped me to comment.

OP posts:

HumphreyCobbler · 13/12/2009 21:03

If it is just a one off then leave it. If there is a continuing problem with the teacher's spelling then you need to take it further. That is a really odd error to make, more of a typo than a spelling mistake imo.

HumphreyCobbler · 13/12/2009 21:08

I can tell you that these things do happen. I once gave out the wrong homework to my class (it was differentiated three ways and I got them mixed up), everyone got the wrong level.

I was spoken to by one parent as if I had committed a crime. As if I had got up that morning and said to myself "How can I sabotage X's education today - I know I'll give them the wrong homework" .

It was so depressing. There I was working my arse off trying to give these children the best education I could, thinking up different activities, spending my own money on stuff for the classroom, thinking about my class all the time. And all that man could do was give me grief for handing out the wrong sheet.

If you are generally happy with the school then let it go.

Kaloki · 13/12/2009 21:10

I used to get my mum to correct one of my teacher's corrections when I was in primary school. That teacher never really liked me much, but it was mutual. She shouldn't have been teaching English if she had no grasp of grammar & spelling.

alicet · 13/12/2009 21:17

As long as the note is friendly I don't think there is anything wrong with this.

However as there have been a couple of problems recently I would make an appointment to discuss it tbh. Again don't need to make a song and dance about it and can be totally friendly but it needs pointing out. The reason I say this is that however friendly and well intentioned a note can be it is always possible that it reads pissy.

yummyyummyyummy · 13/12/2009 21:17

NO NO No! Don't do it it would be incredibly rude !!

IHaventHadTiger · 13/12/2009 21:17

oh dont be a ponce
unless it happens all the time

bloomingnora · 13/12/2009 21:18

My dad was once so exhausted (marking books at 1am) that he wrote "Check kitchen for security" as the comment on a pupil's homework and returned it to them the next day......

IdrisTheDragon · 13/12/2009 21:20

It is possible that the teacher made a mistake - she knows how to spell but after having marked lots of books her pen slipped and she got it wrong.

Sending a note in would be a little over the top I think.

victoriascrumptious · 13/12/2009 21:22

Let it go. Unless you want to look petty

corriefan · 13/12/2009 21:24

I have to say I find the pleasure people get from picking fault with teachers quite vindictive. I'm wondering whether these people had a bad time at school and if it's somehow payback?
I often spot mistakes in letters from my son's school and I'd never point them out. I think it's disrespectful, it's not going impinge on my child's learning and overall they are doing a fantastic job.
Children learn to spell from everywhere, not just teachers. So maybe these parents should brush up on their own spelling so they can actually help their children rather than teach them how to outdo the teacher. I'm with you Humphrey, the effort you put in, the pressure, trying to do a billion things at once, means you do make little mistakes sometimes. Luckily there's always a jobsworth there to make themselves feel better by pointing it out for you.

Original poster

brook1 · 13/12/2009 21:32

corriefan - you work in a school by any chance do you?

Am not picking fault with the teacher at all, I just think its a bit odd when a teacher alters a childs spelling yet cant spell it themeselves, or in this case, also alters a complete word in the incorrect context.

I also think that pointing out spelling mistakes in letters from school is not at all the same as me pointing out to the teacher that she has incorrectly corrected my dds homework. My dd has seen the homework and knows that "they would have been feed to the sharkes" makes no sense.

OP posts:

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