The lack of correction of Spelling by Primary Schoolteachers

[ELIlford]

This is a real irritation, In short my children will have their school homework marked, particularly work completed by themselves with a tick from their teachers ...Oh Great work Well Done etc etc etc and there will be poor grammar and spelling mistakes, not corrected.

Other parents within their classes also agree

This state primary he goes to in London is meant to be according to Ofsted Brilliant and outstanding, however not in my books.

I know the old cliche it was better in my day but my siblings and I undertook an independent school education ( Which our parents sacrificed alot for)all at Primary and the teaching was very strict on spelling grammar and Arithmetic.

I worry seriously about their future and am thinking the private route may be the sacrifice that will warrant proper teaching, as the academic standard is poor in this so called outstanding school.

Any comments interested to hear from those in independent sector if they have found the same problem......!!!!

The point is, OP, that you are clearly not in the best position to judge whether the school is teaching spelling and grammar adequately since you can't use either very accurately yourself.

juniper - I wouldn't mind if the teachers didn't set homework, but it is very demotivating for DD to work hard on a piece of work, hand it in and for it never to be mentioned again. Why set the homework if the teachers aren't interested in looking at it?

It is embarrassing for the OP but also a bit petty to claim the OP's whole point is undermined by her typos. Plenty of parents wish schools put more emphasis on correct spelling.
BTW please don't pick on me if I have typos too...

piprabbit If I could refuse to set homework then I would, but it's not my decision to make. In fact, my school bows to the pressure of parents hence why we still set homework.

I do mark the homework books, but they are not a high priority when I've just spent hours marking Big Write with useful feedback, and when I have a million and one other things to be doing... like writing reports.

You are right Beezmum.

I agree with Juniper, I hate homework, and I hate marking it even more, but the school says we have to set something, so I do. Of course, my sneaky system means that the kids actually want to do it, I'm not stuck marking 30 worksheets every day, and the parents and admin think that I'm incredibly creative lol!

the reezon so menny teechers doo not mark speling misteaks is cos they are crappe spellerz

I too am finding op's posts impossible to read.
I agree with many of the comments, that posters, who are obviously teachers, have written.
Ds1(9) is a great speller. Weekly spelling tests of 10 words. I suggest op just works on this, at home.
Nit all his errors are corrected, sine are. They focus on comma's. Then the difference between there, theirs, etc. Sometimes its just best creative writing , with good grammar and wow words. At our school, the balance seems very good.

If the OP was simply saying that the teaching of spelling and grammar in primary schools isn't good enough, then yes, no need to comment on her own issues. But as she is saying that her own education was apparently soooo much better than today, then her lack of basic understanding of grammar does become relevant.

Exactly, Lorelai.

Drove me mad too, if you start correcting from the beginning, learn the words with spelling mistakes etc etc, it never becomes onerous and also becomes habitual to check your work properly

I agree Hully. I can understand the need for creative writing, but I don't think it should sit in isolation - there should be some form of spelling assessment from an early age too. At some point, not to far into their school careers, creative writing and correct spelling should merge imo. Our primary does take this approach, but I presumed every school did? Seems to be the norm around here anyway.

As for the poorly written and badly constructed OP - I don't know whether to laugh or feel sympathetic.

It is the norm SirChenjin. If not then OFSTED should pick it up.

I used to be a lot more irritated by her teachers ignoring spelling mistakes, but started to understand the method after seeing my DSD go through a few years of primary school. I understand that not every kid is as highly sensitive or as downright timid as my DSD can be, but her confidence at school is easily knocked if you nitpick her work - and there is a lot to pick at, especially when it comes to spelling. DSD loves learning, but hates making mistakes - so for awhile, she was trying not to make mistakes, and therefore trying not to do anything without an adult standing over her and feeding her the answer/correct spelling first. Then she could get the answer "right" and approval from the adult, which the thing she prizes most of all.

It is really her teachers that have drawn DSD out of her shell academically, and gotten her to take risks (writing a few sentences, to her, is a risk). It is her teachers who have gotten DSD's eager parents to back down and let her get on with it. Over time, her confidence has grown, and she is keener to work independently and then verify her spelling with us.

Just to throw in another perspective. :)

My ND neighbour who has been a primary school teacher for nearly 40 years is of the opinion that you are either a good speller or you aren't.Most mis spellings in children from about 8 up are phonetically plausible so really teaching more phonics doesn't help in the slightest.

Two sweeping but untrue statements in two lines! Well done pp

Spelling is a taught skill; success or failure can depend on the method (or lack of same) used to 'teach it'. Your ND neighbour might well be passing an unconscious judgement on her own teaching skill...

I test between 30 - 50 Y7s every September. I can assure you that a great many of their mis-spellings aren't even phonically plausible and the longer the word the more implausible they become.

It is such a shame that these little myths are believed.

perpetuallypuzzled

I found the same with secondary pupils.

I presume the children which Maizie tests have special needs. They may well have more trouble grasping even the main English patterns, let alone memorise the hundreds of exceptions, and so make more random spellings mistakes.

I carried out several analyses of spelling errors and found that the more exceptions a pattern has, the more often the sound for which it is used gets misspelled.

Masha Bell

I presume the children which Maizie tests have special needs.

Well, you presume erroneously, marsha.

The only 'special need' most of my pupils have is a need to be taught properly.

Children aren't 'which' BTW marsha. They're 'who' or 'whom'.

It really annoys me when people get their 'who's and 'which's mixed up. Particularly if they have pretentions to being 'educated'

just to add there aren't hundreds of exceptions alternatives

'who's and which's' - do they need apostrophes?
(I can see they might, btw).