English book full of spelling mistakes [Title edited by MNHQ <ironic grin>]

[BerylStreep]

DD is Year 5. Her school has purchased new English books (Collins English Skills 5), but the problem is they are absolutely full of spelling mistakes.

For example, on last night's homework alone, there was

Gibralter
Captian
interupted

Over the last 2 weeks we have also had

Burgler
Calender
The worlds oceans

I have raised it with the teacher, but she seems uninterested. If I were the head teacher, I would be sending the books back to the publisher demanding a refund or corrected texts. It just seems unacceptable to have an English textbook that contains so many basic spelling mistakes.

What do you think?

Ooh that would drive me mad ( as a parent and teacher)! I'd take it further ( ie the head teacher) tbh.

It is strangely addictive spotting the spelling mistakes.

Found another few:

immediatly
Nells frock
the french (people)

Ugh. That would make me so cross! Those books probably cost a large chunk of the school's English budget and might have been purchased in haste to support the new ( botched rushed) curriculumI would raise it with the Literacy coordinator or failing that, the Head.

I'd be tempted to raise it further. It doesn't make the school look much better than Collins if it really is that bad and they continue to use it. Especially as it is an English book.

That's dreadful! Just to check though -this isn't a book for the child to spot and correct spellings in is it? Could make a good activity that. If these are books the school has newly purchased they should be sending them back. Do they not have spell checker?

I wonder if the publisher has inadvertently sent out uncorrected copies.

Oh my.

Oh my oh my.

Nice red pen, have a bit of fun. Apt with Head Teacher.

There are some activities which are correction ones, i.e. spot the spelling mistakes or punctuate a piece of writing.

However, the mistakes I have listed are not from these exercises. They are mainly from the questions associated with comprehension pieces.

It is confusing for DD - she has already written 'calender' because in the question it said 'What is a lunar calender?'

I wonder have the school picked up a discounted batch due to all the mistakes?

That's really odd.

You don't think the school tried to buy books on the cheap, ended up with dodgy copies, and now has no-one to complain to?

Otherwise they'd surely be kicking up a huge stink. I mean, why keep, and use such useless books?

Really bad. School needs to get some balls and send them back! It's hardly pursuing high standards, is it?!?

That's what I think Norway. I spotted a mistake the very first night DD brought the book home, and put a note in her homework diary. The teacher said to DD, 'well, there's not much we can do about it'.

These are brand new books, which will probably be used for the next 10 years or so (or 20, judging by some of the other books used in the school).

I know the books have been bought out of a donation that the parents' association made to the school, after lots of fundraising. So I feel that 'our money' hasn't been well spent, IYSWIM.

I'm not sure about the nothing they can do about it.

Would English text books full of spelling mistakes come under the description of 'not fit for purpose' under the sale of goods act? That has to at least be worth a try with Collins if they refuse to give a refund or replacement.

If they bought them cheap because they were faulty, then that was a really bad purchasing decision. I'd be pretty cross.

What next? Science books that assure the pupils that the world is flat, or created by intelligent design, because, like, they were being given away free by the local fringe loony church ??

I don't think you understand how expensive these schemes are, like Collins, or how long it would take for the school to write everything from scratch instead if they were suddenly abandoned, since the school almost certainly will not be able to afford anything else for now.

You can't just send them back or complain about it and expect a whole new set of books within a couple of days, leaving the teachers with an abandoned curriculum in the middle of term. It's a major issue with the publishing company that would probably take weeks or months to resolve.

What on earth do you think normal teachers can do about it? Do you not think it annoys them just as much? But they have a job to get on with.

The school HAVE to deal with it - I accept that teachers can make mistakes with spelling on things and mistakes happen but a text book should not be classed as acceptable with mistakes in it. it is like a maths book with unsolvable questions. I say red pen, correct all the obvious ones you find and go in and see the head.

Of course they have to deal with it but these things WILL take a long time to remedy but in the meantime the teachers have children to teach and that takes priority.

I would go and see the Head rather than the class teacher who won't be able to do anything about it.

Go and see the head. Email the Chair of the Governors. I entirely agree with you and I am fairly laissez-faire about many things.

I would also email Collins 'contact us' about it immediately and ask them how they can justify charging for books like this. Threaten to write to the Daily Mail. They would LOVE this as a story .

That is absolutely unacceptable. I would be kicking up a massive stink about it. It's bad enough that my children's reading records get filled in by TAs that can't spell but to have children referring to books that are riddled with spelling mistakes is completely outrageous!

I would take it up with the head, having gone through it with a red pen to show him/her and I would also email Collins. Publishers ought to know that their proof readers/editors aren't doing their jobs properly.

Using a shitty textbook riddled with mistakes should NEVER be a priority, and any teacher worth their salt would refuse to use them. As for the idea that the school's curriculum is so set that they absolutely have to use dodgy textbooks to teach it with - well, that's just bollocks.

As a parent or a teacher, I would be horrified that anyone thinks this is acceptable.

That is odd. I'm an editor and have worked on various educational books - though not for Collins - and the book will have been commissioned, written, edited, proofread, checked by a subject specialist and in house too - it beggars belief that there are so many typos. A simple spellcheck would have picked them up, never mind editing.

Btw publishers don't sell books with mistakes in them cheaply! They would pulp them if they had a horrendous amount of errors, or send out erratum slips to go in unsold books, but the school won't have bought a cheap lot of faulty books!

Not sure where you go from here. Talk to the ht? It is really rubbish!

What on earth do you think normal teachers can do about it? Do you not think it annoys them just as much? But they have a job to get on with.

Biggest load of rubbish I've seen in a long time. What planet are you on, where you think any teacher or school should just shrug their shoulders and use such terrible mistakes regardless?!

You can't just send them back or complain about it and expect a whole new set of books within a couple of days, leaving the teachers with an abandoned curriculum in the middle of term. It's a major issue with the publishing company that would probably take weeks or months to resolve

Why not?

Surely they are faulty goods and not doing what they are advertised to do? Presumably facilitating reading, grammar and spelling.

This is shocking, OP. What have other parents said?

Were the books purchased from a valid source? I am asking because on a recent TV program called Fake Britain, books purchased by civil engineering students were actually fakes. I remember vaguely that in that TV programme the reporter mentioned that if the books were to be used in real life situations and not only for study, the measurements provided in that book could have put people at risk, as the measurements for installing electric wires for example, were wrong.
Seems to me that the so called Collins books the OP is talking about here might be fakes.

I wanted to go through the book with a highlighter, but DD is horrified and scared she will get into trouble.

At the very least, I would expect the school to go through the book and correct the mistakes in it. It could be done as an exercise with the class on how not to proof read a book. The book was published in 2011, so I find it hard to believe I am the first parent or teacher to spot the spelling mistakes.

I have written a note to the class teacher highlighting the mistakes in the last homework exercise, and saying it is unacceptable. I would expect her to raise it with the head, but failing that, I will.

You really should take this further.

Could you get the press involved?

The published should be shamed into withdrawing the entire print run, pulping it and issuing replacements free of charge. Anything less would be disgusting.