Is it me???

The mistakes jump out at you,surprising that no one noticed. Oh dear!

Of course it is reasonable for you to expect correct spelling (including correct use of homophones), punctuation and grammar. Mistakes - perhaps easily made at the tired end of the school year - should still not slip through as newsletters and reports for parents usually get passed to senior management for proof reading. However, I think the general standard of writing is slipping and I suspect this is probably true across other professions too. It just seems worse, for obvious reasons, when we are aware of it in the teaching profession.

Is some of it due to predictive text? Look how many articulate gransnetters make mistakes even after previewing their posts.

I was once checking classrooms prior to an HMI (pre OFSTED) visit. I had to point out to the Deputy Head that the correct spellIng of 'Teusday' was not as depicted on her Days of the Week chart ?????

If you've had a good grounding in English (as surely all teachers have) then predictive text errors shouldn't be blamed.

I'm amazed at the mistakes (not predictive-text related) made by some former teachers on GN.

No you are not being unreasonable soself, such a document should be error-free. We read our DGS's Reception Year summary today and wonderful it was too. Sadly no pictures but no typos either. On the sheet that parents sign and return there was a paragraph declaring that every effort had been taken with the reviews but should any errors be found then a corrected report would be issued. Maybe it happened a lot in the past?

Oh heavens, what hope for the children! Even predictive text should be checked.

OK, I'm sure all of us have fallen victim to the predictive text dragon on occasions, but I think that we can reasonably expect better of teachers.

We cannot assume that all teachers have a 'good grounding in English.' If they are literacy specialists then yes, but your average 'other' subject specialist in secondary /multi-tasker in primary doesn't have too much expected of them to meet entry requirements for training.
I have been a lead literacy teacher in primary education and am aware that many teachers are under confident about grammar technicalities and spelling rules. Working to degree standard in anything, there is always spell checker and in my experience, university tutors will not correct spelling and grammatical errors.
From within the profession, I have been surprised at times at how some teachers are daunted about having to write a report, or a letter, but that is also actually quite common.
BUT all messages going home to parents or on the school website should be checked.
As for teachers making mistakes on Gransnet - well, perhaps like me, others view this as a leisure activity and therefore don't fuss over every phrase, dot or comma.

Good post Imperfect . I mentored probationer teachers and I can assure you Ana , that not all teachers had a good grounding In English..

On GN, we may be using tablets or phones with small screens and awkward arrangements to make corrections, and we may be posting in haste.
That shouldn't be the case for the writers of the school report.

Soself, can you explain your name?

Jen

DD got a comment on a piece of creative writing, in secondary school, saying "Excellant".

When about 7 my now 37 year old daughter was learning words for a spelling test. One of the words she had to learn was bushel. Suprised at such an old word, I asked her if she knew what it meant? Apparently, her teacher had told the class it meant a small bush!

They are usually proof read and signed by Head Teacher????

My daughter is a headteacher of a Primary School and reads through every report checking grammar and spelling and also adding a comment about each child. It takes ages but is essential. The Head of the larger school where I am a Governor, does likewise with the help of his Deputy. There are a few teachers in our schools who when at school themselves were subjected to " child centred education" when spelling, grammar and formal teaching was abandoned by many! (Not where I taught I hasten to say!) My youngest daughter suffered this, but always says she caught up in Secondary school when learning French and German!

As DS2 is somewhat dyslexic, at his request, I proof read all his work when he was studying for his degree. So I was appalled that some comments made by University tutors were misspelt. So no chance for the rest of us....

Years ago I went to the open evening of the local 'selective entry' school and was shocked that the headteacher gave a speech in which she used a split infinitive! Did feel this was not a good advertisement for the 'selective entry' school. My own father was a stickler for correct language, but now I believe language is a living thing and therefore bound to change just as it has since Chaucer's day.

I'm not a teacher, but do a lot of translation in my work, and am very aware of what misunderstandings can arise from a misplaced comma or misspelt word. (Not to mention a wrongly-located apostrophe!)

Even in informal situations (such as here on Gransnet), I think it is important to take care with your spelling.

Having said that, I am tolerant of mistakes I see when I know the writer doesn't know better, is dyslexic, or has simply mistyped (through predictive text or otherwise).

I was horrified when listening to girls read in a local independent school to notice on the whiteboard that the teacher had written aromer on an item about coffee, where it was grown, etc. But I was too embarrassed to point it out to the teacher.

I'm very 'hot' on correct spelling and grammar and proofread comments I write so it's very annoying when I see I have still made an error after I've pressed 'send'! Other forums have the capacity to edit comments' I don't see why this site can't do that and I'm sure teachers writing reports DO have that capability to make corrections with the format they use.

My son in law emails the school if he encounters a bad spelling mistake or incorrect punctuation in my granddaughter's reports and letters. The teachers need to be told or they will continue to repeat the mistakes all their professional life if it's not pointed out.

I popped into Shelly's cafe the other day. Call the apostrophe police

William Shakespeare had four different spellings of his name. OK, so the teachers can't spell. Tut Tut. I bet they can do a lot of other things, though, like mentoring and inspiring young minds.