To think that teachers should be able to punctuate

Can I come off the naughty step yet?

Funny that, g23. My dad actually advised me to read leader articles in the good newspapers in order to learn a bit more about writing style. He was right too. He would be – he was a damn good teacher.

I've brought you some tea and biscuits, vamp.

I think our writing style is always influenced by what we read, however much our English teachers try to drum "correct" grammar into us. Heaven help those who rely on some papers, they will never be able to spell or put three words togethr so that they make sense.

Or even spell "together"!

That depends how long you've been sitting there....it's a minute for every year of your life vamps

I am not Lynn Truss, believe me, and recognise that language develops.

This chap may have excellent people management skills, but a major part of his role is to teach in a primary setting, where the children will be learning spelling and grammar. If he is unable to get this right himself, how can he put himself forward to teach this to children?

And how did he manage to become a 'qualified' primary school teacher in the first place? Qualified to do what, one wonders.

However, during my years as a school governor (1980s), when I was involved in teacher interviews for the school, I was horrified to find that most (yes, most) applicants, usually above a certain age, did not even have a basic maths O level pass to their name and yet were considered 'qualified' to teach maths to primary school kids. I did not feel confident of their grasp of mathematical concepts.

Swings and roundabouts.

A very good point Bags . As a Maths Advisory Teacher I was horrified by the lack of mathematical ability in the average teacher, though it was even worse in the population at large.

Are we talking mental or physical age? Thank for the tea and biscuits.

Oh my God, another one of those threads!

No it isn't petallus! Vampirequeen was responding to Aka's post of 18.02 and it was a joke - don't panic!

Sorry petallus...I'll take myself back to the naughty step because I made you panic

I get very sad when it seems to be acceptable for our children to have second best. How wonderful it would be if science, maths, music, modern languages etc had by law to be taught to primary children by someone with a degree in the subject.

I have seen children in primary schools learning French from a CD with the pronunciation wrong and a teacher who did not realise this.

It seems that we accept that anyone with a smattering of knowledge is good enough to teach a subject to primary children. Not so in the Montessori system where subjects are taught by specialists at all ages.

I am afraid I was the pedant who used to correct the teacher's corrections in my DCs' schoolbooks. I still have a copy of "First Aid in English" upstairs (I actually bought it with my pocket money when I was in my teens). [bluestocking emoticon]!

I agree about MFL but I was quite capable of teaching all the other subjects at primary level. I'm much more concerned that some secondary teachers are not specialists in the subject they teach.

Oh Granny23, someone else who remembers Dick and Dora! My bug bear is apostrophes. Missing, and worse still the inappropriate ones. Can't go past a notice, poster or menu without commenting on them. Fish and chip's anyone?

My friend told me that each time I misuse an apostrophe a puppy die's. Oooops there goe's another couple

OK I'm going back to the naughty step

Keep it up, vamp. A bit of piss-taking is good for health. Would you like wine or beer with the next naughty step snack?

Think you'd better take your pillow and duvet to the naughty step Vamps you are being a very naught girl lady person

I'll join you there Vamps and mine's a single malt please Bags

Double matured Dalwhinnie it is then

Slainte

Sorry about the delay in replying Charleygirl been out a lot. I agree with you, I think the school were making excuses. Mind you we worked really hard with her spelling tests but it made no difference and she was a reader from an early age. She still reads more than the rest of us put together and still can't spell.