Minister Cancels Leaked Primary Spelling Test

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36108449

How on earth has this happened ? You would have thought that this would have been checked at least twice, if not three times, before publication !

[dave50]

But if the children have seen the test beforehand and have memorised the words for the test and got them all correct then surely the objective has been achieved, they know how to spell the words.

[naomi24]

Mikey, // the Manager should have overseen the job of compiling the website. This was too serious a matter to be left to some junior clerical assistant, on little more than the living wage. //

Yes, utterly shocking! Unforgiveable in fact. I can't imagine how you know what your imaginary phantom junior clerical assistant earns - just relishing making a drama out of a crisis again I expect - but off with the manager's head, I say!! That'll cure it!

[naomi24]

dave, I like your thinking. ;o)

[jno]

dave50, yes, quite right - except that not all the children saw the test; and nobody knows how many did or didn't. So the outcome would have been pure chance.

[Baldric]

I am aware from reading AB that some people never make mistakes, except for backing the wrong Political Party.

[jourdain2]

If someone will slip me a few quid, I'll write a spelling test this evening for them to photocopy and distribute in time. It was a normal bit of teaching until c. age 13 and lots of us did it every week.

[DTCwordfan]

I think I'll get the Queen to answer my spelling paper...I wouldn't trust that Greek husband of hers.....

[Jackdaw33]

Re dave50's post:

I remember being given lists of words to learn for the tests, so what's the difference here?

[gness]

Mikey....as long as you wear one Collar and two Socks....you'll always be able to spell....necessary....... :-)

[jourdain2]

Good one, gness! :)

[Jackdaw33]

That's rather neat, gness.

[gness]

Thank you.....I had lots of little tricks to get my kids through the weekly spelling tests...... :-)

[DTCwordfan]

gness is a well educated ma'am, having mistressed both languages....

Irish, well.........it's an art - let's have a look at the language she grew up woth.

'Irish people speak English; but it's an Irish sort of English, which can take some getting used to. So, if you are going to have any chance making your way round the island, a few helpful tips on the local vocabulary would be helpful.

How To Say Hello - Greetings tend to vary from place to place. In the southeast it might be 'Well, boy'; while up north you might be greeted with 'Bout ye'. In parts of Dublin it could be 'Howyiz', while in County Cork you might be confronted with 'Howsitgoin' boy'? A more rural equivalent is 'How's she cuttin'?' A suitable reply is 'Grand altogether' if you are in good form, or 'Survivin' if not.

Having FunIrish Drinking stories.....Irish people like having fun, and have many words to describe this national propensity. Even "fun" has its own word - the crack - spelled craig.

Inebriation and the Irish - Drunkenness, for some strange reason, has a rich lexicon in Ireland. You can be ossified, fluthered, in the horrors, langers, locked, paralytic, plastered, scuttered, stocious, twisted and sozzled, to name but a few - so many different words to mean the same thing.

Miscellaneous Funny Irish Phrases - Wayward children are never naughty - they are bold. To be tired or broken down is to be banjaxed or knackered.
To procrastinate or delay something is to put it on the long finger.
A sub-standard dwelling is called a kip.
If someone is annoying you, they are blaggarding.
To ask someone to be quiet you might say whisht!
A scratcher is a bed, and the jacks is a toilet.
To emphasise something the word fierce is often used, as in 'fierce hard' [ie difficult] or 'he has a fierce strong accent'. The words quare8or awful can also be used to denote emphasis.
To accomplish something quickly is to do it fairly lively.
Shenanigans refers to intrigue, trickery or hidden manoeuvres designed to effect a certain outcome.

Good luck, you kids out there, with the Irish primary test...Slainte.

[Jackdaw33]

Jacks (or jakes) for toilet is of old English origin.

[Jackdaw33]

Scratcher was common RAF slang.