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Category Archives: Grammar and punctuation test

Let’s hear it for the mighty apostrophe!

Last week I was approached by a reporter from the Cambridge News who wanted my views on Cambridge City Council’s decision to drop apostrophes from new road signs. It was the first I’d heard of this, although I had read about this ruling for other counties. I was unpleasantly surprised to learn that Cambridge was [...]

What chance do children have when even the school head gets it wrong?

First, I’d like to make it clear that I do not read the Daily Mail.  I came across the following letter on a teaching website where there was a discussion about how important (or not) the Key Stage 2 SATs are for a pupil’s future.  It seems somewhat ironic that the head teacher who wrote [...]

Grammar Rules, OK!

I was a school child for the whole of the 1970s, a time when the discrete teaching of grammar was considered unhelpful.  The great educational powers of the time decided that grammar teaching was boring and not working so must change.  It was decided that it should be taught in the context of whatever was [...]