Ipswich: School to employ proofreader for teachers’ reports

CORRECTING spelling mistakes, adding missing punctuation and checking grammar are all things people would expect a teacher to do to their students’ work.

But a new role introduced at Northgate High School will see the teachers’ work get the red-pen treatment.

The proofreader and copy editor position was advertised on the school’s website, with a job description explaining that: “The school reports to parents on a regular basis about how well their child is progressing at school.

“The post holder will check and amend the electronic reports to ensure that they are well written and complete before being released to parents.”

Responsibilities include correcting “typographical errors, e.g. spelling mistakes, poor or missing punctuation, incorrect capitalization and word spacing,” ensuring “that the reports are grammatically correct,” and improving “poor grammar”.

Those taking on the part-time positions will also help staff whose reports need “extensive correcting by giving them feedback on their report writing and tactfully suggesting strategies to help them improve”.

Headteacher David Hutton defended the new position, saying: “Our examination results year on year demonstrate that Northgate employs very high calibre teaching staff.

“Between them they produce literally thousands of well written comments each year that keep parents informed about the progress of their children.

“Making a final quality check prior to publication merely indicates the high level of professionalism we strive to achieve.”

What do you think about the new role at Northgate? Write to Your Letters, Ipswich Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN, or e-mail starletters@archant.co.uk