Wanted proofreaders to check teachers’ spelling and grammar

How can a teacher who is weak in spelling and grammar guide the students in teaching English?

Spell-checking: Northgate High School

This may have prompted a school in England to hire proofreaders to correct the spelling and grammar of its teachers. The 1,720-pupil Northgate high school in Ipswich has hired “copy editors” to correct mistakes in pupils’ school reports.

A job advert wanted people to “check and amend the electronic reports to ensure that they are well written before being released to parents”.

The school hopes to stop “spelling mistakes, poor or missing punctuation, incorrect capitalisation and word spacing”.

They will be paid £14.02 an hour to work up to 20 days a year. Proofreaders will also advise staff how to improve their use of English.

Matthew Sinclair, of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “It’s an insult to the teachers’ intelligence that the county council employs proofreaders.

“If, on the other hand, the teachers can’t spell and produce good written English, then why are they being employed?” But David Hutton, head of Northgate High School in Ipswich, said the school’s excellent exam results proved they had a great staff.

He said: “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 indicates the high level of professionalism we strive to achieve.”

Pups joined in matrimony after long love affair

After a long love affair they married each other with a lavish bash which cost the owners 6,000 Sterling Pounds. Two loved-up pups Ernie and Scruffy have been joined in matrimony when dog lovers Ann Carter, 70, and Ernie Rubin, 67, threw a bash for 100 of their pals - and their four-legged friends.

Bride Scruffy, a five-year-old Jack Russell Chihuahua cross, wore white as she wed her toy-boy lover Snickers, a three-year-old Lhasa Apso.

Happy family Ernie with bride Scruffy and pal Ann with groom Snicker

The lovestruck pooches tied the knot after getting ‘engaged’ on Valentine's Day, when Snickers popped the question with a Swarovski crystal collar.

Snickers’ owner Ann, from Palm Desert, California, said the canine couple have been inseparable since they met on holiday this summer.

She said, “Scruffy and Snickers fell in love with each other from the moment they met and when Ernie and I shared a holiday apartment for a month over the summer it was obviously how they felt about each other.

“We decided to have a wedding and we just thought it would be a fun excuse to have a little party but then we ended up sending out invitations and more and more people wanted to come and in the end it turned into this massive event.”

The dogs were married under a flower decorated trellis before being wheeled down the fake grass aisle in a bespoke buggy for two.

The $10,000 party, held at an exclusive country club, also boasted four-legged ushers, a wedding cake featuring the pooches’ portrait, a live band, open bar and priest to perform the ‘vows.’ Guests were also treated to a sit-down dinner with canine-inspired centrepieces and dog biscuit favours. The stunt was criticised by a gay couple, who slammed the women for blowing so much money on a dog wedding when they could not legally marry.

But Ann defended the wedding, and its hefty price tag, saying: “Did they really think this wedding was legally binding? “It's my money and if I have it to spend I don't see why I shouldn't spend it on my dog. It's nothing that I wouldn't spend if I was throwing a party for my friends.”Ann, who once spent $27,000 on a vet bill when one of her dogs was hit by a car, added: “He's like my baby and I would do anything for him, he's worth all the money in the world.” Instead of wedding gifts, Ann and Ernie asked for donations to benefit the Orphan Pet Oasis Humane Society of the Desert in North Palm Springs, raising $7,000 for the charity.