Road workers manage to spell ‘school’ wrong in both English and Welsh
When it comes to writing massive words on the road outside a primary school, it’s easy to buckle under the pressure.
Children are going to be walking past those words every day on their way in – children who are only just learning the fundaments of language and spelling – and you don’t want to set them on the wrong path.
So it should be easy to sympathise with road workers in Swansea, who spelled the word ‘school’ incorrectly, twice, in two languages.
Paintwork outside the city’s Llangyfelach Primary by the roads team from Wales & West Utilities says ‘shcool’ – lending the place a nice Sean Connery-esque vibe.
Just below that, the attempted Welsh version reads ‘ysool’, just one vital letter away from the correct word ‘ysgol’.
Speaking to MailOnline, Wales & West Utilities said they would be returning this morning to sort the English typo and were ‘confident the teachers will give them full marks’.
Phil Whittier, the energy company’s programme controller for Swansea, explained the mistake had happened when they were clearing up after upgrading the area’s gas network.
He said: ‘We completed our work today and replaced the road outside Llangyfelach Primary School where we had been digging.
‘Contractors working on our behalf then replaced the road markings where we had been working and, unfortunately, have misspelt the word “school”.’
However, it’s unclear who deserves the blame for the Welsh misspelling.
The slightly more faded paint suggests it’s been there for longer, though there’s a small stroke within the first ‘O’ indicating the correct ‘G’ may have been inexplicable painted over at some point.
Meanwhile, the leader of Swansea Council was only too happy to make clear that the local authority had nothing to do with the silly mistake.
Rob Stewart wrote on Facebook: ‘I know this one is already doing the rounds on social media. Thankfully not one of ours. It’s NOT Swansea Council.
‘Apparently Wales & West Utilities have been working there recently and will return to rectify it.
‘Red faces all round at WWU I expect.’
At least they can rest easy knowing they’re not alone. Contractors made the same mistake (albeit only once) outside a shcool in Brighton less than a year ago.
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