February 2017 Newsletter

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February 2017 I have my fingers crossed that the cold, wet weather passes us by soon and we can look forward to warmer temperatures. I am envious of those of you in the Upper Sixth who are planning your Gap Year and are surrounded by maps and brochures full of exotic names and pictures. If you are considering enrolling on the Executive Personal Assistant Diploma course here at OMBS when you return I would urge you to register your interest now. We are almost full for September 2017 and places are already filling up fast for September 2018. Angela Liddiard

February fun Proofreading is a skill which OMBS students are well-drilled in by the time their course is over. The importance of proofreading cannot be overlooked. The message contained in a document or presentation can be completely lost if the reader is distracted by typos, bad grammar and/or bad punctuation. Becoming a good proofreader does not happen overnight – good proofreading skills are the result of many hours of practice. One of the major difficulties with proofreading is that it is very hard to proofread our own work. Often, when we review our own documents, we see what we expect to see rather than what we have actually written. Our brains are amazing things; once we have scanned a few words our brains will get a sense of the content and basic meaning of the document. This happy group of students have just been given the results of their Excel test! In less than five months they have gone from hating Excel, hating maths, and hating spreadsheets to understanding complex formulae such as LOOKUP, IF and Nested IF. They are only halfway through their course … think how much they will know by the time they graduate!

Website of the month National Grammar Day is celebrated across the United States of America on 4 March 2017. If you find the rules of grammar baffling at times Grammarly could help. It describes itself as “a must-have writing app that makes sure everything you type is clear, effective, and mistake-free”, and has lots of information on National Grammar Day. This includes tests, songs, a spelling and grammar check, and even the opportunity to buy a grammar geek tee shirt, although I don’t think even I could go that far!

This month’s IT Tip When you think of Oxford what springs to mind? The dreaming spires? Brideshead Revisited? Morse and Endeavour? Frank Cooper marmalade? Did you also know that Oxford is also famous for the Oxford comma? The Oxford comma is an optional comma before the word 'and' at the end of a list of three or more items. It is known as the Oxford comma because printers, readers, and editors at Oxford University Press traditionally used it; as I have done in this sentence. The Oxford comma, (also known as the Harvard or serial comma) causes much debate. Some people believe that it slows the pace of the reading matter, causing hesitancy and stiltedness. Some people love it and could not imagine writing without it. In the workplace my advice would be to follow the style guide of your company … if they want you to use it then you must. Also, be consistent … either always use it or never use it, do not mix the two. Word has a setting to ensure that your use of the Oxford comma remains consistent; go to the File tab, Options, Proofing. In the When correcting spelling or grammar in Word section click on the downward arrow next to Writing style and select Grammar & style. Click on the Settings button. The first option is Comma required before last list item … make your choice from the three options, thus ensuring that, like it or loathe it, your use of the Oxford comma will always be consistent.

To prove this, see if your brain can make sense of the text below: 7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5! 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5! 1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG 17 WA5 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY W17H 0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17 Now you can see the difficulty that the proofreader is up against ... they are trying to spot errors, but their brain is able to read and understand the words regardless of the errors.

Dates for your diary Past Student Day is Thursday 11 May 2017 and we would be delighted to welcome back ex-OMBS students. Please come and talk to our current students and give them the benefit of your experience in the working world. Work Experience Week is 22–26 May 2017. If your company can offer an OMBS student a meaningful work experience placement we would be delighted to hear from you.

Feel free to pass this email onto anyone who will find it useful. If you have received this as a forwarded email and would like a regular copy of your own, email [email protected] . To unsubscribe email [email protected] You are most welcome to visit us here in Oxford at any time. You can watch a normal day as it unfolds, visit lessons and talk to students and tutors. OMBS Ltd, Southern House, 1 Cambridge Terrace, Oxford, OX1 1RR. 01865 240963. http://www.oxfordbusiness.co.uk Newsletter Editor: [email protected]