Photograph by Steven Depolo
A school in Croydon has banned such words as “innit” and “coz” in an attempt to improve the English of its students and better prepare them for the job market in the future.
The “soft skills” of language can play an important role in landing a future job at interview, and Harris Academy Upper Norwood has implemented the ban in a move to help students better express themselves.
The list includes a number words which some consider overused or inappropriate in the vernacular of youth including “like”, “bare”, “extra”, “innit”, “coz”, “ain’t”, as well as a ban on the phrases “you woz” and “we woz”, and on starting sentences with “basically”.
In a statement on the new rules, the school said:
“In addition to giving students the teaching they need to thrive academically, we want them to develop the soft skills they will need to compete for jobs and university places.
This particular initiative is just one of the many ways in which we are building the vocabulary of our students and giving them the skills they need to express themselves confidently and appropriately for a variety of audiences.”