The Breakfast Club Notice: Reading a Poster and a Handwritten Addition
Mrs Okafor has just moved to Halverston with her two children, aged 6 and 9, and comes to the community centre where you volunteer on a Tuesday morning. She has three pieces of paper in her hand. The first is a printed notice headed 'FREE BREAKFAST CLUB' which reads: 'Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 7:45am to 8:30am. For children aged 5 to 11 who live in Halverston. No need to book - just come along. A parent or carer must sign children in on their first visit. Ring 01632 960 118 with any questions, including about allergies.' Underneath, someone has written in biro: 'Wednesday club cancelled until 4 March.' The second is a bus timetable: the 7:10 bus from her road reaches the centre at 7:35. The third is a note from a neighbour saying 'it's free, you just turn up'. Mrs Okafor starts work at 8:00 on Mondays and Wednesdays and asks you what to do before she fills in the form.
1. Mrs Okafor asks whether her children are the right age and whether she has to pay or book. What do you tell her? Point to the words in the notice that decided your answer.
Read the worked answer
Answer each part separately, because she is relying on you rather than reading the notice herself.
Age: the notice says 'aged 5 to 11', and the children are 6 and 9, so both fit. It is worth saying out loud that the older child will be too old once he turns 12 - that is the detail people miss.
Cost: the heading says 'FREE', so the neighbour is right on that point, and 'No need to book' means she can simply turn up.
Booking is not the same as paperwork, though. 'A parent or carer must sign children in on their first visit' means there is still something to complete on day one, so she should arrive with a few minutes to spare rather than at 8:29.
The reasoning to show is that you checked three separate lines of the notice and did not let one answer stand in for another. If she has questions about allergies or anything medical, the notice directs her to the phone number rather than to you.
2. She says: 'I can't get them there for 7:45 - the bus doesn't come early enough.' Should she give up on the club? Use the timetable.
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Not necessarily. The timetable says the 7:10 bus reaches the centre at 7:35, which is ten minutes before the club opens at 7:45, so the journey fits.
The practical question is what happens in those ten minutes. The notice offers no early drop-off, so she should wait with the children until the doors open rather than put them on the bus alone to stand outside. On Mondays and Wednesdays she starts work at 8:00, so a 7:35 arrival is tight even though it looks fine on paper; she should ring 01632 960 118 and check whether doors open before 7:45.
So the judgement is between two pieces of evidence that pull in different directions: the timetable says yes, her shift says maybe. The correct answer is not a simple yes or no - it is that the bus solves the travel problem but not the handover problem, and that she should confirm before telling her employer she can do the early shift.
3. The handwritten line about Wednesday - how does it change the advice you gave her for the week beginning Monday 2 March?
Read the worked answer
The handwriting overrides the printed days, so Wednesday cannot be treated as a normal session. But 'until 4 March' is ambiguous: it could mean the club returns on 4 March, or that it stays closed until after that date.
In the week beginning Monday 2 March, the Wednesday is 4 March - exactly the uncertain day. So Monday and Tuesday that week are unaffected, and Wednesday is the one thing you cannot answer for her.
The safe advice is: do not guess. Tell her the two certain days, tell her Wednesday is unclear because the printed notice and the handwritten note contradict each other, and give her the number so she can confirm. You could also suggest she asks at the desk whether a new printed notice is coming, since a replacement poster would settle it.
Saying 'yes, it's on' or 'no, it's cancelled' both go beyond the evidence. Recognising that the text is ambiguous, and saying so, is the skill being tested.