Notice or Report? Editing a School Magazine Draft
A student submits a 130-word draft for the school magazine. The brief was: 'Write a notice for the Inter-House Debate on 12 August in the Main Hall at 10 a.m. Participants must register with the English Club by 8 August.' The draft opens: 'I am very excited to inform all students that we are going to organise a debate...' It has two long paragraphs, no date line, no venue line, no contact, and ends 'Hope you all come.' The same student also owes you a 150-word report on the debate for the next issue. You need to return the draft with a clear decision: is this a notice or the opening of a report, and what must change? You have five minutes to annotate it.
1. Decide which format the draft is closest to and list the three most important changes needed to make it a valid notice.
Read the worked answer
The draft is closest to a report opening because it speaks in the first person ('I am very excited') and addresses readers in a conversational way. A notice is an impersonal, displayed announcement, so the three most important changes are: (1) remove the first-person excitement and begin with an institutional subject, for example 'The English Club will hold...'; (2) add the missing display details: date line, venue, time, registration deadline and contact, in short lines rather than paragraphs; (3) cut the two long paragraphs to a heading plus three or four compact lines. The 'Hope you all come' ending should also go, because a notice informs rather than persuades.
2. Rewrite the draft as a notice of no more than 60 words, keeping all five required details and using an impersonal register.
Read the worked answer
ENGLISH CLUB NOTICE Inter-House Debate 12 August, Main Hall, 10 a.m. Participants must register with the English Club by 8 August. Contact: the Club Secretary, Room 4. Date of notice: 1 August.
Why this is a notice: it uses a heading, short scannable lines, an impersonal subject, a clear audience, and all required details without conversational padding.
3. The student's next task is a report. Name two language choices that must change when moving from notice to report, with an example.
Read the worked answer
Moving from notice to report changes both stance and tense. A notice uses the future or present for an upcoming event and an impersonal register; a report uses the past tense and a named observer or committee. Example: notice, 'The English Club will hold an Inter-House Debate on 12 August.' Report: 'The English Club held an Inter-House Debate on 12 August; the motion was carried by 14 votes to 9.' The report also needs organised paragraphs for proceedings, arguments and outcome, whereas the notice needs scannable lines. The student should keep the same facts but change the grammar of time and the source of authority.