Communicating with parents at a Brent primary school made me very aware of how important it was to be absolutely clear in messaging, leaving no room for ambiguity. Nevertheless I was often caught out when a message was misconstrued. This is partly because in our varied population there are many people still at the early stages of learning English and adults with literacy problems, but also because I did not take sufficient care.
A reader has pointed out that there is ambiguity in the above image with the 'Stay home' very clear but an attractive image of a picnic. The accompanying text is very wordy. The message does not directly address the burning issue of the use of parks and maintaining a 2 metre distance. Many of us are fearful that London's parks will be closed to the detriment of people who do not have gardens in which to exercise.
Perhaps a cross through the image would make more impact:
Othet neighbouring boroughs have made more effort to use visual messaging to ensure clarity of communication:
Brent Council has put similar messages up on its park entrances but I have not seen them on social media.
