Writing a notice

A notice is a formal message for a particular group of people. It tells them something important: a meeting, an announcement, instructions, or an appeal.

It's not a letter. Nobody is addressed by name, and the writer doesn't say 'I'. It's in the third person, in formal language: not "I want to tell you" but "This is to inform all the students".

A notice has a fixed layout:

• put it all in a box
• at the top: the name of the school
• then the word NOTICE
• then the date of writing
• then a heading saying what it's about

Then the body: short, about 50 words. It says why it's written and gives every detail: date, time, venue, anything to bring, and whom to contact.

At the bottom: the writer's signature, name and position (e.g. 'Asma, In-charge').

The book's example: Heading: Annual Health Check-up. "This is to inform all the students of Grades 6–8 about the Annual Health Check-up. Date: Thursday and Friday, 27 and 28 July 20XX. Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Venue: Assembly hall. All students are requested to bring their health card. For queries, please contact the undersigned."

Notice what's not there: no greeting, no 'yours sincerely', no opinions, no "I hope you'll come". A notice tells a group what it needs to know, and stops.