First ever Parents Evening tomorrow... what is the etiquette??

[tiredemma]

First parents evening tomorrow, want to show that im am an "encouraging" mother at home without being neurotic, unfortunatly will have Dp with me who is in the habit lately of cracking stupid jokes and generally making himself looklike an idiot (!) - ( I love him really!...)

any tips to make it go smoothly? Im really pleased with DS' progress etc, and have no concerns at all but dont want to just sit there like a nodding dog.

[nutcracker]

Think if there is anything you want to know about the work/homework they have.

TBH they are very informal meetings especially in recpetion. Thye will tell you what his targets are and how he is doing and thats about it.

LOL @ your dp. My dp is banned from parents meetings, well not banned as such, I just book them for when he can't make it

[Skribble]

Don't run in the corridoors, don't pull the teachers hair and tell DH no whoopee cushions.

Seriously just nod in an interested fashion and remember all the things you wanted to ask, like "what really goes on in the staff room?".

[nutcracker]

Dingdong .

Some good teachers manage to cover everything so well in the 5 minutes that there aren't any questions left to ask.

[tiredemma]

ill bear that in mind then MT! thanks.

nutty, what a good idea. will remember to book at unsuitable time for dp next time!

[Skribble]

Ok if I am not to nod what do i do while you talk for 5mins .

[nutcracker]

I beg your pardon

[Skribble]

Thats a bit harsh it like job interviews, sometimes they cover everything and you are left like a gawping idiot when they say any questions?

[Skribble]

"nodding dog parents" didn't realise you meant nodding off. Never done that yet .

[nutcracker]

So if they have no concerns or queries over the work, what do you expect them to ask you ???

[TinyGang]

If you are happy with ds's progress and all is well then that's a great start and the teacher will be delighted to know that your're happy so far.

You could ask a bit about what to expect over the coming year in terms of work they'll cover or just generally ask how the teacher feels your ds is settling in and give her some feedback about what he says about school when he's with you. Sometimes children are a bit different at school to the person they are at home. Tell her a bit about him outside school and it'll give her another dimension which she'll find of interest. You could just check that if anything crops up before the next parents evening that she'll happy to chat on an ad hoc basis. Our school have been very 'open door' which has been fantastic and enabled us to build a good rapport with the teaching staff.

One thing which always makes me laugh about parents evening is that we have it in dd's classroom and we all have to sit on their tiny little childrens chairs. I am tall and dh is very tall - we look ridiculous on them!

[beckybrastraps]

But why do they have to ask a question at all? They don't have to impress anyone, do they? Some people feel uncomfortable in these situations, and as long as their questions have been anwered, what's the problem? I am a "resting" teacher myself, and I'm already a bit nervous about ds's first consultation tomorrow.

[Caligula]

Don't punch the teacher.

Can't go far wrong if you remember that one.

[onesock]

The fewer questions the better. It always goes over time anyway.

Happy to answer anything you want to know but please don't make idle chit chat. I'm tired and want to go home.

[Skribble]

Well I had parents night tonight and.......
DD is a credit to us apparently just needs a boot up the bum sometimes, and DS is wonderful too, an amazing artist and a good all rounder, TGFT 2 years ago his teacher asked if he had had a brain injury or if someone in the family was deaf, this was 4 mths into the term FGS, didn't she think to ask before that.

[MrsSpoon]

... MrsSpoon k'thunks herself on the head with blunt instrument at her stupidity of opening another thread about Parents' Evening when the Spoons have two to go to in the next couple of weeks.

I am the proverbial nodding dog . On the otherhand I am always concerned about taking up more than my allotted time with the teacher as this was always my own Mum's bug bear about Parents' Evenings, there was always one parent who wanted to talk to the teacher about their 'child prodigy' all night.

[Frieda]

Just had our parents' evening, and know what you mean about embarrassing dhs, tiredemma. Why do they always let us down? I sat there smiling interestedly and asking a couple of questions, while dh rocked on his miniscule chair looking as though he was about to break it. Then the teacher suggested tentatively that sometimes she felt ds could 'go the extra mile' and acheive that little bit more... cue dh to say, "well, I'm afraid I think that's a bit of a family trait".
What a great role model, teach must've thought

[Issymum]

Are parent-teacher consults normally in the evening? We've just been asked for a consultation next week and I was surprised that we were offered 10 minute slot between 4pm and 5.30pm. It doesn't seem very feasible for most WOHM/Ds, particularly as, like most of Surrey's residents, DH and I have a longish commute. Taking a day's holiday is of course possible but seems a little disproportionate for 10 minutes with DD1's teacher. As it happens we both have uncancellable meetings at those times and won't be able to make either slot so we're just about to find out how flexible (or not) the school is......