What sort of information do you expect to hear / ask about at parents' evening?

[BuiltForComfort]

I know that sounds daft, but DS's yr1 teacher is not a chatty sort. Last term the 10 min slot was hard to fill. Once I've heard that he's doing brilliantly / adequately / hopelessly there will be another 9 minutes available. School is good, not massively communicative about what they're doing. Not sure if me firing a barrage of questions about curriculum is going to sound nutty or overbearing. What do you ask or get told at these things?

[learnandsay]

Isn't the curriculum googleable, anyway?

It's probably a bit late for this parents evening but for next time maybe you can examine your child a bit and find out where one or two of his weaknesses are. Maybe you can discuss those next time.

[chibi]

i am secondary,but i always share with parents how their child is doing

in class
homework/tests
any other
(all of the above is always with respect to their own targets and national expectations for their key stage)

and i ensure that i share a strength/skill that is developing well, and something to work on/develop further. i always start by asking if there is anything they would like to address first!

why not ask your child's teacher for similar? i think if you go in with 3 or 4 things you want to address you are more likely to get answers

[chibi]

fwiw i would not find a parent asking questions nutty or overbearing

[LeftWingTwat]

I expect to hear he's wonderful in many many ways so I can then post it on Facebook

Seriously, I don't think there's anything wrong with asking questions of things you feel you need answering.

[TolliverGroat]

I think we tend to cover a selection from

• Reading (where he is, speed of progress, how engaging he's finding the books what the next stages are)
  
• Writing (standard of what he's producing, how keen he is to actually write, imaginative stories vs. more practical writing, how quickly he produces written work, what his handwriting's like)
  
• Social (how he's getting on with others (whether working together in class or at playtime), how confident he seems, whether he's quick to speak up in class/ask questions or has to be drawn out of his shell a bit more, whether he just won't be quiet and let anyone else get a word in edgeways...)
  
• Other subjects (science, art, games, ICT, etc.) (how these are going, whether he shows particular interest in one or the other)
  
• What we can do at home to support school, and any particular areas for development/improvement that we need to focus on.
  

Generally the teachers volunteer all this information but there's nothing wrong with asking if they don't.

[alittleteapot]

at our school the teacher always starts with "is there anything you want to ask?" I then ask a random question which prompts a discussion and suddenly the ten minutes is gone and I realise I don't know much about what she's up to at all! So this time I'm going to say:

What are your expectations in different areas for this year and how is dd doing in each area? How is she doing socially and in what ways can we best support her at home?