To be dreading face to face parents evening Thursday

Sorry you're dreading them OP, I'd agree. Hopefully the posts by @Tolson are making you smile. I'm here for the next nugget.

I so much prefer online, I am not concentrating on how much my anxiety is playing up, I dont have to sit on those damn seats, I can hear the teacher. I dont have to sit there waiting for 20 minutes longer because previous parents needed to talk.

If I didn't hear so many teacher friends telling me they preferred it I would suck it up, but so far I havent heard one saying its worse

As a parent I really appreciate parents evening but I'm always mindful of the fact that it's done in their time after a whole day's work.

How many are in a union?

He's a bit fucking shit at his job, then. It's a head's responsibility to be available at all times for disasters, emergencies and other serious incidents.

It's why most were working Christmas Day 2020, contact tracing and then overnight in January putting the completely changed plans for back to school (or rather, not back to school) into place.

@Tolson stop referring to 'clients'. Education is not a 'business'. You make it sound a clinical transaction. I have never regarded pupils or their parents as 'clients'. Utterly ridiculous.

@waterrat - have you asked for a longer meeting at a different time to discuss your concerns? The teachers in both the schools my DS has been to will do this if you ask and book an appointment. Often at school pick up time.
It can be very helpful.

I agree 5 minutes is not enough for more than a quick conversation

@Tolson It works both ways as does most of the things in life, without one you couldn’t do the other.What a bizarre thought process.

Home visits! Seriously. As a teacher and a parent 😂😂😂 You’re def a troll.

Wow. That's bonkers.

No limits and no boundaries to protect his staff?

I'm really glad he's not my line manager...

Me too. I'm trying to remember the previous username.

@Hercisback Yes, I can see how it's much more complex at secondary level. I just think it's nuts that teachers have to psych themselves up for them, not see their kids that evening, be wrecked the next day. There surely must be a better way.

@Smileyaxolotl1 Crikey. How does it work now for those 150 students? Do you meet them all over a few nights?

I don’t attend parents evening. It’s just the same thing over and over again.

@Caiti19
Perhaps limit of 10 minutes each, limit of 5 per day, and on 3 days of the week only - so meetings are spread over 2 weeks.

This sounds much worse. I'd need more childcare for those two weeks. I'd have to do two weeks for every year group, so that's now 12 weeks per year at secondary.
Why would anyone want this system?

300 minutes every 2 weeks is 5 hours of teacher time. That's 5 hours less time on lesson planning.

Sorry your thread has been derailed by a troll, OP.

Parents evenings are exhausting, coming home and still having planning to do is the worst. And then next day is awful too because you're shattered.

Try to plan some easy lessons for Friday.

YANBU - why on earth didn't your school keep it online? I can understand there might be issues with parents with limited access but one state school near me offered to let them come in and use the computer room to access it rather than bringing it back in person.

Caiti19
but that would only work for primary.
I teach 150 students so that would be three nights a week for 10 weeks!
many secondary teachers teach 300 students so three nights a week for over half the teaching year….

@Tolson Are you trying to ad place here? Stop saying innovative and exciting. You sound brainwashed.

Remember teachers are only there to serve the customer (parent) @icantrememberathing so surely a leisurely banquet as a bare minimum? Preferably with harp playing, some intellectual entertainment and an oil portrait to commemorate the momentous occasion of being told 'Little Johnny is top of the class!' when in actual fact you told them Little Johnny did really well in 1 single piece of work with support

If all the info is known prior to the meeting, what is the point to the meeting?

Perhaps limit of 10 minutes each, limit of 5 per day, and on 3 days of the week only - so meetings are spread over 2 weeks. Online by default, but anyone who wants an in-person meeting turns up on a the designated night. During restrictions, 28 out of 30 parents at our school opted for phone call versus in person. I don't think it was just for safety - it's so much more convenient to be able to just lift a phone or log into meeting from work. I am not a teacher. Perhaps my suggestions sound awful to teachers. I am extrapolating from my own work, where giving coherent feedback to 30 people in a single night sounds like a total nightmare. I don't blame the OP for dreading it.

Each parent could visit the teacher at home. They could discuss their DC’s progress at length over a leisurely evening meal cooked by the teacher.
Has your DH thought of that @Tolson ?

I don’t really understand the point of parents’ evenings.

If there are any issues then 5 minutes isn’t long enough to discuss them and in any case if there are any major problems then the parents should already be aware. And if the kid is doing fine then it’s just a case of telling the parents they’re doing fine.

I think I know the school @Tolson dh runs - loads of the info ringing a bell. Is the school located just under a bridge @Tolson ?