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Original poster

To be dreading face to face parents evening Thursday

267 replies

IHateParentsEvenings · 10/05/2022 19:10

Going to get flamed to a crisp, never mind.

I am dreading it … teaching all day and then three solid hours between 4 and 7 talking to parents, some will be lovely but there will be some really difficult ones, won’t be able to be cut off after five minutes, will enjoy making me justify every detention since September.

Then home exhausted and still got the next days planning to do …

sorry MN, I dread it.

OP posts:
JML001 · 10/05/2022 22:45

Lollabit · 10/05/2022 22:10

The best teachers meetings I’ve seen are where there are no surprises because there is a good ongoing dialogue between teacher, student and parent all the time in whatever form that might take. If there are surprises that come up then you need to look at how you’re preparing for the meetings and communicating throughout the year.

This, this and this again!!!

Cupcakefairy12 · 10/05/2022 22:43

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Italiandreams · 10/05/2022 22:41

@Tolson is winding us up. No one is wanting to be on call 60 hours a week for less than 20 grand , especially when the boss has decided he doesn’t need to be!

Kite22 · 10/05/2022 22:41

MadameMinimes · 10/05/2022 21:50

@Tolson Is that a joke? Imagine coming on to here to boast to everyone that your husband is a colossal bell-end.

Excellent post.

Teachers appreciate the innovative and exciting culture and ethos within the school.
Grin Grin Grin
I thought the first post was ridiculous enough, but she is the poster that goes on giving........ £19K being a competitive starting salary, my arse.

Sorry OP that your thread has been hijacked.
YANBU at all.
I can't understand why any school would go back to in person Parents' Evenings, after experiencing the efficiency of on-line ones.

RedHelenB · 10/05/2022 22:41

IHateParentsEvenings · 10/05/2022 19:10

Going to get flamed to a crisp, never mind.

I am dreading it … teaching all day and then three solid hours between 4 and 7 talking to parents, some will be lovely but there will be some really difficult ones, won’t be able to be cut off after five minutes, will enjoy making me justify every detention since September.

Then home exhausted and still got the next days planning to do …

sorry MN, I dread it.

You are. Agreed it's tough work wise and makes a long day, but having spoken face to face to my dc teachers for the first time since Covid, I feel I've got a far better understanding of where he is at .

Russell19 · 10/05/2022 22:40

caecilius1 · 10/05/2022 22:24

There is a competitive starting salary of around £19,500
Grin
Oh I see, it's that type of school. None of the 'teachers' have teaching qualifications.

I was thinking the EXACT same!

catsonahottinroof · 10/05/2022 22:40

Yes I think Tolson is a troll too - I don't know any state schools where boaters are part of the uniform.

Testingprof · 10/05/2022 22:40

waterrat · 10/05/2022 22:30

One of my children struggles a lot and the parents meetings are just a joke. I can't possibly ask the sort of question I want to. I can't possibly get an understanding of how my child is doing.

I think teachers are over worked and underpaid so I'm very much on their side with a lot of issues. But working a 3 hour shift for parents evening twice a term is nothing....why not split it up over a few weeks and let parents have more time to talk.

At secondary it’s far more often than that there are 5 or 7 year groups and the exam cohorts have two in the year and then there are the other information evenings that our school ran. There was at least one week my DS was with the babysitter until 10 three nights on the trot.

I’d suggest that parents evening isn’t the best vehicle for asking difficult questions if your child is struggling anyway. Email the class teacher if in primary or head of year or equivalent in secondary.

ilovesooty · 10/05/2022 22:39

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Are they asked to clean the school as well?

Schmz · 10/05/2022 22:38

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Omg what a shockingly horrible way to treat teachers — they are professionals not skivvies !!
ps I don’t advocate treating skivvies this badly either

Wheresthebeach · 10/05/2022 22:38

innovative and exciting right out of a marketing handbook. Sounds like a pitch written by a first year doing a business degree. I presume a windup as no adult talks that way.

Neverreturntoathread · 10/05/2022 22:37

Sorry to hear that OP. I don’t see the point of face to face parents evenings at all, so old fashioned.

catsonahottinroof · 10/05/2022 22:37

I am only a lowly parent but I don't like online parent's evenings. If I've got to do it I'd much rather do it in person. Perhaps if you hate it so much you could send a note to those parents you don't need to see 'your kid's doing fine - no need to come' to save everyone's bother. It evens out though, there were hardly any parents at my dd's school for parent's evening, and the teachers said that the parents they wanted to see didn't come. In year 11.

Tolson · 10/05/2022 22:37

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Italiandreams · 10/05/2022 22:36

@waterrat I don’t think that’s what anyone is really saying. It’s not that anyone doesn’t understand the need to communicate with parents and how important it is, it’s just that it’s a very tiring evening after a long day at school.

I actually quite enjoy them when I get started but they are very tiring. I have always had ten minutes a child but maybe that’s primary

It’s also a week a couple of times a year where I barely see my children. I understand it’s part of the job but does add to my stress and emotion that week.

ilovesooty · 10/05/2022 22:36

ICannotRememberAThing · 10/05/2022 22:16

I think you’re winding us up! 🤣

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I think she is as well.

Longfurry · 10/05/2022 22:35

Tolson. Is this school based located in the U.K.?

KathyHoover · 10/05/2022 22:35

Totally not being unreasonable! As a parent who expects the best from my kids, I believe the respect between a child, a teacher and a parent is a three way tie, everyone has to contribute!
#we'reallinthistogether

WibblyWobblyLane · 10/05/2022 22:35

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Encouraged to do home visits? What's that smell? Ah yes, verbal diarrhoea. No school is going to send a teacher into a stranger's home alone because if anything happens they are getting sued. And given this time comes out of the directed time budget, no headteacher can afford to have parents rock up for their own personal parents evening whenever in the year?

Wolfiefan · 10/05/2022 22:34

I thought this would be posted by a parent! Hope our school keeps parent eve online. No travel time. Appointments all run to time. No wasted time. For parents or teachers.

JudgeJ · 10/05/2022 22:34

learning journey facilitators

Now I am 99% sure you're having a laugh!!!!

ilovesooty · 10/05/2022 22:33

SleepingThroughNight · 10/05/2022 21:55

Holy moly @Tolson there is no way I’d want to work at your DH’s school. It’s those kind of heads that create over-entitled parents and kids and overworked and over-stressed teachers

I bet he doesn't care. When the teachers burn out I bet he just replaces them.

Mysteryuser · 10/05/2022 22:32

Actually, I used to dread parents' evening as a parent. (Btw DM was a teacher, so fully understand that parents' evening is probably a nightmare as I remember her arriving home very, very late.) By the time the teachers in DS's ( outstanding primary) school had trashed everything about him, I just wanted to go home and cry. Thank god secondary school was better. ( And he's now doing great at uni.)

JudgeJ · 10/05/2022 22:32

ICannotRememberAThing · 10/05/2022 22:03

How long would you propose the 5 meetings 5 times a week be for?
5 min or however long the parent wants to talk? How would the appointment times for that work then?

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As a High School teacher I would interact with about 140-150 in a week, how would that work?

Forgothowmuchlhatehomeschoolin · 10/05/2022 22:32

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Yeah whatever!
Hardly paying customers are they?