How do secondary school parents evenings work?

We were mainly looking for where he fell in the cohort for year 7 and 8. In person parents' evening was great as each teacher had a matrix table listing each child in the class and their academic level which Dh was fantastic at reading upside down online we just asked outright where they fell, near to top, middle or bottom. Also anything they should be doing differently for success?

This awful in so many ways I don't know where to start. It doesn't matter where your DC sits in their cohort as you have no idea whether the cohort is particularly low or high achieving. The teacher shouldn't have results on display for other children that your DH can read (and your DH should have the courtesy not to read). The only point I agree with (and that is always worth asking) is asking what your child can to do improve.

Like speed dating! It helps if you know where staff will be so you allow time to get from one room to another if needs be but avoid ling gaps. They might be in a hall but probably specialists in labs etc.

Badly.

They run badly usually.

In person is more chaotic than online but both are tricky.

Suggest making a hit list of subjects/teachers you want to see and prioritising those.

Yes as others have said - log on the minute booking opens, focus on core subjects first then others in order of child's interest/priority.

DS2's school do online appointments now which is SO much better than than when DS1 was at secondary school and everything overran. With the online appointments you literally get cut off after 5 minutes so no-one can talk too much or muscle in!

Whether in person or online, though, I always feel that it's a bit like speed dating it's basically a case of "Hello! Well, they're great at X, need to focus on Y, could do with a bit more confidence when dealing with Z but otherwise all good, yes thank you, that's great, take care, bye!"

I think it is expected that if there are major concerns about a child in a particular subject that a separate meeting between parents and teacher should be arranged. Parent consultations really are just a whistle-stop update.

Same as Teen who has sage advice as usual. Booked core subjects first as they go quick and only classes Ds would take beyond year 8, so never saw a drama teacher or music as that wasn't his thing.

We were mainly looking for where he fell in the cohort for year 7 and 8. In person parents' evening was great as each teacher had a matrix table listing each child in the class and their academic level which Dh was fantastic at reading upside down online we just asked outright where they fell, near to top, middle or bottom. Also anything they should be doing differently for success?

5 minutes doesn't seem like a lot for online but it is plenty for some subjects for your child. Example of one for us; your child is amazing and does everything I ask, contributes to class, submits high level homework I wish more students were like him. Any questions? Errr no.

In person were in the assembly hall and dining halls, maps on doors so you could locate the teacher.

Ours are AWFUL. Half the parents don't bother to book slots, but just muscle in when they see an empty slot. So everything overruns. We were there 3.5 hours last year. I nearly lost my mind with hunger.

We book back to back appointments with breaks (so typically 2 appointments and then a break). Book the teachers you most want to see first. See if your child knows if the teacher teaches other Year 7 classes (as they are likely to be booked up more quickly) and prioritise them if you want to see them.
I would not bother with subjects that your DC will drop as soon as possible, or ones on rotation where they've only had 2 lessons with the current teacher.

I would suggest not spending 3 hours as you will be exhausted. Just over an hour will be more than enough.

Physical appointments run only vaguely to time (so you can keep your eye open for an open slot that you can jump into). Online ones have the virtue of enforcing it.

Ours are all done online much easier tbh don’t miss going into school really just had my 14 year olds parents night from comfort of my living room

There has been a mixture of online and in school parents evenings for DS16, and it was only the online ones where we could make appointments. The zoom connection automatically cut out at the end of the five minutes, and it was quite comical that both me and the teacher would speed up frantically in the last few seconds to cram it all in, kind of intense and stressful as well! The ones in school have been a three hour session where you go in the hall and queue up near a teacher, sit with them for unlimited time really, then move to another queue. We were at parents evening a few weeks ago and spent at least two hours there but only managed to see 7 out of the 11 teachers I would like to have seen. My advice would be just to embrace the chaos!

Just ahs DS's first one. We were limited to 8 appointments, so chose core subjects and ones he was particularly interested in (as he gets older will focus on those likely to pick for GCSE). I booked as soon as possible (with lots of swearing as the site kept crashing) so got what I wanted without too big gaps. Was limited to 5 minutes each, all in the hall and a bell rang at the end of each 5 minutes. Was done in about an hour.

My strategy was:
. See core subjects and those DD particularly interested in (I never saw a music, art or PE teacher, but did see drama and food tech).
. Beforehand, ask DD is any issues in the class (eg behaviour, teach too fast, not stretched)
. Think any questions I might have (eg is lack of detail an issue, how can we help at home)
. maximum 3 points / questions per subject, sometimes just 'is everything going OK'
. some teachers have a prepared spiel e.g. what they have been doing. If what you want to ask is more important than their waffle, cut them short.
. stick to your 5 mins.

Please don't contact school about things like this. They don't have time to reply individually to everyone, or even read the messages if everyone wrote in. There will be a procedure note sent out.

Is it an online booking system?

Go online as soon as it opens. I made the mistake at my first secondary parents eve and didn't book straight away and most of the teachers appointments were already full within a few hours.

At ours, if it’s not virtual (about half of them are - they alternate) the teachers are all sitting around at tiny organised desks in the hall, large drama room, and other bigger classrooms like a giant speed dating event. A bell goes off every five minutes to nudge people to get up and find their next date.

How do you go about booking? Suggest whatever method they use, you get onto it asap as slots tend to go quickly and you can easily end up with great massive gaps between appointments.
Prioritise key subjects or ones where you def want to speak with the teacher for whatever reason. I have sometimes seen all teachers but not always.

Its a mad scramble to book appointments. I aim for the main subjects (maths, science, English, French, history and geography). In Yr 7 I only got maths, French, English and history as I logged in 15 minutes late! Ur8 I was more organised.

Then you have a 5minute slot. Teachers likely to run late, so you are legging it between appointments to find the next one is also running late. Its organised chaos.

As a parent you aren't there 3hrs unless your appointments are spread out.

Some schools round here do them entirely remotely, everyone gets 5 minutes and you automatically get cut off after every 5m appointment so can’t overrun.

Ours are done on teams now, we book slots to see the teachers we think important, eg maths, English science

I’m a secondary teacher. It depends for us:
if they’re online then happy days. Book your appointment, log on.

if it’s in person we’re all in classrooms (2 or 3 teachers per room) and you book time slots to see the teachers you want. It never runs to time!

you don’t have to see everyone, nor will teachers be able to see everyone (I teach 3 year 7 classes of 32 pupils in each. With the best will in the world I am not seeing all of them at parents evening).

You pick the teachers you want to see.

Might be in the hall, might not. Have to fit them all in somewhere. Your DC attends as well.

Nothing else to add that that, so there's not anything else they'd be able to tell you.