What do you ask at parents evening?

[Allabouthefood]

For a reception child? First parents evening tomorrow and feeling unprepared!

He's been going for 3 months and he doesn't really tell us anything so I don't even know where to start. I've never spoken to the teacher either.

This will be my only opportunity, I need to make the most of it!

Are they happy / settled , are they socialising well
with others , are they communicating with staff well , are they happy to be there / enthusiastic about learning

My main concerns would be how he is doing socially i.e. if he is settling well and making friends, I'd elaborate by asking if he is being kind to others and if the teacher has noticed any issues with other children
Then ask for an overview of what he is being taught this year so you can support him at home if necessary.

Is he happy, what can you do to support him at home?

first listen to what the teacher has to say.
then ask

• is anything else I should do at home to support DC?
• does he have friends?
• is he settled and happy at school?
• what targets do you have for him?

In my experience they’ll tell you how he’s doing to start with, so then you can ask in more detail if you need.

What were you most worried about before he went - ask about that. If it was behaviours then ask about is he sitting well at carpet time/understanding when to be quiet? The social side - ask about friendships/how confident he is to answer questions/join in in class discussions.
Academics- phonics, numbers, is he progressing as expected? Is there anything further you can do to support him?

How he's settling in and getting on.

As above

Maybe also are they particpating in carpet time, answering questions, is there one thing you should be focusing working on with them. With ds it was he was too quiet, by Yr2 they were regretting bringing him out of his shell 🤣

I don't think we asked much. DD's Reception teacher talked a lot about all the usual things without us asking about it.

She mainly covered general behaviour, settling in, participating, what she felt DD really liked and disliked in class. Then she described what they would do over the next term (in Infant we had parent evening twice a year).

Tbh, not knowing what to talk about is a really good thing. If you have a worry, you would be wanting to make a separate appointment.

They will tell you their version of how he's doing at school, work from there. But if the teacher has not much to say other than telling you he is doing good, trust the teacher.

Are they happy?
Are they kind?
Are they eating at lunch?
Do they play well with others?
Do they volunteer information/raise a hand?

Pretty much nothing! I would only really want to know if anything was of real concern, if your kid is doing fine they are doing fine.

I hate our high pressure early years curriculum.

I feel like she won't have much to say as he's probably fine (I imagine we would have heard otherwise if not), so I want to have a few questions ready so we can fill the 10 minutes. I can be socially awkward so having a question ready will save me from improvising and saying something awkward or stupid 😂

Lots of good ideas here, thank you! Asking if he participates is a good one as I often see they have drawings etc hanging up and when I ask DS if he made one he always says no!

Yeah first year is mainly about fitting them into the school and school life so just ask about them making friends and are they well behaved etc.

You don't need to say anything at all.

Just "thank you and as long as he's happy and your happy with him and he's being good then that's all that matters". and best contact details if there are any problems.