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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to expect a parents evening appointement time to be at at least a similar time to the requested slot?

71 replies

littleducks · 04/02/2011 15:51

DD is in reception, we were asked two days ago to fill in a form requesting an appointement time within a half an hour slot, im not sure when they started exactly but probably 3.45.

I requested something between 5.15 and 5.45.

Today i got a 'confirmation of appointement time' slip with a time of 4.25.

I was expectiong that if it was a popular slot i could get a time between 5 and 6 but am a bit Hmm at an apointment an hour earlier.

There is nothing written on the slip, no explanation, no sorry the time you selected was overbooked or anything.

OP posts:
Chil1234 · 04/02/2011 15:53

Ah..... reception, eh? Get used to it because they'll be at school for the next 14 years and this will happen quite frequently :) YANBU but you are being deeply optimistic....

swanandduck · 04/02/2011 15:53

It was probably a popular time for parents coming home from work.

BreconBeBuggered · 04/02/2011 15:56

Yes, very much in demand. If it's any comfort, the SAHPs will have requested appointments straight after school to save them the hassle of doubling back, and most of them won't get what they wanted either.

scurryfunge · 04/02/2011 15:56

At my son's secondary school appointment times seem to be suggested and something the teachers aim for but never honour. At least you only have one teacher to worry about at the moment -wait until you have to juggle at least 10 teachers. Grin

bubbleOseven · 04/02/2011 15:56

Yep, agree with Chil, you just better get used to it.

Schools exist for the teachers you know, not the parents (wink)

Blu · 04/02/2011 15:57

If it isn't a time you can make, contact them and re-arrange.
Schools don't have a lot of time for the bells and whistles and finer niceties of admin or individual attention. They probably had a huge numbner of requests for the same time and gave you the nearest to what you requested. It's a shame you didn't get your time, but not a big deal.

GrungeBlobPrimpants · 04/02/2011 15:58

Blimey at my dcs old primary a list went up by the classroom and you signed up first come first served.

Those with sharpest elbows/prepared to get there before the lists went up got the coveted slots. Nightmare to co-ordinate with more than 1 dc

carabos · 04/02/2011 15:59

No matter what time you ask for, and no matter what time you get, they won't run on time. My tip after 20 yrs of this is to go along when you want and slip in when a gap appears - as it surely will.

BreconBeBuggered · 04/02/2011 16:00

Agree with scurry, yes, the secondary school parents' evenings mean exactly that. Set aside the entire evening.

potplant · 04/02/2011 16:02

I have DTS and at last parents evening our slots were 90 minutes apart.

They always run behind so you will probably end up at the time you picked anyway Wink

mutznutz · 04/02/2011 16:03

Is it just me who always finds themselves in the queue behind the parent with the most to say about their little darling?

It doesn't seem to matter what time I get...the parent in front always seems to think theirs is the only child in the school and everyone else should wait til she's finished talking about them.

Pah!!

Hassled · 04/02/2011 16:04

You have to return the slip faster than a speeding bullet to have a chance. If you're really on the ball, you check the bookbags for letters before you leave the playground, fill out and return the slip before the teacher's closed her laptop down.

Original poster
littleducks · 04/02/2011 16:05

Seriously...damn! When i was at school parents evenings were in the evening so far easier

But apparently the school 'finds it better if the child attends' something I was also Hmm about as I had hoped to chat to dds teachers without her there in fact it isnt a 'parents evening' but an 'open evening' instead.

So i suppose appointments must be earlier so the kids can then go to bed.

I just had hoped that in a class of thirty, spread over two nights with 2.5 hours on each night it would be more likely to get something easy to arrange

OP posts:
Original poster
littleducks · 04/02/2011 16:07

I handed slip in yesterday morning, they were still collecting slips this morning. I dont collect dd from school every day as I'm not here so unfortunately I couldnt hand it in any faster.

OP posts:
Goblinchild · 04/02/2011 16:09

'Blimey at my dcs old primary a list went up by the classroom and you signed up first come first served.'

That's what my school does GrungeBob.
You can always request an appointment on a different day altogether. I rather like it if several aprents do that, it stops the nightmare of two days in one week, back-to-back ten minute slots.
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curlymama · 04/02/2011 16:09

I wouldn't mind if they made the time later than I requested, but I would mind if they ha made it that much earlier as it would mean their Dad couldn't come.

Can you ring them and tell them you want a different time?

Goblinchild · 04/02/2011 16:09
scurryfunge · 04/02/2011 16:10

I was just about to ask if you had a toddler on the keyboard Goblin Grin

waitwhat · 04/02/2011 16:11

I went for the late slot of 7 - 7:30...I got 3:30Grin

BranchingOut · 04/02/2011 16:11

The after school slots and the late slots are always the most popular.

Unfortunately you do have to be really fast.

Ormirian · 04/02/2011 16:13

We just have a list of times stuck on the classroom door with a pencil in a blob of blutack - fill it in yourself. First come first served and much simpler.

Only difficulty comes when you have 2 or more and you have to fill in one and then rush to the other classes to see if there is a space at even vaguely the same sort of time.

Original poster
littleducks · 04/02/2011 16:14

But if I ask for an apointement on another day, wont it have to be at 3.30ish when school has just finished.....so i would have the same problem then

OP posts:
spanieleyes · 04/02/2011 16:15

Between 5.15 and 5.45 only gives 3 slots, if 3 parents were in front of you in the queue, that's it!
We ask parents for suggested slots and then do the best we can( at least, the office staff do) to give people what they want and fit in siblings within 10 minutes. It's a logistical nightmare ( one family has 5 children in 3 different classes!) and the staff do the best they can.

At least we try to stick to times, appointments at my son's secondary can be running over an hour late quite easily.

TheVisitor · 04/02/2011 16:17

Try parents' evening in Secondary school for triplets. Their first one wasn't too bad, as it was just their form tutor and more about how they'd settled into Year 7. Their appointments were set over two hours. I sneaked in after the first tutor and got it over and done with in half an hour. I've got more detailed ones coming up and I think I'll have to split myself into 3.

BrigitBigKnickers · 04/02/2011 16:18

Trying to co-ordinate 30 time slots for a parents evening is a logistical nightmare. Especially when lots of people have asked for the same time. Also if the child has siblings in another class- teachers try to liaise in order to avoid giving out identical times for children in the same family.

Your appointment is 50 mins earlier than you wanted not an hour and if my experiences as both a parent and teacher are anything to go by the time you eventually see the teacher will be fairly close to when you originally requested anyway.Grin

Please don't ask the teacher to change it. If it was crucial that the time be after a specific time you should have stated on the slip.