..to tell children off when they were making a row at parents' evenings?

[alcofrolic]

Parent interviews were taking place nearby. I told some children off (three times) for running around, trashing toys, treating the furniture like playground equipment and screaming their heads off.

Their parents were sitting there doing and saying nothing.

Of course YWNBU. If you are a member of staff, and children are misbehaving, then you would not be doing your job if you didn't intervene.

If you are worrying about a sibling's teacher over-running at Primary School, alcofrolic - just wait until you've got 10 or so to see at secondary

We work together as a staff to allocate appointments - usually early in the evening we say there must be a minimum of 1 appointment (10 mins) between sibling appointments, later in the evening there must be a minimum of 20 mins.

Parents get to express a preference for broad time slots of half an hour, not pick an individual appointment time. We allocate siblings first (starting with the families with the most sibs), then only children, and udually manage to get everyone into their 1st or second preference broad time slot.

That said, for my last appointment of the evening I did 'trade' a set of parents with a collague in the corridor - she was over-running, I was on time.

Secondary school Parents' Evening makes me a bit sweaty. Makes Primary ones look very organised. Time slots mean nowt.

BackforGood - that was, tbh, one of my thoughts - why would a member of staff (I presume a teacher) NOT ask said rioting children where their parents were, and deliver the children back to their care with a firm message about keeping children quiet because there were meetings going on? Or if the parents were in meetings, making it VERY clear that the children needed to sit silently on separate chairs and there would be normal school consequences for misbehaviour?? Very odd.

I wasn't worrying about previous teachers over-running back - it always happens! However, I was a bit miffed that it was me having to intervene rather than the parents.

How many children in the school teacher? How many evenings do you do? Do you run PI for all year groups at once? Do parents sit down in the hall? Do you offer refreshments?

(I quite like this idea of collection and warning!)

Why can't the kids go outside in the playground and play while their parents are talking to the teachers?

It's getting dark and there's no-one to stand in the playground to supervise for 3 hours! And some are in push chairs. And there's about 400m x 300m of concrete and grass to explore!

In the past, I've put the computer on with a DVD of cartoons on with headphones. Works well.

We had some very naughty little buggers last year. They ran from room to room, trashing displays and emptying trays onto the floor etc! I told them off. Parents didn't even blink. The kids are perfectly well behaved normally!

At ours, school age children to into the hall to be supervised by senior management; younger children go with their parents (and generally play on their parents iPhones).

Small school - 100 children (lots from large families, though - maximum number of siblings I had in my classroom for 1 meeting was 5, only 1 of school age). All year groups at once. 2 nights - one early (from end of school to mid evening), one late (from 5 pm onwards). Yes, chairs for parents in hall, and that is where all pupil books are to be looked at by parents. In the past, we have done tea and coffee - this year there was a book fair on so we chose not to combine the two!

Though my children's school - 450 children - runs it very similarly, just with chairs for parents grouped round each classroom doors next to tables on which all books are laid out.

At our school the books etc are in the hall for you to look at before your meeting and there are tea/coffee, juice and biscuits from the PTA along with the lost property that has been washed and sorted for picking through.
When it's your appointment then you go through to the classroom and there are things for the kids to do in there whilst the meeting is going on.

One of dd1's old schools did have a crèche run by some of the teaching assistants during the parents evenings which was a brilliant idea.

MrsPnut that reminds me of the thread where people thought it was ok to look at your child's books and everyone else's too.

MrsPnut, SUCH a good idea about the lost property. Noted for the Spring Term parents' evening, we'll definitely be doing that. DC's school does a '2nd had uniform for a donation' stall at Parents' evenings, but the lost property idea is great :)

Dcs primary set up creche on parents evening with a ta to look after all the dc.including siblings.
Books were in dining room to look at before seeing teacher who were all in the hall.

Sparkling, the children's books are in their trays so it would be obvious if you picked up someone else's tray to look at their books. They are piled on tables around the edge of the room.

Glad to hear that MrsP I was really shocked people thought it was ok to have a mooch at everyone's books not just their own child. To compare.

YANBU.

Our DC's school used to have parents evening meetings in the classrooms, but for the past three years they've been in the hall. It's much better this way as the desks for the meetings are around the outside of the main hall, the children's books for that evening are on benches to be looked at before speaking to the teacher, and there is space in the middle for the kids to mess about and be silly with their friends who are also hanging around. I've only ever had to tell my youngest off for climbing on some soft play bits or mats stacked at the side of the hall, I was not impressed with her!

This probably only works because it's only a one form entry school, there probably wouldn't be enough space if it was a larger school.