Teachers! I have an excellent parents' evening tip for you.

[OoozingCervix]

1. If you have a 10 minute slot and you are still talking after 25 minutes to a parent there is quite obviously an issue that needs to be discussed further at a later date.

1. May I suggest you get a timer? Put it on your table. Set it for 9 minutes. If after the allotted time you are still talking, hand over a card with your email on it and suggest the parent book a further appointment to see you.

IANBU.

My dc old primary used to send out a letter that said strictly 5 or 10 mins depending on year group.
Y6 volunteers had a timer and had to come over to rescue teacher at correct time by showing next parents to their seats.
Parents evening ran smoothly and the y6 volunteers loved the responsibility.

I like the bell idea as it applies to everyone.

Teachers, what do parents find to talk about for so long? Or do they want you to do the talking? Even with my oldest daughter, who was very anxious and low achieving for a long time, I couldn't have found so much to say.

Parents should be able to email teachers direct, on a their individual school email addresses, the teacher can manage when they deal with those emails. It is not a personal email address, so they don't need an admin person to decide if the email is something they can handle or 'filter' it... They're grown ups, with responsibility for teaching kids and handling issues which crop up...like other grown up jobs.
It does teachers a great disservice when its suggested that they can't decide what to do with an email, when, or prioritise their time to deal with what is important.

tinymeteor
Schools: sit your parents in allotted seats, alphabetised by surname.

This assumes that the reason why it over runs is due to the teachers.

loverlybunchofcoconuts

Your assuming that all parents are sensible.

2 year 7 classes each with 32 kids, every parent wants to speak to me. Parents eve runs 3.30-7.00 that gives me 3 mins per child, no wee break and I get to say the same things 64 times.... love it! !?!

BoneyBackJefferson you sum up exactly why I'm glad we don't communicate by email with our parents.

Some of the urgent messages absolute crap that our HT has had to deal with from parents are quite unbelievable. These parents wouldn't make an appointment about this but think it's ok to fire off an email and expect an instant reply

Jolly good. I'm hoping this is the first of a whole series of "Teaching for Idiots" tips. Maybe a regular weekly slot?
If you could sort "planning" and "delivering lessons" out next, that'd be just peachy.

Parents should be able to email teachers direct, on a their individual school email addresses, the teacher can manage when they deal with those emails. It is not a personal email address, so they don't need an admin person to decide if the email is something they can handle or 'filter' it... They're grown ups, with responsibility for teaching kids and handling issues which crop up...like other grown up jobs .It does teachers a great disservice when its suggested that they can't decide what to do with an email, when, or prioritise their time to deal with what is important.
I want admin to filter the stuff that does not need to come to me! And I can prioritise perfectly well but that would mean not getting to trivial emails which could have been dealt with elsewhere by a more relevant member of staff.

SmileEachDay

Unfortunately its a resurrected thread (2013) that has become a litch.

loverlybunchofcoconuts

Most schools that allow parents direct contact with teachers through email have a "reply in 24/48 hrs" policy.

It can be a pain to send emails that state that you need to go through X or get in to prolonged email chains that are worthless.

Dammit Boney

Better get planning then

I love some of these ideas. At some points in parents eve I worry about standing up to get shot of see the parent out as I am desperate for a pee. On the whole I'm pretty good at wrapping things up as I always have a diary to hand to book a follow up if needed. I also always ask at the start if there are any concerns.

However, last parents eve I had 3 sets which over-ran:
The parent who asked at 9 minutes (out of 10) I I thought the DC was
Autistic.
The parent who needed to tell me all about her (abusive) marriage.
The parent who informed me her child was being bullied (again at 9 minutes).
None of those could really be stopped within the next 30 seconds. I'd feel it totally inappropriate to do so.

When I'm there as a parent, I now take copies of DS's SEN diagnosis and paperwork- none of his teachers ever seem to know what he actually needs them to do to help.

OP - did you have a year 7 parents evening tonight?!? Only I did (maths teacher)... wondering if its my school

Shit I'm expected to sit 30 min with my kids nursery worker! Really what can you possibly need to tell me about a 2 yr old for 30min that we haven't already covered in the 10min we talk almost every day.

I'd love a 5 min and move on approach

If parents email each class teacher individually about issues (in secondary) who is to know if they are having problems in other subjects? If they all go through a central place then guidance/head of year can have an overview of what is going on with a particular student.

Some parents can be really hard to get rid of. They don't take hints or see others waiting etc.

I've known primary schools use TAs to come up to the teacher.

"Excuse me but your next appointment is waiting." Works well.

Dd's school hall uses the buzzer system. Goes off every four minutes - you (or rather the teacher) needs to talk fast!

Some do over run but most don't. And you can ask for a longer meeting at another time if you need to. However parents evening shouldn't really bring up any real surprises as teachers can and do contact parents if there are any issues before parents evening even comes along.

1. this thread is 4 years old
2. I very much doubt there would be a thread on here telling GPs how to conduct their appointments. Teachers fair game yet again it seems.

This is a 4 year old zombie thread started by someone who wants to spam their business by the back door!

MNHQ-this is why your removal of the zombie thread warning has been a bad idea.

I have just finished a 12 hour working day talking to at Parents Evening, only to read upon getting some escapism on MN, another lovely teacher bashing thread resurrected from 2013.

And those who need to know all the teacher email addresses- Why? What for? I can honestly think of only one time I have emailed my child's school and that was in response to an email they sent me.

I'd be interested how many people who desperately need to know these email addresses are in full-time employment, I really would!

I wonder how many people would consider emailing their doctor every time they feel vaguely unwell.

Hmm.... don't know why some people think it is vital that they have access to teachers' email addresses.

Totally agree Danyellas