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.

When my son spent a year in the US, his (bog-standard, state) school had a day off for parent-teacher meetings. The teacher gave each family at least half an hour, and people had to rearrange work and child care to make it all happen. That was normal and expected, so no one minded, as it was part of the system. The teacher had extra time to think about each child (rather than extra work and an exhausting evening tacked on to a regular working day). The parents were not rushed or made to feel like they were taking too much time and not getting enough insight...

I really appreciated that parent-teacher meetings were considered so important.

Made0f I haven't attend parents evenings unless there's an issue at secondary level, my dd is annoyed though because she thinks we should be seen to be there even though there is nothing to discuss given her excellent grades/very comprehensive reports three times a year. I will go next year to show my face, but it just shows that 10 minutes is a pointless amount- if the child is doing fine, then 2 min 'all excellent here, work on your clarity of expression' is enough, and if there is a real problem or you need to go through the curriculum, then longer and more individual attention is needed. I don't get the point of parents evenings really! I do attend my dd2s though or their open evenings for informal chats with the teacher as she has specific issues that did need sorting out- once sorted out we didn't need to then discuss them again and again...

Beyond that's why I don't go, but then my dd1's school does write incredibly comprehensive reports, everything is online and accessible, I can see if she had any demerits as well as merits and what for, I know what she had for lunch!, the results of any in-class tests, so I have a very good idea of how she is faring.

Oh bollocks, I'm there tonight. Grammar school, sharp elbows, parents frothing at the mouth eyeing up their next appointment......dive bombing on free chairs, absolute nightmare. I'm dreading it!

don't know why I was so snotty in response to you
Was it because the OP was rather smug and patronising perhaps?

I find it really offensive that teachers on here are having a go at parents for caring! Why don't you want us to ask questions about our children's education? The fact is if I left my sons teacher to just "get on with it" he would be totally underachieving right now!

As a parent, I would HATE a system with a bell.
Some children just don't need to spend a lot of time reviewing stuff (yes everything is great, thanks) but others do need more time (e.g. Because they have some behaviour issues appearing etc..)

10 mins is very little time of there are some issues that need to be addressed with the child or the parents.

I have one DC who has been on both sides of it. Weve had the quick meeting when things were great and the longer one when they weren't. A bell would have meant the same length of time for both which wouldn't have been logical or efficient.

My experience with my own dcs is that, even when they have excellent results, it is still essential to go to said parents evenings.
It gives them a clear message

• we, as parents, do care about what is happening at school
• the DC gets to hear form the teacher 'yes you have been great' or 'this is appauling'
• we, as parents, get to hear exactly what the teacher says, which isn't always what the child is hearing (or wants to hear).

Fwiw, to the teachers on here
When, as a parent, you arrive to see a teacher and they don't really want to engage with you, it shows.
And it never gives a good impression of the teacher.
It's also usually the ones who might not be as good in the classroom too.
The ones that are professionals are right to the point, you can tell your worries to said teacher and they listen to you. They are also able to give clear and straight answers to said questions.

It's easy to have a go at parents, but it's worth remembering thatbthis is a two ways system and teachers aren't always great at doing parents evening either....

Oozing can I suggest you toddle off to the local doctors and give them similar advice they always seem to be running behind
so does the dentist
and the solicitors
and the consultant at the hospital
and just about every profession I have ever met that has to deal with the public
what on earth can be wrong with all these highly qualified professionals that they all seem to suffer from the same little tiny bit of stupid that you have so brilliantly pointed out ?

If only somebody could see the thing that they all have in common that causes the problem.......

oh hang on yes
"Lack of a buzzer"
dammit - you mentioned that didn't you ? genius..thats what it is genius - they should have a buzzer and a card with email address on it - I'll be voting for you in the next general election to be sure !

Navy that's true when yu know there is an issue,
.
One year we didn't get to really understand that dc1 behaviour was really out of line until we got to said parent evening.
So yes, at that point, you have questions as a parent.

This also assume that you get proper assessments and reports throughout the year so yu can spot the issues.
As it happens we get none of that and the parents evening is the one time you get to get a better idea of what I sactually going on.....

BluePeppers, sure some parents need more time, but it shouldn't be at the expense of making other parents wait. As the original post suggested, if that is the case the parents should be invited to make another appointment.

665, I doubt that Oozing will be looking out for your insightful reply three and a half years after she posted.

Ds school do the speed dating too! 4 minutes per appointment. The last 30 seconds you keep getting a nearly time to move buzzer! It's almost impossible to overrun as no one can keep talking through the warning buzzer and the conversation comes to an end.

Mainly it works. I have to be fair to parents though the teachers who overran seemed to be doing a lot of the talking in an animated fashion. However - I just assume it's their best student and I think every teacher deserves an ace student so I let it go!

yep zombie post - spotted that too late ceto - still genius - possibly behind some of our more recent political campaigns ?

My issue with parents' evenings was that they tended to tell us stuff that they must have known we were perfectly well aware of. DD was always a quiet child, she came up through the school with that reputation, but every teacher would tell us "She's very quiet, you know" as if they thought it was news to us. We did however develop a fine-honed technique of following that one up with "Yes, tell us what strategies you are using to encourage her to speak up in class and we'll do all we can to reinforce it."

Teachers here's a tip for you. If you are going to drop ds down a set please tell me either before you do it or at the very least around the time it happens. Not 3 months later in parent's evening. I won't need 20 minutes to discuss things with you as i would already know!!!

Teacher's remember I have other teachers to see - please don't keep on going over stuff i already know about. Other parents are waiting and may think its me that's rambling and hold the evening up.

DS in high school now and the kids have to come along as well - I now know why.
One parent for Y7 turned up without son in tow in Feb I think and one of the teachers said 'Oh Fred, well he's not at the top and he's not at the bottom so he must be somewhere in between but I have no idea as I don't know who 'Fred' is'
It is a big comp though in his defense

Actually ceto my point is that teachers should be able to judge how long they will need for each child and ensure that they have more time for the ones who need it.
My point too is that, if you have a system that highlight issues throughout the school year, then you don't need to go through them at parents evening. Or you can concentrate on one issue.

I have to say I'm baffled at the idea that parents evening isnt the time to discuss issues. If this is not what parents evening is for, then what is the point of meeting with the teacher?
Juat to say hello and prove that you do care about your child education?

Yes, I can imagine that being WILDLY popular with the kind of hysterical parent who claims their child is being held back by stupid/noisy/dirty/working class/foreign/E2L/SEN children and/or is being "bullied" by other kids who ignore them (read 'has zero social skills').

OK, I am exaggerating a bit (but not much)

We are in primary and have senior pupils as door knockers - it works a treat! They have a 5 minute appointment and after 5 minutes the pupil knocks on the door, If they don't come out after another minute, they knock on the door again and open it.

... hand over a card with your email on it.... No parent's getting my email address