To think going to parent’s evening

[TheSunnySide]

Is not really necessary in the early years?
Have been to a few, it’s 10-15 minutes at the most, usually rushed, doesn’t tell you much and it is probably much better to make an individual appointment to see the teacher some other time.

It's about setting the right expectation between the parents and the school. You might not feel it's valuable knowing he got 9/10 on spelling test for example, but you could turn this round to find out from the teacher what you could be doing at home to help him get 10/10 next time.
My DS has been having "parents evening" at nursery since he started at 6 months! Yes you might think it's completely pointless for them to tell me he can walk, say a few words etc, but it's about the relationship between the parents and the nursery, also demonstrating to your children that school is important and you're on the same page as the teachers.

I'd like to add that my previous school dictated we call all parents who didn't attend to arrange an alternative appointment.

So 10 minutes of my time at parents' evening waiting for then to show up, 5-10 minutes of my time phoning them, then at least 15-20 minutes talking to them at a different time.

Multiply that by the 6-10 parents who didn't bother showing up and that's a set or two of books having to be marked in my unpaid lunch hour or at home.

I love parents evening . It’s a glimpse into what they’re like away from their home environment. I love seeing their work and finding out what motivates them at school.

Should mention that mine are young... reception and pre school. Maybe I’ll be sick of them in a few years.

If you make an appointment to see the teacher another time you're cutting into the time the teacher has for planning, marking and meetings. Parents' evening exists for a reason.

I enjoy parents' evenings, especially if the teachers have nice things to say about my dc. If you have to make an individual appointment to see the teacher some other time it's probably because you are concerned about your child. At secondary school it's useful to put faces to names.

Ella1980

Teachers give up hours of free time to do parents' evenings.Yes, I know as I'm a teacher!

Parents' evenings should be included in your (paid) directed time, not your free time;
www.teachers.org.uk/pay-pensions-conditions/workload/know-your-rights
Teachers Working Time and Duties - an NUT Guide - pages 11 and 12:

^Example of a generic directed time budget for full-time classroom
teachers in the primary sector without additional responsibilities^
Parents’ meetings and open evenings 3 hrs x 3 days 9 hours
Staff meetings 1 hr x 38 days 38 hours

^Example of a generic directed time budget for full time classroom
teachers (with a form group) in the secondary sector without
additional responsibilities^
Parents’ Meetings and open evenings 4 hours x 5 days 20 hours
Staff Meetings 1 hour x 38 weeks 38 hours

Perhaps you carry out other teaching duties during your free time instead.

I agree that it's rude to make an appointment and not show up.

I didn't get to see DD1's books last parents evening - her little sister grabbed the pile, handed us her maths jotter and told us "you can look at that one, I'm going to check her Maths and English" and flounced off to review her big sister's school books!

I just stood there thinking "fucking hell, I've raised the world's smallest Ofsted inspector" - meanwhile a TA was stood nearby trying desperately (and badly) to stifle the giggles.

It's slightly different for me - I'm and out of both of my kids' classes over the course of a week anyway helping hear readers and whatever else needs doing (school know I'm quite happy to chip in as a free TA if required - I'm a qualified teacher myself so relatively handy to have floating around) and last week I was in school for a day anyway as a governor so I have a very clear idea of how the school works, plus we have the more extended SEN review meetings anyway... so parents evenings aren't really all that vital for us and there's an element of going through the motions - and the teachers know if there's a parent they can't slot into the schedule easily - just bump me cos I'm fine with it and I'll have a flick through their work when I'm in school next anyway (they also know if they're running behind hearing readers one week I'm OK if they skip out my child).

@Clavinova
Totally agree! Hence why I left the school after many years because the new Head was pushing these things upon her staff.
Sadly an expectation to work in your own time is a "given" in teaching. That's not to say it's right but that's they way it is.

The thing is, parent's evenign shoudl not be a surprise. If your child has an issue, the teacher will have alerted you to that already, if you come to parent's evening 6 months inot the school year, and discover something major is going on, then the school has failed.

but once they went to secondary, I endured several horrifically noisy evenings sat in a hall and it soon became apparent they had no idea who my child was.
sorry, but then the school was shit.
The teachers at my kids secondary knows them, or at least, they know which face belongs to the book in front of them, and where the issues are.

I’ve always found the parents evening useful to get a general overview of how my child is doing, and if there’s any areas of concern, even for my “easy” child. Unless there are any specific concerns there shouldn’t be any need for an individual appointment some other time.

I have one child with SEN (ASD), so we’ve had a lot more parent-teacher meetings than average for him, mainly because his needs are more complex than those of most of his classmates, and there’s more that needs to be discussed. But that’s a bit different to demanding meetings outside of parents evening because parents evenings can sometimes feel a bit rushed.

Parents’ Meetings and open evenings 4 hours x 5 days 20 hours

Well, that is an incredibly small amount. I have 7 Parents evenings x 4 hours, plus 3 open evenings x 4 hours plus 1 GCSE options evening x 3 hours.
That’s 43 hours plus the staff meetings of which we have 39.

And that’s without all the extra 1 hour toolkits and twilights to attend (and I don’t have a responsibility).

But then, that is only an old NUT (it’s not NUT now but the NEU) guide you have quoted there, as to what their ‘ideal’ is. It’s certainly not reality.

That free time has been dwindling for a long time....