School contact and parents evenings??

[Jigglypuffler]

Obviously, totally appreciate schools are doing the best they can due to covid, bubbles etc etc.

We are getting very minimal/next to no contact from DC's school (primary/infant), and this has been the case since March. We've now been told there won't be an autumn parents evening of any kind as normal (either f2f, phone or virtual), but we will receive a written report instead, and that if we have concerns we can contact school to discuss.

AIBU to feel that this isn't OK, and while I appreciate the restrictions this school is working within, that there must be some way of allowing more of a dialogue between teachers and parents? We have no idea how DC are doing - we're just guessing based on the reading books they're bringing home, there's no homework or anything similar coming back. I know a report will give some answers, but it gives us no opportunity to ask questions (both ways) or obtain any further understanding. I also think only having a discussion if there's a concern isn't particularly helpful for any of us - it feels like conversations will only happen in a negative context instead of with a more rounded and holistic approach.

I always worry I'm being 'that' parent if I object to their approach, even though sometimes I know it's OK to be that parent and to want to have more contact between us and the school... AIBU to want to say something?

Three or four times a year report cards were standard 30 years ago. With grades and actual work pieces on which the reports were based. Not the work but the reports were signed and returned to the school (triplicate paper, yellow parents copy, pink school and can’t remember who got the third) and yes meetings were set up a few days later to discuss.
For many parents with multiple children this was fine and no face to face appt necessary.
It’s a very old school approach but also low tech.
I wouldn’t be impressed but not upset as long as it wasn’t PFP.

We’ve got parents evening on zoom. That would seem like the most obvious replacement so not sure why that is proving hard in some schools?

I'm getting trained on how to use my school's virtual parents' evening software tomorrow evening! I had a look at the software and it looks great! I do wonder if some schools feel they'd have to sign up for something new like this that they have to pay for and may not have the budget for it. We haven't been given any extra money to buy all of the 'dealing with Covid' supplies...

Schools are required to provide 1 opportunity per year for parents to discuss progress. I’d guess by switching this one to written reports they think there’ll be able to provide a better experience at some other point in the year. And they are still required to provide that

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay that makes sense. Explaining that to parents would be helpful though.

I think they should have done video or phone calls a long time ago. All the parents cramming into small spaces to wait and then they are still only 5 or 10 minutes. And at this time of year it's dark and wet. Much happier being at home and having a chat via phone or video used to dread trying to get the buggy through parents sitting on minature chairs and stopping the other children who I have with me who also have their appointment quiet and not getting over excited because they just saw their friend.

My son’s school are doing phone appointments. The school I work at are offering face to face but default is Zoom.

I dont understand why primary schools can't do socially distanced parents evenings. A single teacher in their own classroom, parents enter one household at a time and are seated 2+ metres away. These are adults, so masks can be worn and everyone asked to wash hands etc before entering. It's a very low risk scenario, lower risk that supermarket shopping etc. Its not a group scenario, there's almost no chance of physical contact, no sport etc so no heavy breathing.

If teachers can't manage that, they really are making excuses to sack off.

I think you should get to have a phone call or virtual meeting OP. Bring it up with the head and see what they say.
Our school is planning face to face meetings at the moment. I know a lot of staff members aren't particularly happy about it. It'll be interesting to see how many parents request a phone call instead! It sounds like we are in the minority from this thread?

I feel like schools/teachers have jumped at the opportunity to avoid any scenario where parents can question. Its a dodging of any form of accountability or dare I say it, interference.

No more school tours for prospective parents. No zoom session with the head/reception teacher in place of it either, only a pre recorded virtual tour with no opportunity for parents to engage. No parents evenings.... no zoom equivalent either despite this being logistically easy to sort.

When are parents going to be given the chance to question teachers directly in this new world? It's an important part of engagement with your childs learning. Children with engaged parents have better learning outcomes.

Fuck off @NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

I’m sorry but no teacher on here has said they want to avoid talking to parents. That’s really unfair.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland I think that’s really unfair. It is much more convenient and sensible to just do a zoom call than try and bring in hundreds of parents to the school to try and have some sort of muffled conversation in masks. That feels like a pointless risk for me.

We are doing phone calls. Parents can contact me anytime via seesaw and I will reply. I would not be willing to do socially distant parents’ nights over more nights than usual as has been described up thread. This leads to childcare issues for many teachers including myself. 2 nights twice a year is fine but trying to sort out more would be very difficult. Also touch points etc would have to be cleaned in between appointments and this just wouldn’t happen.
Contact the School once you get the written report and ask for a call back.

I couldnt give less of a crap about seeing my children’s teachers this early in the school year. Id rather i could get them in to see our bloody dentist!!!! Who is apparently not allowed to see patients at all at the moment...

I feel like parents on this thread have also only looked at what is convenient for them.

Sorry, I know that line is facetious and not true but the post from NoIDon’tWatchLoveIsland is spectacularly missing the issues schools and teachers are facing right now and wholly unfair and unfounded.

I did want to make the point though that many parent posters on this thread have commented just how easy video calling parents evening are/would be but having had to do two already, as a teacher, I can assure all that it is absolutely exhausting having 4 minute appointments with just 20 seconds between then for 5 hours, after you have been at work all day. Being secondary, I still won’t have seen all the parents I teach in that year group either, so will still have to ring home for the others.

As a parent too, it has also been very difficult to juggle this with the lack of wraparound care at the moment.

In addition, the amount of time these virtual open evening/mornings are taking up has run into weeks on top of an increased workload due to Covid. Schools generally aren’t enjoying these
changes either.

I (and other teachers) do this because yes, it is our job and I will continue to do it. But please don’t think it is the easy option for all. At least when it was in the school hall, I could have the odd toilet break.

My sons school is doing a written report.

Surely if you want to talk to the teacher you call the school, you don’t wait for the one parenta evening per year to come round.

But your getting a written report,that will tell you how things are and then you can arrange a phone call if you have concerns surely?

As a teacher who is expected to do virtual and phone transition meetings and parents evenings, it annoys me that I'll just be getting an interim written report about my own DCs. It doesn't do the profession any favours if some schools do the bare minimum and it means that the majority of us who are really slogging through this term are lumped in with the general criticism.

Just this evening I had a video call with dc tutor (secondary) that was a 10 min slot and you could see the timer counting down, so little chance of overrun.
DS primary has a virtual parents evening coming up before half term we can opt for a telephone call or video via zoom.
Our school have been really good with communication, we had a weekly newsletter all thru lockdown. Reading diaries contained a list of event dates, each year group are doing a parent assembly like they usually would but they are via zoom.
There is also plans for each class to whole a Christmas Fayre.

We’re doing phone calls or Teams/Zoom meetings for our parents evenings though our parents can message on Dojo and can request calls at anytime anyway.

My son’s junior school was terrible during lockdown, with no contact beyond stuff on their website and patronising newsletters until late June. But all parents have been offered a five minute phone call after three weeks or so to say how their children are settling back in.

Whether the school give parents a report, do a phone call, zoom meetings or face to face is not the teachers decision.
It doesn't matter what the teacher can 'manage' or what they personally want to provide. It will a decision made at senior leadership level and not ghe choice of each individual teacher

My DDS school is doing exactly this.
I’m not really sure how to approach it but I’m not especially happy. They seem to be doing their best to avoid any kind of contact.
It bothers me as I will be doing telephone consultations for my own class.

Seems to be considered reasonable at our school as that’s what they’re doing. We have our first Zoom parents evening today (two children at school). I’m not sure how 10 mins via Zoom will take longer than the normal 10 mins in person that they usually do?
We also get regular photos and updates via class Dojo, DD1’s teacher does a ‘class newsletter’ every couple of weeks to let us know what they’ve been up to (as well as our usual monthly school wide one), and can contact them at any time.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

I dont understand why primary schools can't do socially distanced parents evenings. A single teacher in their own classroom, parents enter one household at a time and are seated 2+ metres away. These are adults, so masks can be worn and everyone asked to wash hands etc before entering. It's a very low risk scenario, lower risk that supermarket shopping etc. Its not a group scenario, there's almost no chance of physical contact, no sport etc so no heavy breathing.

If teachers can't manage that, they really are making excuses to sack off.

Considering all staff meetings at the moment at my school have to be done online, this will not happen. We literally sit in adjacent rooms and video call each other.

The whole reason schools are able to be open is that children don’t seem to spread the virus as easily. Bringing extra adults in to the building the least sensible thing to do.