To hate online parents' evenings.

Hcolhcsra · 2021-10-05T21:41:58+00:00

DD's school and the one where I work are both sticking to online parents' evenings. I loathe them, both as a teacher and as a parent. Too many issues with connections, countdown timers adding pressure and a general lack of connection. Am I really in a minority?

Malteser71 · 05/10/2021 22:44

No I hate them too.

Our school are sticking with them. Apparently parents prefer them. I don’t know a single parent who was asked.

SionnachRua · 05/10/2021 22:45

I love them tbh - primary teacher though so maybe that makes a difference. It's great being able to boot overly talkative parents out with an airy "oh my next appointment is in the waiting room".

NiceGerbil · 05/10/2021 22:49

I've put yabu but I mean how anyone feels about this isn't wrong as it were!

I love them.
In person it's terribly badly organised. Many chats over run so there's queues. You can never get a slot with all you want. And on the day cos of queues and timings hopeless etc. Parents tend to wander and grab ones with no queue irrespective of subject.

Online.
Timing adhered to. Perfect organisation. Able to get slots with teachers you want. Parents with millions of questions etc can't collar them for way longer than supposed.

We have good internet here so connections fine.

I totally completely love it!

CyclingIsNotOuting · 05/10/2021 22:49

Hate them too as a parent.
We were actually told that they gave teachers a vote about whether to go back to f2f and they decided against.
I completely understand why, they cut off the parent after exactly 10 mins and it’s easier to deliver difficult messages remotely but jeez, it really is impersonal.

Ouch44 · 05/10/2021 22:50

I prefer them. Haven't had many connection issues. We did have one teacher who didn't have her camera on as she said the WiFi wasn't fast enough. That was pretty off putting but still fine. One of the rooms they use at my DC school is the hall and it's impossible to hear what the teacher is saying in there so online is much preferable. I don't think we ran out of time even with 3 minutes!

AlexaShutUp · 05/10/2021 22:50

I don't mind them. For secondary school, where you have to meet multiple teachers, they're much more efficient. No hanging around between appointments, no missing appointments because one teacher has overrun etc. However, I do miss actually meeting the teachers as it isn't the same via video call.

I assumed that most teachers would probably prefer them because the time slots are more easily managed. Interesting that you don't like them.

NiceGerbil · 05/10/2021 22:50

The one we've had your time was counting down and went red when nearly gone.
And then it cut off automatically.

Brilliant!

SionnachRua · 05/10/2021 22:51

I completely understand why, they cut off the parent after exactly 10 mins and it’s easier to deliver difficult messages remotely but jeez, it really is impersonal.

I'd hope they wouldn't be giving difficult messages remotely tbh? I was always taught that the golden rule of parent teacher meetings = nothing you say should be a major shocker. Any big issues should have been flagged well in advance.

AlexaShutUp · 05/10/2021 22:52

@NiceGerbil

The one we've had your time was counting down and went red when nearly gone. And then it cut off automatically.

Brilliant!

Yes, ours was the same!

Lightswitch123 · 05/10/2021 22:53

I hate absolutely hate them. Parent of secondary and primary school age kids. Think it's a cop out by school.to.stick with them.

RoseMartha · 05/10/2021 22:53

As a parent I preferred it to walking round an over crowded hall looking for the right teacher when you haven't a clue what they look like and there are no names on display. And everyone can hear your conversation and the noise level is high.

With the online one. The first teacher I missed most of the time slot while I got the hang of the system but after that it was so much easier.

W00t · 05/10/2021 22:53

Sorry, I love them! It means you actually get your full appointment, at the right time, instead of having to sit waiting for people to stop going on and on and on about their child. The appointments are five minutes- don't use up mine and the next person's too, selfish gits!

DappledThings · 05/10/2021 22:54

Hate them. Was delighted to be able to see the teacher face to face in the summer but previous thread have suggested more people prefer online.

ANameChangeAgain · 05/10/2021 22:54

I like them. The only difficulty was choosing a tidy bit of the house. We liked not having to hover awkwardly waiting for "that parent" to finish hogging the teacher's time, and also it was nice to not have the 10 minute waits between subject teachers.

lollipoprainbow · 05/10/2021 22:55

I hate them !! Feel so silly talking via zoom plus I don't really feel you get a proper discussion on line.

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 05/10/2021 22:56

I like them too. Solves many issues as no one pushing in who haven’t booked slots, no waiting around in the hall and no running over time. So much better.

FrangipaniBlue · 05/10/2021 22:56

@NiceGerbil

I've put yabu but I mean how anyone feels about this isn't wrong as it were!

I love them.
In person it's terribly badly organised. Many chats over run so there's queues. You can never get a slot with all you want. And on the day cos of queues and timings hopeless etc. Parents tend to wander and grab ones with no queue irrespective of subject.

Online.
Timing adhered to. Perfect organisation. Able to get slots with teachers you want. Parents with millions of questions etc can't collar them for way longer than supposed.

We have good internet here so connections fine.

I totally completely love it!

All of this!

LadyofMisrule · 05/10/2021 22:57

I love them. All scheduled neatly, and no having to queue because the previous appointment has overrun. Nice and quiet with no background noise, and far more confidential.

Gizmo98765 · 05/10/2021 22:58

As a parent I love them no trashing about for 2 hours trying to find rooms. Jostling with other parents in corridors. Parents trying to push in without appointment slots. Some parents hogging teachers for way over the time slot making everything and everyone late. Painless quick, easy and confidential. Also get the teachers undivided attention even if only for a short time.

Shadedog · 05/10/2021 22:58

I prefer them. The queuing up system was inefficient and sometimes meant you missed a teacher all together while you queued for a different one, or would queue for ages only to be told they had nothing at all to say about your average kid. I did an online one from work in less time than it would have taken me to drive to the school and I don’t think I was poorer for it.

Mrsfrumble · 05/10/2021 23:00

Hmmm, I see both sides. When the technology worked, they were great as DH could join in without leaving the office. When the technology didn’t work it was so frustrating. I remember one last year when there was a Virgin media outage in the area and 2/3 of the parents couldn’t connect for their slots, which was such a waste of everyone’s time. I think offering both, which is what my DC’s school does now, is perfect.

EastWestWhosBest · 05/10/2021 23:00

I’m a teacher and I prefer it.
My room doesn’t get trashed by dozens of bored siblings.
I don’t have late comers.

I can work between appointments.
We don’t have to make sure everything is locked away.
It’s much better for personal safety. My classroom is at the end of a corridor. There are a number of times when I have had an aggressive parent and I’ve been entirely alone.

I like to meet in person but I see most parents in the mornings/after school anyway.

NeverForgetYourDreams · 05/10/2021 23:02

I love them. No rushing home from work to get to the hall to find someone over running and it throws your whole plan out

7 minutes a teacher. By schedule. With a glass of wine gulped between sessions

Much much better. Shame they only came in now as DS is year 11 and so only two more to have.

toomuchlaundry · 05/10/2021 23:03

Love them! Asked school to keep them. But DS’s school isn’t local to us, so saves us a drive. Also as small college they don’t do time slots for teachers, you just have to do the polite thing and hang out waiting for a teacher to become free. DH and I are obviously too polite as we were always last!

So much better having a fixed time, the system they use sorted out slots for us we just had to do one click and we had appointments with all teachers straight after each other. Had fixed time for each slot and it was counted down near the end so you knew when it would end and it literally kicked you out. No going over time. All done in about an hour. Teachers said they preferred it too.

Cherrysoup · 05/10/2021 23:05

Most parents I spoke to loved them, no queues, no trying to find the right teacher, no hanging round for us teachers, bliss! I did some at home, some at school. Because the slots are short, there’s no small talk, it’s all about the child and how to help them progress.

We use Parentcloud and it has been fab.