Parent’s evening privacy

[DuggeeH]

Hi all,

just wondering, when you have parents eve at your DC’s school…do the teachers close their doors for each appointment?

My DC’s class is open plan, therefore you can hear every thing the teacher is discussing with parents - good and bad.

I find this a bit off and being an ex-teacher myself, disclosure is everything. What do you guys think?

Thanks!

We have the door shut. Would not be happy if it could be overhead and could put some parents off raising issues with the teacher.

Primary - in classroom, door shut, other parents wait outside.
Secondary - all in big hall but noisy enough not to really overhear, and you generally don't know them anyway. They went to teams anyway.

No way would I have been happy in primary with other parents hearing our discussions.

I would not be happy with that. I’d ask if I could close the door or move to a private room.

when you’re concerned about bullies or children being rude to your child you have no choice but to mention their names. This works the other way round, I don’t want to hear that little Johnny can’t read yet etc etc.

Ours is open plan in the school hall. I like to take the last appointment of the day so it hasn't really been an issue! I do catch snippets of other conversations around me but it's not like the conversations are especially bad, the kids are usually there also.

We do ours in the hall en masse, all the teachers have their own table. Waiting parents have to wait outside in the corridor.

We used to use classrooms but stops after several teachers were made to feel uncomfortable/unsafe due to parental behaviour. The school has to ensure its staff are safe.

As above, primary door closed.
Secondary in the hall with everyone milling about. General mayhem and too much noise to take in anything anyone is saying about another child.

This is one of several reasons why ours have stayed online. Parents are given the choice of an online meeting or a phone call. Lots of primary schools are very open-plan now, so it's not always possible for discussions to happen behind a closed door.

In seniors, ours were all open, in the dining hall. Teachers dotted around at desks a few feet away from each other.

Primary and Secondary- both open plan in the halls. To be honest if there was a problem then I would expect to be told before the Parents Evening in a 1-2-1 with the teacher.

In infants, ours were in classrooms, doors shut. But because it was so quiet, and people would be waiting on (tiny) chairs outside the door, sometimes you could hear anyway. Bit awkward and you pretended not to overhear.
In juniors, the parents eve was desks all around the perimeter of the hall, parents chairs for waiting all in the middle. Lots more hubub. Even though it was all open plan, you were actually less likely to overhear, and parents and teacher would generally talk in slightly lower voices, mindful of the open space. Didn’t really overhear anything. And you could arrange something separately if needed.
Secondary is a mix of online and gigantic noisy hall.

I'm a retired secondary school teacher. When I had started out, parents nights were in our classrooms and we were threatened by some parents on a number of occasions. Once, both parents came in, the mother stood at the door and held it shut while the very big and beefy father told me in no uncertain terms what would happen if his son got a bad report. It explained a lot about the behaviour of the son but was very frightening. A number of us, who had similar situations with different families, complained and thereafter the system was changed.

Thanks for your messages and replies. When I used to teach secondary, we’d be in department areas (doors closed), then the hall where it was so noisy where you couldn’t hear anything, then during and after covid, we stayed online to conduct Parent’s Eve.

I tried to whisper but the teacher would continue talking at her normal voice level, with parents sitting outside the room where there is no door. Seems so ridiculous to me 🤪

Both Primary and Secondary in hall.

But... nothing really private was discussed on Parents Evenings. I attended on a completely different date for my DD with additional needs (30min appointment opposed to 5 minute appointment).

Parents evening isn’t the time for confidential conversations really, if needed a separate appointment wihh more than 5 minutes should be booked.

Ours are mostly held in the hall rather than classrooms. It’s busy & loud & I guess folk could listen in if they wanted - but I’d say everyone’s focused on getting to their own appointments & dealing with them I’ve never considered that anyone could be listening in!

Ours have stayed online since covid. I preferred to have it in person - it used to be mainly in the hall, library and dining hall but I can see its more convenient online. Nothing is really discussed except how brilliant dd3 is and how if she answered the actual question rather than the question she wanted she'd get 100%! ( year 10). I assume I'd make a separate appointment if I had a real issue.

Our school is open plan top so no door to close. They try and seat people out of the way but there are still people walking past.

Ours were always in the gym/dining/assembly hall and teachers in rows of tables around the perimeter and seating in centre to wait your turn. Zero privacy but so noisy you couldn’t eavesdrop ifykwim?

When I first started teaching 24 years ago they were in classrooms with the door shut whilst parents waited outside and looked and piles of books. We had lots of issues though with aggressive parents. I had one mother who brought her sister as back up. They were pretty well known for being aggressive. The caretaker kept popping in to make sure I was ok as they over stayed their time slot.

Now I have my own kids (one still in primary y6) and I’ve noticed the new trend to having them in the hall with all staff around the outside and parents sat in the middle waiting. Can’t say I ever over hear much. Although I recall one parent who is deaf who brought an interpreter and I could see the signing from where I was sat and I have bsl level 1 so did try to look away as I good pick up what was being said. Since my eldest started secondary during Covid they did them all online and have decided to keep it that way. Feel like I’ve never actually been in and met any teachers properly.

I agree with others though that if there’s anything that should be confidential then it should be discussed at a different time privately. One of my children is autistic so I have separate appointments with the sendco.

Ours are worse, teachers at tables around the hall loads od parents/siblings (the next few appointments) waiting very close by on benches!