Do you go to every parent’s evening?

[milesleft]

Ds is in year 5 I have been to every parent’s evening so far and have no concerns but I feel bad having to finish work early.
I went to the autumn term one with this years teacher and it was 5 mins and no problems.
Will it look bad if I don’t go this time? Ds dad can’t make it either due to work and I don’t want it to look like we’re not interested or we don’t care?

I would never miss it but I usually book late times. DD was in year 7 last year so the first multi teacher one and I couldn’t get a time with a couple of the teachers as the only times they had would have meant I’d have had to leave work early. DH was away that one so missed it as well.

Yes you should go. It shows your child you care.

Yes, I try to. It's the time of year I get the most feedback how my kid is doing

Just so it doesn't look bad? Please don't waste the teachers' time if you have no concerns. I don't judge parents who don't come because they don't have any concerns and I'm grateful to get time back to spend with parents who do need to talk. Parents evenings do get repetitive by UKS2 if you have a well-behaved, well-settled and academic child.

I don't think we've missed one - but equally I don't think ive ever taken time off work for one.

We don't usually get surprises, but it does mean ive has a phone call from one of DSs teachers,who basically opened with "since we have chatted a number of times, I thought i might call about X" - tbf he had taught both kids at various points. On the flip side I met one teacher who id heard nothing but moans about - and meeting her i could instantly tell why there was a personality clash, and it helped to guide the kids as to mange their reactions to her.

So its as much about keeping in touch with people and having a vauge relationship as the actual night. Its also a chance to see inside a building my kids spend hours in every day.

What an overreaction for someone asking a simple question.

I went to every one but they were in the evening & I work a 9-5 job so I was free. I very much saw it as showing my son that school was important & it matters. Like other's I don't think I heard anything I didn't already know really but it was 10 mins a couple of times a year. I even attended his online college A level parents evening & according to him I was the only parent that did! I'm not sure if that's true 🤔

This is what I would do

Leave work early and screw them. Life is too short to be missing milestones with your children for the sake of work being "annoyed".

It should be against the law for employers to make parents feel like this.

A 'quick' call with a parent involves emailing back and forth to find a suitable time, locating a quiet room with a phone, often getting the parent's voicemail and then them emailing to request another time. Once they get hold of you they want to justify that hassle by talking for a very long time. I work in a secondary school and teach around 200 pupils so fortunately not many parents request meetings outside parents evening unless it is for something important, in which case it is fine. At our last parents evening around 60% of parents came.

On Thursday I will be going to my sons last ever parent teacher meeting. I have been to every single one. Every single one has gone the same way, extremely short and says smart, polite, hard worker, no notes. I know that this one will be exactly the same. Sometimes I wonder why I bother going but at this point I may as well finish what I started.

Yes, of course. I have a very full on job but I would move heaven and earth to attend a parents’ evening. I would have to have a very good reason to not be able to attend, it being ‘a bit awkward’ with work would not be sufficient.

Suppose its just bloody annoying on so many threads here than it seems to be the default solution to everything. Meanwhile in the real world....

Our school let you go on a different day if you can’t make their dates; could you do that? Not going at all looks terrible.

My parents rarely went …it still makes me sad 50 years on.

In the real world lots and lots of people are able to work from home either as part of a regular schedule or for occasional one offs. It was a fair question and your reply was an annoying over reaction.

I can’t believe so many people don’t bother. What am I saying, I work with young kids and daily see how apathetic many parents are to their kids development! Thankfully not true for all!

But not the majority of people. My DC had a soldier and a DJ as dads. Not possible to work from home. Nor was it for me in many of my jobs Only seems to be office workers that's doable for

Well, because a lot can change in the course of a school year with a child. New issues can emerge, precious issues resolve.

We've both been to every parents evening so far. Like pp have said, it's twice year, always around the same time of year, it's not a suprise.

Yes, though if you've been to every one isn't it DH's turn to go? Is his work actually more important/harder to leave early than yours, or is it just assumed it is because he's a man.
One of DH and I always go (both if we can make it, but primary school doesn't allow the children to attend unless they're old enough to sit quietly outside the room, and secondary doesn't allow siblings so sometime not possible). For DD it initially seemed a bit pointless as she has SEN so we get regular meetings anyway, but the academics can be lost in all the other stuff so it's useful to have a meeting focused on that.

I've been to every single parents evening ing across 4 kids, one of whom has now left school and, last night, 2 on one evening! I seriously deserve a medal, especially as I generally hate them and find them stressful (wait till you get to secondary school ones ...). Seriously though, I do feel it is a fundamental part of the job description. If you can't make a particular one, let them know and they will let you come in on another day, or do over zoom maybe.

If there are important issues then the school will be fast enough to phone you