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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

parent/teacher meetings, how concrete is the feedback given? what to expect?

33 replies

timetoask · 10/10/2011 11:39

My very first parent/teacher meeting is due in a couple of weeks. DS (reception) never tells me anything! I have a rather faint idea of what is being done in the classroom. He brings reading home every night but that is about it. I am really looking forward to this meeting but I am not sure what to expect.

I know it's early days for my DS but I would like to have some concrete information about what he is doing and his progress so far. What type of feedback do teachers usually give?

I am also very interested in how he is developing socially and emotionally, he is a shy child and finds it difficult to make friends and speak out. Is this something that teachers would expect to talk about during these meetings?

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mrz · 11/10/2011 12:18

30 children x 10 minutes means 5 hour parents evening (without a loo break or anyone over running) by which time I can't remember who I am never mind whose mum you are If you want to discuss things in depth it is far better to make an appointment at another time.

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Iamnotminterested · 11/10/2011 13:42

mrz - another query!

Dd1 is in year 6 and we have parents evening after half-term; I feel that this year is "crunch-time" really, wrt current levels and her targets for end of KS2; Am I perfectly within my rights to ask what these are as to be perfectly honest we have had three years of bullshit ie. "she is doing fine and making progress" in a particular area where clearly she ISN'T and I just want hard facts really.

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mrz · 11/10/2011 14:23

Legally the school have to provide parents with a report and levels at the end of KS1 & 2.
Personally I don't think there is anything to be gained by not being brutally honest with parents and much to lose. Schools and parents need to work together for the benefit of the child we can't do that if we hide information or mistrust each other.

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NiecieTheTerminator · 12/10/2011 08:16

timetoask - I think in the early days 10 minutes is enough to have a fairly formal conversation about where your DC is and where they are going.

However, I would say in the early days it is worthwhile doing more informal visits too. In my DS's school they have an evening a week where you can go and look at their work, like a mini open evening. Some parents (not many) would be in there every week to find out how their DC was getting on but it worth going a couple of times a term to have a look and you can chat to the teacher then and there are no time constraints other than maybe other parents how have also dropped in. IMO parents't evening shouldn't present any surprises because you should be able to get the gist of what is going on anyway.

Imnotminterested - ask to see your DD's levels and the progress over the time in the juniors. That should concentrate their minds and they can't argue with a lack of progress if that is what they show.

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Iamnotminterested · 12/10/2011 09:20

Thanks mrz and NiecieTheTerminator

Usually at parents evenings in the past we have asked for her current levels and they "haven't got them handy" and will be jotted down on a post-it note and stuck in her home school diary a few days later; I think this time I am going to say, either in person to the teacher or via her diary, that we will be expecting to discuss her progress/levels/targets and will they be available on the night? Does that seem reasonable?

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Iamnotminterested · 12/10/2011 09:21

Forgot to say I will put this to them a week or so before so that they can be prepared.

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timetoask · 12/10/2011 12:05

Hi Iamnotminterested,
Your experience with parent/teacher meetings really do sound terrible.
"she is doing fine and making progress" is not good enough is it? I would definitely pursue a more concrete measurement of what progress has been made. And don't take no for an answer, you are entitled to get this information.
Good luck with it. This thread has been helpful for me, thank you all.

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NiecieTheTerminator · 12/10/2011 17:00

Don't give them a week Iamnotminterested. I would do it a day or two before at most. They will only forget if there is too big a gap!! They should have it to hand anyway - it isn't like they have to do any additional work because monitoring should be on going.

If they still don't do it, arrange another meeting to discuss them properly after the parents' evening. There will be no excuses then! Don't let them fob you off.