Curriculum Evenings?

[Taz1212]

Does your school hold a curriculum evening at the start of the school year? This year DD's school has decided without mentioning it to parents to dispense of the evening and instead have given each child a 4 page outline for their year which manages to say absolutely nothing!

I'm not terribly impressed. We used to have an absolutely brilliant Head who would split the evening into two - he'd give a detailed talk on the previous year's literacy and numeracy stats and go over the specific plans and goals for the school. You'd then go to your child's classroom where the teacher would talk about the specific aims for the class, rough timetable, topics etc.

We then had a different Head who gave a rather lacklustre talk but you still had a good teacher presentation. The new Head seems to have decided that they just won't bother at all this year. It was always really well attended so I'm a bit bemused by the decision.

For example, this year all I know about the maths curriculum is that: "Children will consolidate and extend their knowledge of all mathematical concepts using an active approach to apply their skills. A weekly mental maths written test will be completed to help the children strengthen their mental agility."

Kind of tells us fuck all, or am I being unreasonable?

It is a shame the evenings have been cancelled, but the head cannot force staff to attend work outside their directed hours. Many teachers are working parents and we already do twelve late evenings in a school year (parents evenings and school play) so curriculum evenings place an added burden on child care and family life.

If you want to know how to help your child you could message the teacher and ask for an after school meeting or some ideas by email, but I do think your school has had it good so far and you don't really have a right to be annoyed with the teachers.

I've had a curriculum evening for both of my kids, years 3 and 6.

I would force the issue by asking (for example) the math teacher to post weekly updates on the intranet of what kind of problems they've worked on. If they say no to this, they sound unreasonable.

Really, Crowler? Sorry as a teacher I disagree with you.

We still have ours, and we get weekly "Just to let you know" updates showing roughly what the children have been working on.

Admittedly they have changed the format this year (I think because everyone was sneaking off after the year specific stuff); so they are doing a PTA AGM and Heads talk first followed by the year groups stuff. This means I will have to miss it altogether as I have a child to collect just as they get to the year specific stuff.

NewName, why do you disagree? Surely I should know what sort of math problems my kids have been working on during the week so we can reinforce over the weekend?

What I disagree with was your phrase "force the issue". If staff don't volunteer their own time for these evenings (and it appears that if it is to follow the previous version which the OP wants it will need to be every teacher) the head cannot force them.

Also not all schools have an intranet. Within my classroom the levels of differentiation mean that I have six different types of activities going on. The levels of work change daily, depending on my assessment during each lesson and how the children respond to the given tasks. To provide the information that you suggest would take personalised emails. My friends private school does that and it takes her over two hours for just 14 children, so my 30 would make my workload unbearable.

The curriculum information I do provide on the website tells the parents the maths topics for the half term (e.g. telling the time on an analogue and digital clock, calculating shopping totals and change, place value with numbers up to 99, addition and subtraction by breaking into tens and units, measuring in cm, ...). The school has a parents calculation policy on the website which explains how we teach in different year groups (e.g. we don't do column addition until they are secure with place value). I also send home some leaflets I found on the internet by googling "how to help your child in year X and a list of useful websites. It does sound like the school has also provided information (the four page outline). If a parent then tried to force me into an extra late parents evening, I'm sorry, I would be cross.

Sorry, but you've probably touched a nerve with the tone and phrase in your post Crowler. You sound very like a group of parents I had last year who were constantly trying to force me to do what they want and needed to remind me who was the boss. I had constant meetings about where they wanted their children to sit (no ability tables in my room, just wanted the front seat with all their friends next to them despite me explaining seating is a very complicated equation and I have six children with serious vision or hearing difficulties to support with correct seating), how I would teach handwriting, how I would teach calculations (opposite to the school's policy), which days I should be doing PE as I shouldn't tire their DC on their swimming night, etc. They regularly used the phrase "but you are a public servant". It was exhausting and left me less time for my core purpose; to plan and deliver high quality lessons that met their child's learning needs. Whoops, sorry - rant over!

I think you've misinterpreted the phrase "force the issue". I was referring not to the curriculum evening but rather updates to the intranet. I need to know what my kids are doing during the week in math class.

Doesn't that in fact make your job easier if I'm reviewing over the weekend what you've done that week?

we have a 'meet the teacher' during school time e.g. they were at 1.45pm and lasted half an hour or so. We dont have intranet with the school and I see no need for a weekly update on what has been covered as surely the teacher can assess what has been covered and what needs to be worked on in school time.

can you not just ask your kids what has been covered?

Sorry Crowler, thanks for clarifying. As you can see I am a bit fed up with never having the time to do my actual job (teaching) because of all the peripheral stuff (much of it useless crap) the government and other powers that be are putting on us.

To answer your question; it can make my job easier sometimes, and I am all for parental involvement. But my reflection has to be on where does my facilitating parent involvement take so much time that it is having a detrimental effect on my ability to do the actual planning, teaching and marking for the children. I do have a finite amount of time, the burden of paperwork is constantly being added to and I have a right to a work/life balance, just like every employee in every job.

I agree intranet stuff may be useful, but it does depend on a school having one and I worry it would just be a lip-service posting rather than personalised enough to actually help each child, so that is more of my time that is less that productively used. I am currently debating with the SLT whether our target sharing with parents is just the lip-service type, and how to make it both useful and manageable.

Gosh crowler. Does your child's teacher oblige this request?? (I can imagine 30 individualised reports, stating which maths problems, English topics, art techniques, etc wouldn't take a teacher long ;-))

NewName: I am sometimes taken aback by how insane some other parents are and I feel badly for the teachers who have to deal with them. I am slightly insane (my son is heading into 11+ season) but I definitely try to contain my insanity so as to not contaminate his teachers with it. I am involved, but on the home side only. I don't request meetings.

If I know what's going on in the classroom, I can go entire months without corresponding with my kids' teachers. I don't like having to request information via email from them, because it leaves me feeling as though I am being cast as one of the insane parents (when I am so clearly not! )

30 individualized reports? Where did you get that idea?

All I want is to know the math problems that were covered that week.

I think what LittleRobots means is posting what the maths problems covered that week doesn't say much for the differentiation and personalised learning if all 30 parents get the same post. If your child is approaching such a crucial time you won't want an answer referring to the class average as that won't stretch an able child and prepare them to do well in the 11+.

(Sorry if I'm putting words in your mouth LittleRobots!)

NewName lots of schools include these evenings as part of their directed hours. I recommend, with my union hat on, that you ask your school for a break down of where and when the directed hours are made up. Good practice would be for a school to have a yearly timetable ready at the start of the year to show which evenings/ events are part of directed time, and which are optional.

My school puts lots of pressure on the staff to attend Saturday fayres, evening sessions etc and it's not fair.

My 11+ kid - they're streamed. They would get them by the ability group.

My youngest is not yet streamed, I would get a class-wide one for him, yes.

Yes, the head can certainly get teachers to run an information evening, simply by including it in directed time (which would mean a reduction elsewhere). It doesn't have to be a voluntary thing.

But isn't it useful to know: they have a tables test on Friday, are looking at Graphs, and Elizabeth I and the Armada; this week. Regardless of whether your child is on top or bottom table? (Or if your teacher teaches true mixed ability, which doesn't always mean the MN "bright" children are "not stressed".

I agree mummytime.

This is more important for my year 3 son, actually (not streamed) - I don't know what they cover. Even if it's merely an explanation of the class average, I can work from that.

My year 6 son is following an 11+ curriculum so it's easy to find.

NewName, unless your child is in trouble, the teachers are far too busy to meet with parents individually. You should have seen the fuss when a few parents asked for an outline on new math because children were coming home and not understanding how to do their homework and the parents had never seen the method before ("mummy, that's not how the teacher does it." " How does she do it?" "I don't knooooow!!!!"). Needless to say we never got any guidance.

My mother was a primary school teacher for over 40 years in various countries and I'm well aware of the out of hours time commitments they make. It may or may not be the case that teachers protested this year about doing the curriculum evening. I don't know. However, they clearly spent time writing 4 pages of waffle filler. It's a bit odd and disappointing that in the absence of the traditional evening they couldn't have at least tweaked the previous years presentation and issued that. What they have sent out tells us absolutely nothing of use.

Interesting Noblegiraffe and juniper9. I've just calculated my directed hours. (sad I know, but I'm waiting for the end of tap lesson and forgot my book). When I add the daily minimum directed day (15 minutes before children arrive and after they leave), PD days, staff meetings and parents evenings it is already beyond my contracted hours. Add to that the late evenings for Christmas Plays, compulsory weekly clubs that every teacher has been told they have to run, compulsory weekly, in school, team planning meetings (not counting the hours of personal planning and prep), PTA meetings, Summer and Christmas Fayres, film nights, bingo nights and school discos we are told we must attend and it is nearly double my contracted hours. That is before I even think about all the personal planning, marking, resource making and assessment hours I put in at home.

I am not trying to start a "don't teachers work hard" thread, but I think we are being taken for a ride! I'm never militant at school, but reading that heads should tell us we have additional curriculum evenings taken from our directed time has made me look at this more closely. How many schools are in the same boat as us and the "taken from directed time" would be just additional directed time?

newname are you in a union? I would certainly get your union to request a breakdown in directed time from the head, it sounds like he is taking the piss.

I agree, but I don't like to cause a fuss! Considering I was a HT until 12 years ago you think I'd toughen up! I feel bad as we have a new HT and she is under a lot of pressure expecting O.

I think too many HTs use the Big O as an excuse. We were expecting the O team for about 3 years, and were kept on high alert constantly. Any union stuff I tried to raise was always given the "well, after Ofsted come we can certainly look at it." Not good enough.

I don't understand how they can double the hours that are stated in your contract.