Parent evening advice

[McGlashan]

It's parents evening next week and I have a few issues - I'm just not sure how to broach them. DS is in Y2 and basically the kids seem to be doing very little. Same reading book for nearly 4 weeks ( and it was the whole class not just him).

They haven't reassessed the reading since Y1 so DS is on a level far too easy for him anyway. We've had only one piece of homework home since August.
I have some sympathy as it's a new teacher and the class has been very disrupted by one kid who probably has undiagnosed issues. But this is really rubbish. The couple of other parents I know have the same issues. One of them is on the warpath I think.

I never complain as a parent - I tend to think things will be ok but even I need to say something. How to do it without pissing her off?

I think parents evening should be like a work appraisal, no surprises.

So see teacher now not wait and stew til parent's evening.

Parents evening is not the place to complain about the teacher, you'll want to spend the time talking about your DC and their progress not the teacher and the poor job they are doing. I agree you should make a separate appointment preferably sooner to talk about homework and reading books.

New teacher or not, the school should have some sort of homework policy and plan.

Our Parents' Evenings tend to start with the teacher asking whether we have any concerns. I think my answer would be "I am slightly concerned that DC is making slow progress in reading, what do you think?"

The trouble is that you only have 10mins so it's probably not the time for an in depth discussion.

If you get an answer that you are happy about, fine. However if you're not happy I would find a time the following week to arrange another appointment - I would probably take the approach of "I've reflected on Parents' Evening and I am still concerned I could support DC's reading better, could I talk with you at a convenient time about how we can help DC?"

That's interesting. Ds is an only child so it's my first foray into schooling really. Our school doesn't really encourage making appointments with the teachers. We were told we would get a chance to talk over issues at the 2 parents evenings they have.
I don't want to tell her she's doing a shit job that's the point- I want to discuss DS's future learning in a way that I can include the homework/reading thing without making it about her. Maybe that's impossible.

Thanks for that beanandspud. It's a good idea to enquire as to whether DS's reading is the cause for the lack of books - even though I know it's not.

I think this is a totally valid thing to raise in parents' evening. Just say DS has only had one reading book since he started Y2 and you think he needs reading books changed regularly (say 2/3 times per week) to improve his reading. It doesn't have to be a direct criticism of the teacher at this stage just a comment about what is holding DS back. Only if there's no improvement would I make a separate appt to discuss.

Maybe new teacher is assuming the kids change their own books, and doesn't realise they need reminding to do this?