parents evening:what to say?!

[hk78]

hi
i've got parents evenings coming up today and tomorrow.dd1, 8, dd2, 4.5

(actually they're in the afternoon but you know what i mean!)

what do you talk about when the teacher says 'have you got any questions for me?'

i usually just say 'well i just want to know how she's doing generally '

is this what others do/say? if not, what can i ask that's useful?

that's if i get time to speak, as sometimes i've spent the whole meeting filling in pointless forms then time's up. is this a common experience or is it just at our school, lol? is this what we can expect nowadays, as school seems to now be about indoctrination rather than education.

e.g.dd1 has been telling me that they watch a film on dvd every friday afternoon .can it be true?! i guess this is when teacher catches up on paperwork. sorry i'm ranting, but when i was at school, the tv set was wheeled out once a year on the last day of term lol. this is what i really want to ask about but i don't want to be labelled a troublemaker.what do you think?

Ask about what she needs to improve on, what you can do to help her, and , yes i would ask about the TV, what they watch and why. (i think at DS1's school they watch DVDs during 'wet' playtimes)

thanks for that chippyminton
just hard to know whether asking about tv a good idea.
re:wet playtimes, dd1 was telling me last week that on friday afternoon they were going to watch 'high school musical' (and it was definitely good going-out weather) this seems to be during afternoon lesson time.

Hi HK

My DH is a teacher and would like you a lot, not asking too many difficult questions!

Seriously though, you're not going to be tested on how good your questions are so just be natural and ask about what crosses your mind during the conversation. Ask about the tv definitely, but I expect you'll find that this is 'golden time' where the kids earn a certain treat on a Friday afternoon, often of their own choosing, through good behaviour and work as a class during the rest of the week.

BTW if you don't feel you've been given the chance to speak then don't fill out any forms, etc until you've said your piece!

Nine

A friend of mine's DS, then yr 2, received a 'welcome' letter written by a (random) yr 3 boy at the school he was going to attend that Sept. The boy said, in his letter, that the most 'brill' part about school was all the TV they got to watch- bear in mind this letter had been sent via the new school. The school in question was a highly selective 9 and a half thousand quid a year prep!! They obviously didn't have a problem with it.

My point is, by all means find out what they watch exactly but a TV, linked to a DVD player can be a highly useful learning tool! It can enhance and broaden a study topic of add a visual element. In our society, it isn't the TV that's the problem, it's the unrestricted, unsupervised access many parents allow their kids!

Re your OP, in the 'any questions' section, I'd ask- "In your experience, what can we do to enhance the areas you've pointed out that need attention? How will we monitor progress in those areas?" And IF, like at my sons' schools the meeting is a litany of what your child CAN'T do, ask what exactly your child does well in?!

hi again,thanks for all the replies

well just to update from earlier..on the plus side, there weren't any forms.

on the minus...the whole year were sat watching a film again when i got there! (it was 'babe' this time apparently!)

the (temporary) teacher basically telling me that her grades have dropped since she was in the last year, and she was socially isolated but the other kids 'didn't mean to do it' (am i meant to be grateful?!) (she has SEN by the way)

i then asked my questions (what can i do to help at home etc., should she be having homework) and was met with ' i don't think you should criticise, she's doing ok considering what she has to deal with. and she sits down and listens and does the work, which is more than what a lot of the kids do'

i asked what i could do to help and got 'well i'm only here till easter'

total disaster. got dd2's parents evening tomorrow and i just don't want to go now, it seems a waste of time. is this what i can expect these days? i think i'll start a new thread on SEN (although it's not strictly a SEN issue, more a primary school issue?)

quick, someone pass me a pint of baileys please...