How many minutes are parents' evening slots at your school?

[notusedbysomeonealready]

Ours are 5 minutes and it doesn't seem long enough.

How long is normal?

5 minutes (primary).

30 min group session about the plans for the year/what topics they have done as a group plus a 10 minute individual slot

10 over 2 evenings. Used to be 5 in one evening and it was awful. Everybody overran and you could be well over an hour late

10 minutes (primary)- parents 'evening' is 2.30pm until 7.30pm and must be exhausting for teachers.

Seems a bit pointless going for 5 mins unless there are issues?

Those whose primary schools also do 5 minutes, do you think it's enough?

If you're a teacher and do 5 minute slots, do they work for you?

15 minutes
We're at nursery.

I can't see how "she likes playdoh" is going to take her keyworker 15 minutes to share but off we go!

Had a 5 minute appointment last week and felt it was long enough to discuss everything.

Although there wasn't any concerns or issues...

10 mins at primary, 5 mins at secondary (but lots of teachers to see)

10 minutes

Exactly 7mins but this was to meet the form
Tutor. I had to email her afterwards about some issues. Parents evening with teachers is ten mins each in pre booked slots

10 minutes, but they have a speil rehearsed (All positive stuff) so very difficult to get a word in to raise concerns in that allocation! To be honest, I’m lucky I know my child seems to be reading and writing well, so I just want to know what we need to work on, anything struggling with, and the social part - is my child ok/happy is probably most important to me

ds is 15 and it has always been 5 mins in primary and secondary.

For him he's was ok at school in primary so there hasn't been much to say. They always issued pupil reports after parents evening which I found unhelpful.

In secondary they have issued reports prior to parents evening giving test results, marks for effort, behavior and homework and also a paragraph about too much talking in class where he is and what he should be doing next. I take crib notes for each subject with 2-3 questions I want to ask so I remember them and make the most use of the 5 mins. I also take a pen to write bullet points of answers/tips the teachers give me (I appear to be the only parent in his school with a terrible memory as no one else takes notes and a pen 😳).

Last parents evening I quickly told them I had read the report, thanked them for it, said I'm happy with it/it seems fair/no need to waste time going over it unless they had something to add, apologised for the paper and pen but I had questions too. I mainly asked each of his teachers about how I can support him revising at home for his exams this year in that particular subject I.e. what is the best way to practise curriculum relevant French listening etc. I could probably rabbit on with questions for 20-30 mins, but I usually manage not to go off on a tangent/waffle, get the main information I wanted in the 5 mins and the teachers appear to appreciate the questions and are really helpful with resources/guidance off the top of their heads.

Five minutes at ours. I’m afraid I don’t actually go anymore. They are always on a logically very difficult evening and I got fed up rearranging an entire thing to sit for an hour and listen to five minutes of “she’s fine”. When I know - and have previously discussed with the teacher - that everything is far from fine. Last time, I wasn’t even on the list due to an error. The teacher said I’d have to wait until the end of the evening (over an hour; I’d been there an hour already) and she’d see if she could fit me in. No apology, no attempt to be civil - she was incredibly rude to me. She had an empty slot - mine!!!! Somehow my name didn’t get onto it - but still refused. I told her I had somewhere else to be.

What I try to do is ask the teacher to give me a call anytime. They usually oblige and I can have a sensible conversation.

10 mins strictly enforced by a bell ringing and then the next parents come in.

@madnessitellyou that is absolutely outrageous. I'm fuming for you!!
10 mins at ours too. Feels enough at the moment.

10 mins for ours (I'm a teacher). I think for the majority of parents I need to see, then 5 mins would be fine. Nothing should come as a shock so parents of children who are struggling should already know. If I need to discuss a SEN issue, I wouldn't begin that discussion at a parents evening as it would likely be a high stress situation for the parent and I'd feel awful telling them their time was up and sending them on their way.

10 minutes here, over two evenings

My DCs' school was 10 minutes at primary, which was fine as I wasn't ever told anything about them that I didn't already know. At secondary there wasn't a system, slots were as long as necessary, first come first served, with long queues. I felt like celebrating after my last ever parents' evening.

25 minutes at primary

Zero at secondary unless the child is getting a c minus or lower and then 15 minutes compulsory conference

30 minutes per parent...spread out over three weeks, twice a year, after reports have gone out.
Some still manage to take longer, so I'm quite happy for parents to knock on the window or door to show they are ready and waiting.
We're an independent school.

Having worked in different schools and also had dc in various school, then either 5 mins or 10 mins is the norm. In Primary, parents can look through books whilst they are waiting, or after the appt., in addition.

It's long enough.

Still means the teacher has two and a half to three and a half hours of appointment time (not counting a break to go for a wee or grab a cuppa, and not counting all the preparation time) on top of the full teaching day.

10 mins at ours. Not long enough to discuss much after the general stuff.

10 minutes over 2 evenings. The 10 minutes are strongly enforced - bell rings when your time is up.

10 mins, over 2 evenings.

Increasingly, we have to see both parents if they are separated acrimoniously and will not agree to come together. So it is usually 2 x 3 hour evenings (36 appointments in all, for a 32 pupil class) plus a series of meetings or phone calls (often longer than 10 mins because of the lack of queue and structure) after school on other days, plus pre-arranged longer meetings for children with SEN.

So as a teacher, probably 8 hours of meetings twice a year, plus the preparation.