Parents evening coming up (Thursday ) What not to say

[seriouslycantbebothered]

Seriously I always put my mouth in gear befor my brain . This is the first secondary school parents evening so havnt a clue how it works . Kind people tell me what not to say . and come to think of it what sort of questions should I ask . TIA

There we are ,in a nutshell .
Forget all the reforms ,reinventing the wheel ,Academies and Free Schools .
How about smaller schools where the teachers ( to whom I take my hat off ) can be expected to know and recognise the children they teach?
Oh ,did I hear someone mention money and economies of scale ....

How did it go seriously?

god I was so proud seriously . (boastfull alert lol )I was told that the science teacher could wax lyracle about my ds for the next 10 minutes . I could of kissed her . i didnt but it was a close thing . The maths teacher had photos of the kids . I did a little smile at that one . Funny thing is this teacher has only had my ds for 6 weeks as he moved up a group . But his concerns were that ds didnt speak up in class . he knew the work but didnt want to look foolish in front of the other kids as he was new to the group . this was spot on what a clever teacher to know this . All in all I walked away feeling a million dollas . So pleased with the school and nice to put a face to a name .

Glad it went well!

I am always more nervous than the parents on parents' evening lol.

I just love meeting their parents - especially in y7 as it is the start of a (hopefully good!)relationship!

It falls into 3 categories for me:

1. Parents I really need to meet otherwise I will be calling home shortly anyway (behaviour, issues, homework, child's general happiness, etc). Suppose this is the 'nipping in the bud' thing!

1. Parents whom I am dying to tell how fantastic their child is! And I always tell them to give them extra pocket money that week - it is lovely to boastto their parents on the kid's behalf

1. The 'under the radar' kid's parents - seems ok, quiet, work all fine but enjoy having a little 5 minutes just to talk to them. Do they enjoy it? What would they like me to do? etc.

Nice to put a face to a name, and you can gauge how much support the student has from home, or what issues they may have. I actually alwys enjoy parents' evening (but jaysus! It is hard work!)

Parents I dread:

1. COMBAT parents! lol. The ones who come in ready to challenge you on everything. It baffles me! I care about your child, if there was a real issue I would have expected communication before now, if you have a concern I am more than happy to help work it out. No need for arsiness..! (I had one parent, when I was new to the school, demand to know my qualifications ! Nothing related to my teaching, I hasten to add - she just felt she would like to know!)

1. The parents who are hard on their child and don't understand that we are all good at different things and if his TMG is a C and he is getting a B, then you should be congratulating him (and obviously me ) not berating him in front of me because his brother got an A! A couple of times I have been in these situations, but it generally explains a lot about the anxious little kid in front of me 3 times a week.

Ooo, that was cathartic!
Wonder why both sides dread them so much?!

Glad it went well seriously! I have one more to go and then I will be free from parents evenings for ever!