Do I need to attend parents evening?

[WWYD2016]

It's my sons Year 8 parents evening next week and we have been sent an appointment booking sheet to enable parents to schedule meetings with our childrens' subject teachers.

To be honest I have no concerns, my son is doing well, he is happy, we talk everyday about his day, his report was spot on, school has never had a reason to contact me.
I asked him if he'd be bothered if I did not attend or did he want me to discuss anything with a particular teacher and he says no.
Would it be bad of me not to attend?

I have questioned this over the years. We usually get a report just before the parents evening and they just repeat what's a ready written and it seems a long drive to hear the same thing. But I do always go and listen because it just seems polite after all the staff are making themselves available so to not go seems like bad manners to me. But I do always keep it short, Teacher "DS2 is doing well I don't have any concerns" Me: Thank you very much, nice to meet you good bye". Some parents drive me nuts spend hours pouring over test/prep marks and asking about their DS's position in the class etc, even if theyre doing well, I personally cant see the point of this.

If all is going well you might be doing his teachers a favour by not attending as then they have more time to talk to parents they really need to see.

I would be tempted to drop an email to his tutor saying you are happy with progress in all subjects and do not intend to attend unless the school indicates otherwise.

Then the school knows you are involved and has the chance to get you to go if needed.

My children always did well at school but the teachers always found something they could improve upon and we sometimes discussed widening understanding of a subject. The national curriculum is a bit of a straight jacket. Unless your child is nailed on to get A* in everything and is a perfect student, I think there is always room for guidance and a short discussion. I don't think the teachers will spend longer with other parents because of your no show. Is it not an occasion where you could thank the teachers too? It might make them feel valued.

Check with the school. Apparently if a parent or guardian doesn't attend our parents evening, the school arrange to speak on the phone with the child at home - I guess they do it so they have contact with the parents.

Sometimes parents evening feels like a waste of time, but I still go in case they have anything to raise with us. Also, you get a feel for how things are in general.

90% of the time you don't want to go, they don't want you to go and the teacher doesn't need to see you. Save contact for when its meaningful.

I was never, ever, made to feel I was not wanted and the teachers did not want to see me. I could have contact if I needed to at other times. We always liked to see other parents too and catch up. I wanted to go. Perhaps I was odd! Strangely nearly every parent went at our school. I think people thought they were supporting their DC and the school.

Sometimes parents evening has been helpful when the teacher says something to dc about their work and how to do more or do better. That gives me the chance to discuss it later on with dc, offer some encouragement.

At our school they pick GCSE Options so it was good to chat to the teachers who were doing what was going to be her options subjects.
She was going to pick Food Tech as she's a great cook but after talking to the teacher with me she realised that she would find the nutrition bits boring so she will be keeping up her cooking skills at home.

We've always found parents' evenings helpful, and I have two pretty academic DDs. I've always had lots of very specific feedback on what they need to do in order to move onwards and upwards - really concrete advice that we can put in place at home.

And working relationships with teachers do matter, as does just seeing the way the teacher interacts with your DC.