Parents Evening Bookings

[AlexanderHamilton]

At ds's previous school we just turned up & queued to see his teachers.

At his new school it's online booking 5 min slots. What I'm not sure of is what gap to leave in between. Do I leave a 5 min gap so for example have 5pm 5.10pm etc or should I play it safe & leave 10 mins between appointments.

The latter means I will be there from 4.30 - 7pm.

I wouldn’t worry in 18 years of teaching st secondary I have yet to see everyone at the correct time. Some teachers will teach so many kids it’s imposdible to see everyone.

This is all very civilised sounding but I’d have a back up plan for the possibility that they make appointments but don’t actually stick to them - your only hope at my dcs school is to turn up at the very start and queue for the teachers you particularly want to see.

If you’re child is on SEN support or EHCP, I’m sure you should be getting a separate SEN review termly?

Only if you have statement or echp, imip and most SEN children do not get an echp. My DS gets really good support for his SEN but we don’t get contact outside of parents evening and we tend to hear about the support via individual teachers at parents evening. We can email or phone school if we have concerns but they certainly would not arrange a regular review as a matter of course just because he has SEN. I’m not saying this is ideal as some of the support has involved quite big decisions eg. he has dropped 2 subjects without us finding out until we asked DS why he doesn’t have those subjects in his timetable....

I think atvthis stage though it will be very useful to speak to his actual teachers most of whom I've never met rather than just the senco.

Also as c75 said he doesn't have an ehcp. The reason we've had meetings so far was to do with particular details e.g the reasons behind him changing schools

Ah, our school use something different.

I believe if your child is on SEN support, you’re entitled to termly meetings - this is a statutory requirement under the children and families act 2014. Re: EHCPs, you may be entitled but think you’re not eligible because of pushback from school. I took my dds case to tribunal for an EHCP. Around 80% of cases fall in the parent’s favour as LA’s have acted unlawfully. If your child is on SEN support, you should be aware of the extra support your child is entitled to and if they are meeting their outcomes.

My DC's school sets all the appointments for you, and they are often back to back in different parts of the school. I am in my 9th year of them now and just tend to treat them as an order to go round in.

The year it was hardest was when DD was at a school activity and couldn't accompany me. The teacher's tend to look out for the next student on their list, so I was overlooked a couple of times.

DD's school is pretty painless tbh. We get an email saying booking is open. I log on. Click on the teachers I want to see. DD is Yr9 and just picked her options so I've only asked to see those teachers (6 in total) I would have liked to have seen all 3 science teachers but we only get offered 1 name. I have opted to leave 5 mins in between and learnt from last year that certain subjects seem to be in 1 room and other subjects grouped together in another, so I've picked them in order where I "think" they will be. I have left her form teacher who teaches History till last in case there are any problems flagged up or I have any further questions. DD is a good student who always works hard etc so 5 mins is generally enough time. I was impressed with last years Parents Evening as it ran very smoothly, not much waiting time and every teacher gave her something to work on, I didnt' just hear the same old doing really well, working very hard no problems and that's it. It was refreshing to hear how she could do even better if ...

At my DD’s school, they still have to go around and make appointments with each teacher (sharpening their elbows for future parenthood).

They do back-to-back five minute appointments and it seems to work well enough.

KS3 in and out in 90 minutes, KS4 one hour, and sixth form 30 minutes.