Parents Evenings... how does your school do theirs?

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Full disclosure. I want to change ours Ours is a shit system. (Not mine) Teachers are in a room.
Parents turn up and queue for a teacher. No appointments. No time limits! It has been known for some parents to spend 20+.minutes...! Runs for around 3 hours.

Teachers are spread across two (large) rooms. 5 mins max is the protocol, but there are no appointments: everyone is reminded of the time limit at the beginning. We all stay standing. One per year. Two hours allocated, we get through and out in 1.5 (DS is Y9).

Not sure what your issue is? Are you complaining that you have to stand up for an hour?

All staff in hall & gym. Can ask to see up to 10 teachers. Appointments are 5 minutes each. Emailed your timetable in advance. Normally takes 90 minutes to see everyone (with gaps). Usually runs to time. No idea how the timetables are generated but seem to fit everyone in. Even the twin parents don’t look too harassed.

I'm assuming this is secondary. Ours is primary, so different, but we have ten minute slots, booked online. Generally seamless apart from the odd missed appt/overrun.

Booked appts with dc. All teachers in the hall. Tend to stick to time. Teachers will squeeze you in if no spots booked. Small school though

We have an online appointment booking system - appointments are 5 minutes and you have to leave a 5 minute gap between appointments.

Teachers are in 2 large open areas, and have a list of names and times so they do try and see people in correct order. It works fairly well and I've never had to hang around too long.

Julie I think it is fairly obvious. Some parents getting a long time and no appt times means queuing for ages which could be avoided.

Ours-spread over two evenings (one from the afternoon onwards and one later) with strict appt times. Anyone who has something they need to talk about that would need longer than 10 mins should book a separate meeting.

All the teachers sit around the perimeter of the hall. Lasts 4 hours. There's several afternoon set. Two years covered on each night.

No appointments, no time limit.

Works well - small school though.

We book online for the teachers we want to see - 8mins appointment (with the option to book a double appointment) and a 2 mom gap between appointments to move to the next teacher. All the teachers are in the gym.

Years 7 and 12 have a parent/teacher night each term (so 4 a year), years 8/9/10 have 1 a year and year 11 have 2 a year. Years 7/11/12 are on the same night and 8/9/10 are on the same night.

We have around 1100 students and each parents evening runs from 3.45 to 8:00 and there’s a buzzer that goes off when you’ve got 1 min left. At that point if you haven’t finished discussing an issue you will either exchange email addresses with the teacher or book a separate private appointment to go over things in more detail.

We parents allocated desk with all books. Teachers come to us in rotation. Fantastic system.

I was thinking of doing it with parents allocated a desk, teachers move between. So we would have around 35 teachers moving instead of around 150+

How does the parents at desks work when not all teachers need to see all parents? Is there a way for the teachers to see that the parent has a child who takes art but not music etc?

I can't remember exactly but it goes something like this for my DC's school which is 8 form entry...

School closes at 1.20 (end of last lesson before lunch). Children sent home. Parents evening starts at 3pm (might be 4pm I can't remember exactly), it finishes at 9pm.

A week or so before parents evening you book slots online with the teachers you want to see. All slots are 5 minutes and the system won't allow you to book back to back appointments. There has to be a 5 min gap between each slot.

On the night all teachers are in one of the halls (I think it's a sports hall) there are large screened TVs around the room displaying a 5 minute count down timer and the current time.

It works well.

Ours is a big academy high with over 1,500 students (not sure how many in DD's current year 11).

Parents evenings are in the large hall with the teachers seated at desks and the parents lining up to see them.

Timetable templates are emailed home one week prior to the date and parents initial beside the subject teacher they'd like to see. Students are then responsible for securing timings with the teachers directly, with (supposed) 5 minute gaps between each appointment.

The principle is good, but the reality is that some parents go over their allotted times or push in front of the next parent due to see a specific teacher and the system quickly falls apart.

This week's event was the better of the 5 we've attended and we were finished within 1.5 hours. But a couple of the appointments had to be an ad hoc type approach due to the teachers double booking themselves! We waited until they had a gap and quickly stepped in.

We shall not miss parents evenings!

In advance:
5 minute slots in planner.
You tell your DC who you want to see and they arrange as many appointments as they can, with a gap between each one.
Teachers grab the planners of those they most need to see.

On the evening:
Most teachers in hall, a few in nearby overflow classrooms.
Long line of waiting seats between the columns of teachers.
Starts on time (or early), people start running late (usually due to a few teachers not sticking to time). But the teachers know what order they are aiming for so if you are there waiting you get seen in order.
You can 'jump in' if a teacher is empty.
No buzzers.
If you don't get to see someone you can email them.

Works well enough. I find them quite helpful and they are motivational for DD who finds school quite hard.

We assume all parents are coming unless we hear otherwise, and set up appointments with all teachers. Neither the students nor parents have to do anything other than turn up. It’s really painless.

Ours are like TeenTimesTwo's, and work pretty well. Can be sticky around those teachers who teach a large proportion of the year group - e.g. some of the MFL teachers in lower years - but parents also get selective about who they want to see, so from Year 9 onwards they are pretty painless and everyone knows the etiquette.

Also had very good e-mail alternatives (again, said MFL teacher asked to e-mail rather than make an appointment for those of her classes she had few concerns about, and the information I got was very comprehensive) and follow-up phone conversations when the 5 minutes wasn't enough.

DS crams all appointments together and has us whizzing about the hall like demented bluebottles. DD loves a good even plan for 5 mins on, 5 minutes off, with a 10-15 minute gap in the middle in case any of the earlier ones run late.

Dc get a sheet, ask parents who they want to see, dc ask teachers for 5 minute appointment, each appointment is at least 5 minutes apart. Teachers have a finite number of appointments to give out. Appointments are in a set of classrooms close together, sometimes 2 teachers using the same classroom which is okay.

Ds has been at secondary 2 years so 2 parents nights only. Each year I say I want to see all his teachers and he has gotten appointments for all expect one each years so I think it has worked well for us, but on speaking to other parents they say their dc only managed to get 2-3 appointments and none with the core subjects. Not sure if the is a dc problem or a system problem.

Personally I’d like to see the same process as we have, but an online booking system, with enough slots so parents can make sure they get the appointments they need.

Ours is a big school. 330-350 kids per year. 1 parents evening performance year group per year. Each evening has 80-90 teachers. Done in classrooms, 4 teachers per room so you do have to allow time to move between rooms.

5 mins appointments bookable online. Runs 3.30-7 but usually runs late, actually ending by 7.30/7.45.

There is a mad rush when the booking system opens. If a teacher has more than 1 class in the same yr group then there are not enough appointments for everyone. But they will do a phone call home if you contact the school and say you couldn't get an appointment with them.

It generally works overall.

My daughters school has an appointment system but this never usually goes to plan and you still end up waiting around.

My DCs school closes early 5 times a year, and consultations for one year group start at 2pm ish until about 7. Teachers in hall, lunch hall and nearby classrooms. Online booking, 10 minute slots.
There is some over running, but not too much especially as waiting parents sit in the middle of the hall.
There is some supervised study available for students not in the select year group who can't go home early (working parents and transport issues).

The thinking behind the teachers moving, is they have a timetable, eg.
slot 1 table 2c lily smith
slot 2 table 3d Charlie Jones.

Parents receive the time table of
slot 1-Mr Jones geography,
slot 2 - Mrs Evans English

And teachers will book the parents they need to see

Happy to accept that it wouldn’t work

I do like the idea of waiting in the middle of the room

See if it teachers walking round, I could give them a 15 min break to get over to a staff area for tea,biscuits, loo etc. Staggered slightly so not all teachers disappear at once!

Same goes for parents (we have a refreshments table for parents already.

Honestly, isn't it the parents' prerogative about who they want/ need to see??

Parents evenings are absolutely exhausting with three or so hours minimum I'm of no break in speech (not even to sip some water). O can't imagine also having to find the parents, looks at their child's data and compose my thoughts while trying to move around.

Perhaps this is easier for parents, but it wouldn't work from a teacher's perspective.

You want the info. Come to me to get it!