What do teachers speak about during parents evenings?

[RollingRivers]

Progress and behaviour I’m aware of but how in depth do you all usually go when speaking with a parent ?

You only have ten minutes so not much.

IMO nothing should come as a shock to the parent, especially at this point in the year (secondary may be different). It’s more of a general chat.

We have a gentleman’s agreement in our school that parents of a child with ASN get a positive meeting with the class teacher. The SENCO does the nitty gritty when necessary.

We only have 5 mins per student
Needs to be either fulsome praise or a shit sandwich, so really crap badly behaved idle kid, start by saying how well they get on with their peers, then talk about poor behaviour, attitude and undone homework then finish with something else positive.
In general I aim to cover attitude to learning, willingness to contribute , behaviour during practicals, homework, attainment and a target if required

Not much!

"Hello Mr/Mrs XXX, is there anything specific you wanted to ask me about?" (Ask this FIRST!)

Overview of progress, comment on behaviour, what's coming up next, reminder to READ, thank you... next...

OP are you teaching Primary or Secondary?

I've always found parents evenings a waste of time. I've had teachers who didn't even know who my DS was, have given me a report on another child. I'm disabled & getting round school is exhausting, I just have appointments with as few subjects as possible.

As a parent, I've always had really useful parents evening at both primary and secondary. This is because I always know as a parent what I want to know.

I really like secondary because my DD is present and the teachers encourage her and she feels proud and more motivated. (She lacks confidence and isn't very academic.)

I want to know progress, barriers to learning & next steps. I assume good behaviour unless told otherwise.

I try to make it a mutual admiration society experience.

Whatever you do, don't unroll a printed spreadsheet that's two feet wide and printed in size 8 font, then proceed to talk about the assessment data in every single column. That will make you a) greatly overrun and b) become very unpopular with each and every parent.
We finally got out of parents' evening nearly 45 mins after it had ended, and there were two more families behind us.

Ime only the parents of the 'good' students come to parents' evenings. The ones you really want to talk to you have phone or e-mail and it is often ignored.

I keep it short and as positive as possible. If I have concerns I'd contact home anyway without waiting for parents evening.
It depends a bit on year group so yr 7 I'd talk about how they are settling in, coping with homework etc. Year 9 I'd discuss options and Year 10/11 would be about revision strategies, exam technique etc.

Sorry I meant to add... I photocopy things like revision checklists, GCSE course details etc to give out so I don't have to keep repeating it. Parents also appreciate not having to remember it!

I always talk about good revision technique, and am usually ignored...

This is what they do well this is what they need to improve unless they are really bad

Sorry posted to soon, if that's the case it starts with as you are aware....

Primary or secondary? Makes a huge difference.