My first Parents' Evening
Time to meet the parents
In November 2021, it was my very first parents' evening. Pupils left school at 1:30pm, and the very first meeting began at 1:45pm. Although COVID restrictions had been lifted, my school chose to have telephone calls home rather than in-person meetings. It was a safety precaution, to minimise mixing, while COVID was still in circulation. The Omicron variant spread like wildfire that winter, so it was definitely the right decision.
Appointments were allocated in 15-minute slots, and parents booked them online. In preparation for the meetings, I printed off target sheets for each pupil, which I completed in advance. My school had template target sheets, which all teachers used for their pupils. I set individual targets for maths, reading and writing, and rated pupils' behaviour, effort and attendance using a traffic light system. Green indicated on or above target, yellow showed almost there and red meant below target. I discussed the target sheets during each telephone call, and parents were given them the following day. The sheets provided specific content for the meetings, and I also included other points that needed to be discussed.
The telephone calls were all made on my mobile phone, from my classroom. My mentor sat with me for some of the calls and ensured that I turned off my caller ID, in my iPhone settings. This was so my mobile number remained private.
Parents' evening can be a late night, with appointments going on till 7pm. My headteacher kindly filled the staff room with pizza that evening and it was a real treat to grab a slice between meetings. You're guaranteed to have a free 15-minute window or maybe even a 30-minute window if you're lucky. Some meetings can finish earlier than the allocated time and others can overrun slightly. It's really important to watch the clock during appointments so that you stick to time.
In the spring, it was time for the second parents' meeting, and this time it was in person. Over the months, I'd built up a good relationship with my parent community, and I was looking forward to having in-person meetings. My headteacher explained that a member of the senior leadership team (SLT) would be on hand if teachers needed support with difficult parents/carers, but that wasn't something I needed.
Parents started to arrive in my classroom from 1:45pm and most of them brought their children with them. They were able to flick through their child's workbooks and were given an updated targets sheet. Having pupils in the meetings was really helpful, as they heard the feedback and were a part of the conversation. They knew exactly what their parents were told and what their parents saw. Some pupils proudly showed their parents their work, and it was good to celebrate their achievements. Others vowed to improve their behaviour or to take more pride in their work.
It was rare for pupils to have both parents at the meeting, and most pupils had one parent attend. A couple of parents, with English as an additional language, brought one of their older children to the meeting to translate. This worked really well and ensured that all parents were able to attend a meeting.
If a parent didn't turn up to their appointment I called them and gave them another slot. If a parent was late, I had to move them to another available slot. They either waited outside the classroom or went home and returned a little later. The day went really well, and I had a positive experience with my parent community and my pupils. I was looking forward to seeing my pupils work hard to achieve their targets.
Top Tips for Parents' Meetings:
- Keep an eye on the online bookings to check that all parents have booked a slot. There will always be some parents that you'll need to chase.
- Try and manage your bookings to avoid huge gaps.
- Make a note of any points that you want to discuss with parents.
- On the day, have a list of appointments on the wall outside your classroom for parents to see and a list for you to cross off as parents attend.
- Ensure that there are a few seats outside your classroom, for parents and children to sit on while they wait.
-Placing pupils' books outside the classroom, in the waiting area, will give parents something to flick through as they wait.
- Have a list of telephone numbers for your pupils' parents, so you can call them if they don't show up. If they're local, you could squeeze them into another slot.
- If you know you're going to have a difficult parent, get support from your SLT.
- Ensure that you have a pen and paper in each meeting to make a note of anything.
- Keep an eye on the clock and arrange an additional meeting if a parent wants to discuss things further.
