Heads' Tips - parent teacher evenings

Worried about what questions to ask at your next parent teacher evening? Do you find you don’t get as much out of the evening as you had hoped? Read our Heads’ Tips on how to make the most of this valuable opportunity…

Before the meeting:

• Do a little preparation beforehand: discuss with your daughter which subjects she feels happiest with; if there are any areas she is concerned about or positives she would like you to raise.

• Ask your daughter how she feels she is doing in each of her subjects in terms of the effort she is putting in and how she believes she is progressing. By asking the same questions of the teachers, you will have information to compare and be able to identify any potential gaps.

• Remind your daughter that you don’t like surprises and if there are any potential issues you would prefer to hear about them from her initially…

• If you already know of a specific or potentially major problem or issue with your daughter, do not leave it until parents’ evening; ask for a separate meeting beforehand. These evenings are for relatively short, focussed discussions whereas issues requiring greater time and attention should be addressed through longer, specific and private meetings with relevant staff.

• Have a look at your daughter’s homework diary or exercise books to see her recent work

• Be ready with specific questions to ask the teacher; you will then get more out of your allotted time

Top Tips:

• Whatever you want to ask, you should. If you don’t know what a teacher means, do not feel embarrassed to ask; as a parent you are not expected to have the specialist knowledge of every subject teacher

• Take notes and ask staff for specific guidance that you can feed back to your daughter later.

• Be prepared to hear constructive criticism. Whilst teachers will say good things (mostly), their job is to identify areas for improvement however big or small. Hearing negative things about your child can be difficult and upsetting unless you are prepared.

• If you have your daughter with you, try not to tell her off in front of the teacher!

• Try not to impose your views about your own education onto your child, e.g. ‘I hated Chemistry at school so I don’t expect that Molly will be any good at it…’

• Keep in mind that you are working in partnership with your daughter’s school and teachers with both parties wanting the same outcome; smile – the evenings are designed to be constructive and positive for all!

• Teachers are always delighted to hear if your daughter is particularly enjoying their subject!

Questions you may want to ask:

• Are there any subjects my daughter is struggling with? What can I do to help?

• Is her progress in line with the expectations for the group/class/school?

• What does she need to do in order to improve? How can I support her in this?

• What has she done well? What are her weaknesses in the subject? What can she do to address these?

• How does a Grade A/B etc on her report relate to potential performance at GCSE/AS/A Level?

• What grade should she be aiming to achieve in this subject? Is she on target to achieve this?

• How much time should my daughter be spending on homework in this subject?

• Does she get on well with her peers? Teachers?

• My teenager communicates in grunts – how can I know how well she is doing/progressing between reports/Parents’ Evenings?

• So what you are saying is…….?

After the meeting:

• Don’t be afraid to ask for a subsequent meeting if you feel you haven’t been able to deal with all your questions in the allotted time, or if you have further questions which arise later

• If you really weren’t able to make the meeting, ask the school to help arrange other times when you can meet your daughter’s teachers

With thanks to the Heads & staff at the following schools:
Croydon High School GDST, Dame Alice Harpur School, Gateways School, Ipswich High School, GDST, Norwich High School GDST, Roedean School, St Mary’s School Calne, The Mount School, York