We will have parent teacher meetings in 2 weeks time. These are a fantastic opportunity to meet the parents and share the children’s progress, achievements and any issues/concerns that you or indeed the parents might have. Parents know their children best so take what they say on board.
Some tips;
Be prepared
By this stage, you have built up a good relationship with the children in your class. Over the next few weeks take some time to observe the children at work (both in the classroom and on the yard.)
Have mini-conferences with different children either individually or in small groups. Sit with a group when they are doing art and do the art with them. (Yesterday, I saw with a group at the back of my room who were painting – I learned a lot about each child through snippets of informal conversation and observation of how they interact with their classmates. This was also a great vantage point to see the rest of the class at work.
Have evidence of children’s progress; take a photocopy of a piece of work from the start of the year and one from just before the mid-term.
Make sure your marking is up to date!
Tests; complete 2/3 tests on topics covered since September. This shows evidence of where the children are at.
CHILDRENS WORK
Make sure to have the children’s books or copies to hand so you can show the parents what you have been doing and the progress their child has made.
Classroom
This is a great chance to showcase your classroom. Make sure to have up to date displays with the children’s work and some of the topics being covered at the moment.
Timetable and time allocation
Be very careful with this. Be flexible and mindful that a lot of parents will be working and may have to book time off. Therefore it is very important to give them plenty of notice. (1/2 weeks).
Ask parents to pick a day that suits them best. (Make sure to explain that you will do your best to facilitate them but that might not be possible)
I allocate 10 minutes per child. (However, if the child attends learning support/resource I try to give 5 minutes etc. to facilitate any questions relating to this.)
Sandwich Approach
You will more than likely have a small issue/concern that needs to be approached. Use a sandwich approach – good, concern, good. This ensures that the parent knows that you are raising this concern as you want their child to achieve their full potential and succeed in school.
Overall, be honest and practical. If there is an issue that you can’t deal with immediately, assure the parent that you will keep an eye on the situation and contact them in due course. If you are bringing an issue to the parents attention – make sure to have a plan in place. Going forward, we could try …. or this might work well to improve ___________ writing.
