Here’s our parents’ evening teacher’s guide. Often, a teacher’s biggest form of anxiety is dealing with the parents. Hopefully, with our teacher’s guide to parents’ evening your event will be a success.
Setting up your next parents' evening event
When organising parent’s evening it is important to have a stress-free and efficient process to ensure smooth running from start to finish. From notifying parents of the event to making sure every student gets the same time and attention on the evening itself, our Parents’ Evening software allows the process to be transparent and easy for both teachers and parents.
Allow parents to book their own appointments online. It suits their own diaries, and saves timely back and forth calls to the school office. This also means the school office and admin staff are undisturbed and phones are freed up for other matters. The software can also email gentle reminders to parents that have yet to respond, including cut off dates for bookings.
Gone are the days of trying to catch a parent at the school gate!
Parents can view the teacher’s calendar and available slots in SCOPAY. They can book or rearrange their appointment with ease, and receive a confirmation email straight to their inboxes. Those with multiple children can book appointments at the same time making their evening a lot more time efficient.
Preparation is key
With so many students to keep track of, it is important ‘organisation’ is top of a teacher’s list. Our software allows teachers to import their class list from their MIS. Eradicating human error as there is no danger of any student being missed by mistake. The system provides real time calendar updates for a teacher’s ever-changing diary. Teachers can easily keep track of updates and requests; eliminating human error and reducing administration time.
It is always helpful to plan out your script for each pupil. Also, make sure your marking is up-to-date and have plans to address any issues raised.
Give yourself a break
Arguably the most important teachers tip for a productive parents evening is to know your pupils. Ultimately parents want to see that their children are known individually! It is all very well to give a blanket summary of their child’s progress and account their day-to-day school life. However, parent’s will feel more fulfilled and satisfied with their meeting if they are able to have a truly tailored account of their little one’s schooling. Parents do not want is to be told everything’s fine when it isn’t. Nor be fed ‘bland platitudes’ applicable to 90% of the class. You can stay organised with access to your class appointments, meaning that you can forward plan the feedback notes and feel in control of the evening schedule. Reports are available on booked and non-booked slots for the upcoming evening. This is very helpful as it enables teachers to use non-booked slots to schedule their breaks; which should be every 1.5 hours: to help you think!
It can be a daunting time for both teachers and parents alike. Therefore, it is essential to have clear communication, time saving organisation and an effective system to ensure a successful and smooth-running evening all round. Keep a bottle of water nearby, and keep hydrated!
Treat yourself!
Finally, our top tip for after you’ve successfully conquered parents evening, try and give yourself a treat. Whether it’s a walk with your dog, a glass of wine or your favourite chocolate. After all, you deserve it!
