How to raise concerns at parents’ evening

Parents’ evenings at school are springing up like daffodils at the moment and it is super important to attend and discuss your child’s academic and social progress.  But how do you raise concerns without seeming like a pushy parent or an unreasonable ranter?

Without a doubt, we teachers are highly skilled professionals, but what we always try to remember is that whilst we are expert in education, parents and carers are more knowledgeable about their own children as individuals than we could ever hope to be, so we welcome the chance to gather more information about our students.

First of all, if you have a serious concern about your child’s well-being or academic progress, don’t wait for parents’ evening before you contact school.  It’s important to nip problems in the bud before they grow out of control.  If you wait months to bring up an important issue, you risk unbottling your emotions in anger and the danger is you won’t then be listened to.

Concern Type 1: my child is not being stretched/ my child needs more help

All children are entitled to be taught at a level appropriate to their ability and whilst most teachers are excellent at tracking pupil progress, children don’t develop at a constant rate.  In a busy classroom, it’s impossible to notice everything.  It can help to ask for specific action to be taken: a referral to the Educational Psychologist, for example or moving up to the next level of reading book.

Concern Type 2: My child’s teacher uses methods I don’t understand

This is a common concern, especially in numeracy.  Teaching methods change constantly; the Department for Education employs an army of educators whose purpose is to come up with new ways to ‘engage learners and raise pupil achievement’/ reinvent the wheel.  You might disagree with a teacher’s methods or you might not understand it.  Most teachers are pleased to explain their methods and the rationale behind them but they are unlikely to change them at your behest.  By the way it is fine to teach your child ‘your’ way of working out numeracy problems, as long as you are confident in using it and can explain it clearly.  The DfE recommends that children learn a range of strategies for approaching different calculations.  However it is essential that your child understands the methods taught in school so if both you and your child are confused, ask the teacher to explain.  Many schools will run workshops for parents, so ask about this at parents’ evening. If you struggle with maths, exercise caution when helping your child: you wouldn’t teach someone to drive if you didn’t have a driving licence, would you?

Concern Type 3: My child is being picked on or has been treated unfairly

This is a tricky one: parents worry that if they point the finger the teacher will take offence and make their child even more vulnerable.  Like most parents, most teachers have been subject to allegations of (un)favouritism, and mostly this is because of crossed wires, because children can be sensitive, or because children sometimes don’t want to own up to poor behaviour at school, so they blame the teacher.  It’s best to go into these discussions with an open mind.

None of this is to say that teachers are never in the wrong and if this is the case you have to consider how you can move forward.  If you cannot resolve the situation with the teacher you are more than entitled to speak to the Headteacher, but do be reasonable. Remember that the common aim of all teachers is to help children make the best of their education and work towards becoming valuable members of society.

Teachers are not infallible but parents can also get things wrong so stay calm and positive and work with your child’s teachers to help them get the most out of their education.

How we can help

At Better Tuition we provide feedback to parents after each and every lesson so that they know exactly what their child is achieving and which steps need to be taken next.  One parent compared it to a mini parents’ evening every week!  Parents can call Paul Syrett or Christine McLaughlin at any time on 0161 748 3912 to discuss their child’s progress and we are always happy to give advice.  Why not book your FREE Better Tuition assessment today on 0161 748 3912 or via email?