The challenges of organising Parents’ Evening

With school now in full swing, routines are established, children are settled in their new classes – and so the next big milestone is Parents’ Evening and organising it successfully is no mean feat!

Parents’ Evenings are an extremely important event in the school calendar, as they provide the opportunity for parents to speak with teachers to get an insight into how their child/children are progressing, whilst for the teachers it is an opportunity to strengthen the parental relationship with the school and to develop their support in a child’s learning.

For the school staff, it is a huge task to ensure that all the parents are informed of the date(s), which provides them with the opportunity for booking a convenient slot with their child’s teacher. We all live in a busy, hectic world so juggling diaries can be complicated and stressful.

Then there are the logistics to consider; is it best for the meetings to take place in the child’s classroom or in a larger space such as the school hall or gym? All of this can be further complicated when parents have more than one child at the school, as appointments will need to be coordinated; further complications can arise when the parents are separated, and both parents want separate appointments.

Further support is needed from the office staff in supporting the teachers in collating reports, records and other documentation that they need for each meeting.

With regular communications with parents, they should all be aware of the date, and hopefully, have organised their personal diaries to attend. However, inevitably there will always be a case where this information has been overlooked by the parents, they have prior commitments or may have just forgotten! This then falls to the school staff to assist with organising alternative dates/times for the important meeting.

Traditionally, letters inviting parents to make appointments were sent home with the pupils which were then (hopefully) returned to the school via the same channel with the parent’s availability to attend to be processed and an appointment allocated. In some schools this is still the case, but as school communications evolve, online methods and booking systems are being introduced to ease the burden.

Whichever method your school uses, there is no doubt that the organisation and logistics still mainly fall under the School Administrators to ensure that everything is in order, all the small details are considered and that the event runs smoothly.

Are you making plans for Parents' Evening? Parents’ Evening Manager could save your school hours of time, as well as ensuring a smooth and organised event! Email enquire@parentmail.co.uk or call us on 01733 595959 to find out more.