Category: Meetings
Tips for getting a parent to a meeting
Recently a number of members have been asking for help in getting a hard to contact parent to attend a meeting at their school. To generate some fresh ideas we thought we’d publish some of the best suggestions posted on our old forum in response to the following question… ‘Hi, I was wondering if anyone has
Read more
Plan ahead for meetings with parents
Be clear about the purpose of the meeting. Is it fact finding, information giving, or a mixture of these? Don’t walk into a meeting ‘cold’. Have some thoughts regarding the way forward, but be flexible and willing to listen. Make sure siblings are catered for by providing paper, pens, an iPad or toy box. It
Read more
Meeting the parents: Are you ready?
Face-to-face meetings with parents enable you to put names to faces, and are often the first step to developing great working relationships. Building rapport by identifying and discussing student strengths, interests, concerns and possible solutions early in the year can be reassuring to both you and parents. Most meetings early in the year focus on
Read more
Boost your relationships with students’ parents
Many schools experience issues around liaison with some ‘hard to reach’ parents. Sending notes home, leaving phone messages, waiting outside the room at student departure time, trying to chat at sports day, school approved home visits, arranging meetings via family workers or sending meeting reminders via Class Dojo are all techniques that can have some
Read more
‘Helicopter’ parents in the classroom
‘Helicopter’ parents are overprotective parents who relentlessly hover over their children, removing all challenges and potential dangers, and micromanaging their affairs. They want ‘happy’ children and often have unrealistic expectations of what the school can and should do for their child. ‘Helicopter’ parenting can have a serious negative impact. Recent research by Lereyaa, Samarab and Wolkec (2013,
Read more
Tips for deescalating a parent’s anger
When people are angry they temporarily lose the ability to think clearly and rationally. How you respond can help to either escalate or deescalate their anger. A parent will be unable to work with you effectively until they have calmed down and are in control of their behaviour. REMEMBER: You should never try to work with
Read more
How to inform parents of issues at parent teacher interviews
Parent teacher interviews offer a great opportunity to build partnerships with your students’ parents. In particular mid-year interviews allow you opportunity to talk with parents about their child’s school progress and any issues the student is experiencing. Planning for an interview with parents of a challenging student, or a student with recently discovered difficulties can provoke
Read more
Recent media reports have highlighted high levels of parent anger and, at times threats and even violence, towards principals and teachers. Understanding and dealing with anger is critical in helping all stakeholders whether they are parents, principals, teachers, administrative staff or students to calm themselves and think clearly rather than resorting to threats or violence.
Read more
Are you about to follow up hours of student report writing with parent-teacher interviews? These interviews offer a great opportunity to build partnerships with the parents of your students. To maximise short interview times you need to be highly organised. Make notes for each child. It can be helpful to create an index card or
Read more