Parent-Teacher Interviews – keeping on track

For the past couple of weeks, primary and secondary schools across the district have been conducting the end-of-term parent-teacher interviews, where students’ progress is discussed in a closed environment outside of school hours.

I can remember my parents going along to these nights when I was at school and being terrified of what the teacher may have told them about my behaviour. The outcome of the interviews always resulted in the same – “if Alison dedicated as much time to her schoolwork as she does when making people laugh, she would do very well…” “Alison is a chatterbox…” “When Alison doesn’t work, the whole class doesn’t work…” And so on. (However, I might like to add that my marks were usually pretty good, so perhaps the chatting, distracting and making people laugh was not so bad after all!)

Parent-teacher Interviews can be an ideal opportunity not only to bring up any concerns your child is having that they are reluctant to talk to their teacher about but also to discuss their skills and strengths. While some parents may find the interviews to be an intrusion on valuable family time and that if there were any issues, the school would be in contact, keeping on track with open communication between the parent and the school may help to ensure that track is easier to navigate should there be any bumps along the way.

So, try not to dismiss the idea of these interviews. For each child, it is only 10 minutes out of your day that can be the perfect way to reassure and foster good relationships between the school and at home.