However today I lost count of how many teachers I saw with Tall Girl. It was all a bit of a 'bun fight' and I could have done with sharpening my elbows a bit before arriving because the hot seating took skill and judgment, but if all else failed then elbows would have done just fine! Obviously we had appointment times, however some teachers didn't have enough slots, so they encouraged you to 'fit in any gaps'. Easier said than done in a hall full of similarly minded doting parents!
Anyway, to cut a very long evening short, all was well and we saw more teachers than we had appointments for. They were all very positive and lovely people. I was so pleased to see how much respect they had for Tall Girl, which obviously leads to a mutual response. Their positive feed back to us and to her made us all feel very proud. She is a very shy person and doesn't have a lot of confidence in her abilities (damn dyslexia) she needed the boost of being publicly praised for her work. However all her teachers commented that her target for next term must be to put up her hand.
As we walked out of school towards the car, I mused that if I could get a very long stick down the sleeve of her school jumper tomorrow morning, (providing she could get on the bus in that condition) then she would successfully reach all her targets in one day, leading to a huge achievement and maybe even some sort of award ceremony!
Needless to say, she didn't find it funny.
So glad the children are doing well at school.
ReplyDeleteAs an ex-teacher one always knew that the parents who turned up to these evenings were motivated and lovely-- ditto their children. The ones we MOST wanted to talk to were stuck in front of the telly or down at the pub!!!
I'm so glad I don't have to deal with the UK Parent's evening. It always seemed a bit of a pain in my eyes, although it's probably nice to see parents that you don't see very often. Over here we have "conference days" where the kids have the day off, but you have to meet the teachers. Fortunately the school also organises a kind of day care/camp thing otherwise we'd all be in trouble.
ReplyDeleteI hate parent's evenings. I always feel like I'm on trial when actually it should be the teacher. I also hate the phrases "action plan" and "singing from the same hymn sheet".
ReplyDeleteIt’s lovely when the school says things like that. You must be very proud. I always hated parents evenings, hot sticky gym halls and chairs made to fit small children.
ReplyDeleteAwww, glad they went well. I came out of No.2's parent's evening somehow having been persuaded to go in and help out. How did that happen? :-O No.1's parents' evening consisted of 5 mins with her form tutor. I wasn't impressed - although the tutor was lovely about No.1.
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Parents' evening. That takes me back.
ReplyDeleteGlad the two of them are doing well at school.
The stick up a sleeve seems the perfect solution for Tall Girl. Sorry she didn't agree!
You must be very proud of both of them, Suburbia! I was going to write a comment...and then saw Elizabeth said the same thing: as a teacher, the parents who usually attended these conferences were the ones whose children were doing well in school and well-behaved. The parents I really needed to talk to never showed up. Of course, I did enjoy being able to praise students who really deserved it. Pat yourself on the back for being a good Mom!
ReplyDeleteSo glad both your children seem to be thriving at school. Our son had a "butterfly" brain - he could do well in class but after that - all knowledge gone for good!!! Sport was his thing. I dreaded parents evenings we always seemed to queue behind clever chidlren's parents and then when it came to us the teachers would say "Ah well". Needless to say as soon as our son left school he slotted in well to work and now has a very good job!
ReplyDeleteI do sympathise with the not sticking up hand syndrome. I was equally shy at school, the other boys always seemed far sharper and clued-up than me. Perhaps TG just has to realise she knows more than she thinks and she won't necessarily look silly.
ReplyDeleteGlad it all went well at Parents evening. K loves school too and I think it shows.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to hear good things about your children.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to get such nice comments about your children. I know what you mean about the bun fight, though. As the teacher sitting in front of it, I get quite embarrassed by the fighting to see me. And as for your daughter, I never tell children to put their hands up more; some like to put themselves out there, some don't,it's a personality thing. As long as she isn't afraid to ask for help when she needs it, that's fine.
ReplyDeleteParents evenings, I've done many of them with a constant air of hostility towards parents overrunning your slot - "Don't they realise we've got less than 5 mins now to get upstairs to Latin!!" Then the bit where you ask the obvious question to you and the teacher looks bemused... "Dad this is History not Geography" Oh sorry...
ReplyDeleteOnce with my son we had the usual "He's doing okay should do more of this and that" "Okay - any questions"... "Yes - he'd thinking of doing your subject at university.." 25 mins later the queue of other parents forced this animated teacher who clearly had never had a pupil show any interest in Physics at all finally let us go with a grin and a firm handshake - "Brilliant pupil, great, just great..... just great" :-)