Parent Meetings

[fimbo]

we have always had termly meetings with the parents -to go through learning journeys, development matters, discuss and update interest charts, health plans etc.

 

we usually close one of the quietist sessions -and have the parents meetings then -we receive up to 5 inset days, and only ever close a session for parent meetings (or bad weather, burst pipes etc) -we never have a training day etc

 

today commitee decided they did not want the session to close -we should open it up to all children and parents and they could come and chat to the staff during this session or to run the meetings in the evening instead - but without pay or time off in leiu.

 

they do not want to close a session - the session we propose closing has 6 children -and its only once a term.

i am unable to work in the evenings (due to other family commitments) and am unwilling to work without pay, i also do not feel right asking my staff to work without pay -as they already do more than they should.

 

it was agreed a month ago we could arrange the parent meetings on the friday, and we could close the session. so the paperwork went out to parents -some times have already been booked

 

 

my problem is this -what happens if parents do not want a meeting, but their child still attends the session - we only have 3 staff members - this means only 1 of them will be able to speak to a parent at a time as we will only be left with 2 staff actually in the ratio -this means the parent meetings could run on for hours to ensure they are all seen -if we close the session they can all be done within an hour

 

we only have one room -so all the other parents will be able to hear whats being discussed - we may need to discuss some personal situations, SEN, behaviour issues, medical conditions etc -hardly confidential.

 

there may be up to 18 children plus younger siblings in the same room -how can we can have a proffesional discussion with the parents , also the problem of the children inturrupting you to show you their creations etc

 

we didnt have a parents meeting last term because the commitee were 'faffing' about deciding how to do them ?

 

how do other settings manage to meet with their parents ?

[Guest]

we have a parents meeting each term but ours run from directly after preschool finishes, so about 3.45 until 6.30(ish),lots of our parents work so can only make evening appointments anyway so this time give everyone the opportunity to attend. Any parents who can't, are given the opportunity to make a short meeting during session time and I step in to make sure ratios are kept and this frees up the office for the chat. All staff are paid for these extra couple of hours and to be honest I would not expect them to stay without it

[fimbo]

thanks for your reply -can i ask, do your parents book a time or are you open for 'drop ins' ? unfortunatly we cant meet straight after session as our premises gets let out to an out of school club :-(

[Guest]

fimbo

They book a 10min slot. I send out 'invites' which are individually named to both parents and they just tick in a time band e.g 3.45-4.15, 4.15-4.45, 4.45-5.15 etc and I allocate their 10 min slot and return the slip at the bottom of the invite back to them with the time written in. I always try to spead them out to allow for the over runs which inevitably happen and there are always more time slots than children so it works out fine

[bubblejack]

We are a packaway in a church hall.This term inviting one parent in per session has worked very well. We have 70 children and are open for 10 sessions so during the term there is ample time to do this. Parents come in with child, share photos with child. We then have circle time while parent is talking with childs keyperson. I am really surprised this has worked because we have very young children and they are really not bothered about their parents being there.We try to arrange it so the child brings in their show and tell things. Parents can add to folders also. Of course there are some parents that need more persuasion to come in but most love looking at photos and seeing what goes on in session. Some stay for 2 minutes others for longer. If parents can't come at beginning of session we arrange a time during pre-school hours that is convenient to all.

[zigzag]

In the past we chose a couple of days and met with parents after our session finished. The two key workers talked to parents while another member of staff amused the child. Now we are in our new building we are lucky enough to have a private office space to meet parents in (still pinching myself) we have got extra cover for the next two Wednesdays and are giving the parents the opportunity to book a time slot during these mornings to meet with us. I have never expected staff to be unpaid for the extra time they give for these meetings as they are a vital and important part of our partnership with parents. I think your committee are being incredibly unfair and are not recognising the importance of these meetings. I hope you can get them to change their minds.

[Emmawill]

We do not close, we have a keyworker week once a term.

 

Each keyworker has a day in that week whereby letters go out to parent inviting them in ( 10 min slots throughout the day) from beg of morning session to end of afternoon session . SOme moan so we have asked if they would prefer evening appointments ... surprise surprise no one responded to questionaire so we assumed they were happy!.

 

this works well for us as long as you put the difficult parents at the end of the day!!!!! otherwise the whole days runs very late!!!!!!! and you have a build up of parents waiting .

[Guest]

We have a 'parents week', which is put into our newsletter, where parents are asked to book an appointment in session time with the childs keyworker. The time is checked in the office diary to make sure it is suitable and that it does not clash with any other parents appointment.

 

This works for us really well and the parents that do not book an appointment are then asked a few weeks later if they would like an appointment.

[louby loo]

We do the same as bubblejack. We have a few parents that are not really interested in 'parent meetings' - in that they are happy with their child at the pre-school, have no worries etc. We respect these parents wishes. We try to keep it all as informal as possible.

 

I always remember a parent telling me she had been physically sick at the thought of having to come in and meet us! She explained how it brought back bad memories of her own school day, since then I have never put any pressure on parents to have formal meetings with us.

 

HOWEVER that said - at any point we may have concerns about a child's development etc that's a different story.

[Guest]

We have been talking about a parents eve at staff meeting tonight. They want it to be more like an open evening for parents to drop in and speak to key person, view learning journals etc.

 

This is to take place one night and I presume over a few hours. However, committee dont want to pay staff for them. To be honest this is now getting a bit ridiculous the amount that we are doing in our own time. I love my job but Iknow this is going to cause hassle at home. My family already think that we are being taken advantage of!

 

Are others paid for this? I dont mind going to the fundariasing events at night etc but this is really working and it sounds like it is expected that we do it.