Parents Meeting

[Guest]

Well i have just come home from a parents meeting regarding the new unit.

The main concerns were that Reception children have no advantages, which I quickly explained wasn't the case.

The only other issues were our cursive handwriting, so it wasn't so bad!

Just thought for anyone else I could post a brief outline of powerpoint presentation:

Meeting_in_Word.doc

[Susan]

Looks good, Beckyann, thanks for sharing.

[Guest]

Hi

 

Thanks Beckyann

 

Hope you don't mind if I hijack this post:

 

I have a parents meeting next week. A few parents have mentioned that they don't know enough about what their children are doing in Reception and one has had a meeting with Head, as she thinks her child is being asked to do too much - he is tired every night (she had serious concerns about him being in school all day for Reception - nursery are mornings only). She seems to be particularly concerned that he is being asked to write his name and learn letter sounds. I haven't sent reading books yet - will do early November! It is difficult to please all parents (British, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish etc etc etc) - but we are a British School following a British Early Years Curriculum.

 

I have half an hour and not sure what to do. I don't want to do a presentation for too long. Was thinking of doing a brief introduction to the curriculum, an outline of a typical day and for the remaining time for parents to look around the room and see the types of activities children do. Have things set up and then just let parents come and ask me questions. Most of my parents are not native English speakers - mostly European.

 

What do others do? Any advice/sugggestions greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you in advance,

Louise.

[Susan]

Sounds like you've got it well sorted already, Louise. You could adapt Beckyann's presention to meet your needs with some info on FS curriculum.

[Guest]

It is not unusual for children not used to full-time nursery to get very tired when they enter reception class. One possibility is to build children up to attending for a full day over two or three weeks. Also try and keep Fridays a lighter day with much more children's choice. I agree you seem to have thought it through well. Letting the parents see what actually goes on is avery good way of addressing any concerns. Let's face most other places in the world think it is somewhat crazy to even consider formal work before the age of seven, small groups or large.