The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Call to scrap parent evenings ‘nightmare’
Headteachers refute claims that the events are chaotic
Parent evenings are a chaotic “nightmare” that should be scrapped, the head of a leading Scottish parents’ organisation has said.
Eileen Prior, chief executive of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, claims that parent evenings are an “institution that fails us all”.
She explains that teachers often end up talking about the wrong child and parents do not have time for a proper discussion at the events.
She says that schools should communicate with parents throughout the year instead.
But leading head teachers disagree with her claims and say that nothing can beat the “face-to-face contact” that the evenings allow for.
Speaking at a conference for the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, Ms Prior said: “As a parent, (parent evenings) are a nightmare.
“As a teacher – I am not one – but I dare say they are a nightmare too.
“Parents don’t really get the opportunity to share their concerns to any great degree or to ask questions, nor is the teacher really able to.
“This is an institution in our system that fails us all – parents, pupils and the teaching profession.
“I’ve never met any parent or teacher who thinks they are worth doing the way they are done. But we seem to be stuck with them because ‘This is what we do’.”
She added: “We shouldn’t be waiting until a parents’ evening to hear that (our children) have not been turning in homework, are not working hard enough or meeting expectations.
“It’s a bit like inspection. If we communicated effectively all the time, we would not need inspection – and the same goes for parents’ nights.”
Several Scottish head teachers have hit back at Ms Prior’s claims and suggested that parent evenings are an Parent nights a “chaotic nightmare”?
Pah, they are the only chance I get for a bit of peace and quiet.
In all seriousness, I am most surprised to hear calls for the annual evening of shame (or glory) to important part of the academic year.
Speaking to an education magazine, Willie French, headmaster at Royal High Primary School in Edinburgh said: “I think parents actually enjoy parental consultations – it’s dedicated time for them to talk with their child’s teacher.”
Robert Hair, headteacher at Kinloss Primary School in Moray, said while parent evenings still had a place in education, his school had been trialling use of an app, called ClassDojo, to communicate with parents on a weekly basis.
He said: “The teacher can put a message out to an individual parent, a group of parents or to the class and they can attach pictures of them learning.
“We know that when parents ask children what they did at school, the response is often ‘nothing’.
“But this app allows parents to say, ‘Well, I know that’s not quite true because I got a message to say you did well in PE.’”
This is an institution in our system that fails us all – parents, pupils and the teaching profession. EILEEN PRIOR, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE SCOTTISH PARENT TEACHER COUNCIL The teachers I have met always seem very well informed about my kids
be scrapped. To me they provide a vital insight into a part of our children’s lives we never see.
It is certainly the closest we will ever get to being a fly on the classroom wall, and who wouldn’t jump at that opportunity?
We may have been blessed, but the teachers I have met always seem very well informed about my kids and their progress.
And in any case, I couldn’t blame them for forgetting the odd name of my brood here and there – after all, I have trouble remembering myself sometimes.