Parents teachers’ meetings can effectively boost parents’ involvement in their child’s education and promote positive outcomes for the child, the teacher, and the school. Most schools schedule parents teachers meeting for the beginning of every new term to allow parents to discuss everything that centers around their child’s education in the previous term, especially if the report is not encouraging.

In most cases, it is always a win-win for both parents and the teachers because it is an ample chance to help the teacher improve and help parents see value for their money. For instance, apart from just going through the report sheet, the teacher can share information about your child that cannot easily be quantified. This will include their academic progress, growth, and classroom behaviour concerning other kids. Same way, teachers can also learn from parents and be better informed about the kids’ strengths, learning styles, struggles, needs and behaviours. This knowledge helps teachers understand each child’s uniqueness, where they need to improve and strategies they need to adopt to help them reach their full potentials.

As kids returned to the classroom after the break, we talked with a seasoned educator in our telegram community on why a parent should attend the parents-teachers meeting at the beginning of the term. We have transcribed the major points shared based on the questions asked and here you go.

Why is it important that parents attend their child’s Parents Teachers Meetings at the beginning of the term/year? And how do we encourage more Fathers to come to the meetings?

There are sufficient data to prove that parental involvement can influence a child’s academic success. Like a successful marriage takes time and involves both parties to make it thrive, it is the same as school and home. It is a partnership that ensures that both teachers and parents are on the same page. This can only happen when we meet and communicate, discuss issues and celebrate the child’s success.

As a parent, what should I do to prepare for a successful outcome of a Parents Teachers Meeting?

It would help if you went prepared for parents teachers meeting. One of the things you can do is discuss with your child. You need to find information about your child’s impression of the school. It would be best to ask open-ended questions to allow the child to talk. Ask about teachers, especially teachers who take subjects you think your child is weak in. These things should form the basis of your discussion with the teacher. Then you can ask what the school is doing to help and how the school is challenging your child.

What if you attend the meeting and you only get negative feedback. How can parents deal with negative feedback from the meeting?

Negative feedback has to do with delivery. Professional teachers know how to pass their feedback such that it does not get you upset either about the child or the school itself. Also, the delivery will always come with a solution too.

Why are increasingly many schools removing ranking (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) from report cards?

Putting position in the report sheet is not the best. This is so because we need to inspire children and try not to damage the child’s self-esteem. Imagine the child that comes 29th in a class of 30. For instance, what message are you passing to the child? We do not want any child to feel not good enough and have other psychological effects they may never recover from. The ranking should not be done against other people. We want to create a culture where a child is racing against themselves, not other people. That is the culture we are promoting today.

What do I need to do to ensure sure decisions/strategies agreed are implemented and not just a “tick box exercise?

One way to do this is to ensure it is time-bound. Every strategy that you and the teacher agreed on to help the child in critical areas must be time-bound, and you must try to meet with the teacher again to monitor the progress. If the problem hinges on the inability to read, the strategies must be documented with steps to take, and there must be expected outcomes within a specified time. Then you must work with the teacher to discuss progress or whether you need to change tactics.

Aside from academics related questions, what other questions should I ask about my child educational development?

Education is not just about academics, it is about every other thing that develops our child—critical thinking, communication, leadership etc. The meeting is a time to understand all these things about your child, including how your child behaves in a team and in terms of creativity. Please ask teachers questions outside academics, even their eating habits. Education is about developing the whole child. Do not just make it about academics.

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