How to prepare and deal with parents evening
It should come as no shock that many teachers find their roles stressful and parents evening can just be one of many triggers for stress. As a teacher you have a very important role to play and at parents evening you may feel that you have to justify your way of teaching, explain to parents issues that their child has which they may find upsetting or be put on the stop answer questions which you may not have had time to consider.
Parent’s evenings are often carried out when we feel tired and hungry and this will not help stress levels. Always make sure you have a drink and have a chance to get something to eat prior to starting.
It is very important to make a good first impression, when any parent walks in to the room, stand up, shake their hand and smile. This alone can often diffuse a situation before it has even arisen if the parents feel angry about something.
Always make sure that you have made notes on each child. Be careful what and how you write these notes as the parents may be able to read them. Also it is advisable to write notes for each child on a different page, so that other parents can’t read something about another pupil as this could be seen as lack of privacy.
