11 Plus Exams Forum

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practise attempting to say everything you can\in less than 5 minutes!

It is a skill which will be essential at secondary school parents evenings.

OOOH, that does sound a bit cattle marketish doesn't it.

We had ours just after they returned for the start of the new term. DD got given a sheet of paper and had to go round making appointments for us - each one was given a five minute slot. WE found we didn't get in to see everyone because for some of the teachers there were more children than there were slots so they prioritised by only seeing those children who had problems and then allocating the remaining spaces by lottery. It meant we didn't get to see all the teachers but we did get to see most

The one problem we found with dd's appointment making was that some of the appointments had a half hour gap between them, but on the upside it gave us a chance to get from one side of the school to the other (most 'interviews' were held within the subject teachers classroom with a few overspills in the hall). The school was also very good at putting on drinks and biscuits, making it a social occasion too and there were books on sale for those interested.

We started at 4.10 and finished at 6.30!! It was a great evening because everything said was very positive and only reinforced our choice of schools for dd.

Good luck with your evening and hope you manage to get to all those you want/need to

Do I need to panic here, Glos-mum. How close is this PE as we appear to have lost DSs planner amongst other things?

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A useful skill to practise is that of reading a mark book upside down whilst appearing to be looking elsewhere. It is the only way you will find out how your child is actually doing. Helps if you can take OH with you (also suitably trained!) so that one of you can be a decoy. Very helpful if one of you has a bad sqint and does not therefore appear to harbour an unhealthy interest in said mark book.

Our tip is not to try to see every teacher. You can prioritise those where you have clear questions or issues to deal with.

At my son's school (Marling) you book times in advance with teachers on a sheet. We tell our son which teachers we want (or he wants us to see)and he arranges times with them in advance. If a teacher teaches two subjects then ask for a double slot to ensure you discuss both.

The markbook upside down is a vital technique. Once our son appeared to have a very low mark in a test, which worried us, but, scanning the book, we saw that all the marks were low. His 'low' mark was actually the highest in the group.

Glos_Mum wrote: Now I'm wondering if I'll manage to get booked in with any teachers if DS has to arrange it. We bearly get out of the door in the mornings!

I am with you here....I really had to NAG DS badly to get some time slots for me with the teachers and to give him credit he did get them eventually, albeit very spaced out and we too were at the school most of the evening as a result!

We did do a bit of sneaking in when the teacher looked free - wasn't strictly queue jumping! (actually it was Gloucestermum who advised us to do this )

we were away and DS1's friend did his for him. What a sweetie! Just how I wanted it, with 5 min intervals to allow time to scoot from appointment to appointment (a few are held in the hall so a bit public for my liking esp as were the low points, science, but mainly in the class rooms). I actually found it really inspiring. It's easy to get a bit drawn by DS1's rather typical attitude to school, "don't like school" but the teachers were generally so nice and so positive - and when not at least it seemed truthful and fair! (focus, concentration, as in: lack of) that it was really encouraging. As well as being good to get to know who the real people behind my son's take offs are!

Do I take it that, unlike primary, it is not just you and the teacher in the class room then?

I was hoping to get a few things sorted that I really don't want all and sundry privie too .