It has been a week of parents evenings and they have gone surprisingly well.
I have to admit that I expected the teen to have a good one as he loves school and works hard. Teen parents evenings are hard work though as you don’t have a brief chat with one teacher like you do at Primary School!
Booking to see all his teachers on the new online system was impossible as the system didn’t recognise his name, form or even reference number, so I had to phone and make my appointments………all 8 of them. I have to admit I was dreading spending an hour traipsing around the school with the little people in tow who were under the threat of corporal punishment if they misbehaved promised a McDonalds if they were good.
Thankfully the appointments were mostly running to schedule and it was only our final one that was running a little late. All the teachers came back with glowing reports about Kian’s attitude, work level and predicted grades leaving me as proud as punch. We have come away with some next steps to complete which, if he completes before the summer, should take the pressure of him next year which is his GCSE exam year.
Then it was the turn of the little ones whose parents evenings are 5 minutes each rather than an hour.
Eliza is in the nursery class of the school and does 9-12 Monday to Friday. Her teacher is really pleased with her progress and she is coming on leaps and bounds. She is a confident character who loves role play, singing, colouring and stories. She has a great grasp of the alphabet thanks to long games of eye spy in the car and can confidently count to 25. Her next steps are to practice drawing lines and circles so we can build on that to start to form letters and hopefully her name by the time she starts Reception.
Isaac’s meeting I was more nervous of as he had a bit of a rocky patch last term however I needn’t have worried. He has settled down and is doing brilliantly, apart from a couple of minor wobbles. He has jumped a whole reading level and is now on black and is well on his way to achieving his targets in all subjects, although needs to work a bit harder at his writing – he finds it boring despite having lovely neat handwriting.
We came away happy that the kids were doing well and had our celebratory McDonalds treat…………then came another wobble from Isaac.
The day after his teacher was singing his praises he spent the whole day in the Head Teachers office as he point-blank refused to do his learning! He was supposed to be writing a report and no amount of coaxing would get him to do it so subsequently he has had to bring all his learning home which he has to complete before going back into school.
After all that praise it is back to earth with an almighty bump but I am hoping its just a temporary blip as he has been under the weather this week.
I have no idea where he gets this stubbornness from – do you have any tips that might help?
No advice im afraid. My brother was the same, right up untill he left school. However when it came to sports he was top of the class every time. Some children just dont enjoy academic subjects. My brother left school and has a job, on a not bad wage.
Is there a subject he does realy enjoy? Computers, Sports ?
would you stay in a job you hated, found boring and really just couldnt get on with for hours all day for 17 years? i doubt many people would do it 100% with a smile.
Every child is individual, what works for some wont work for others. We found doing martial arts in the evenings helped my brother out too.
Schools don’t have the capacity to deal with each child’s individual learning needs so all kids are strong armed into learning one kind of way, which wont work for them all which is why some react to it in the way they do. It takes time to work out what works, and where his strengths lie, but once you find the strengths really really build on them.
sorry it turned into an essay :-/
I’ve had similar issues with one of my sons over the years, and with him it turned out he didn’t know how to do the work and was struggling but didn’t want to admit it as he has a huge stubborn streak!
Once we found that out it was a lot easier and took encouragement and one on one help from a teaching assistant rather than punishment at school to encourage him. He used to cry rather than refuse completely though. Makes you feel awful when they struggle at school for any reason!
Stevie x
So glad all the parents evening meetings went well. Such a shame about the day after but hopefully it’ll be like what you said and just a blip!
aww Kara I am sure this is just a patch that he will grow out of! Beth was always a stubborn child and although it was hard at the time she did grow out of it .. hope he does too x
I think it’s probably just the way he is at the moment Kara. You’re obviously doing the right things as everyone else is doing well and he had a good report until that incident. Hopefully, he’ll get past this stage soon.
I’m very pleased that the parents evenings went well. No advice regarding Issac though I am afraid, I imagine it’s just a phase. At least I hope so. x
I’m glad that the parents evenings went so well. I’ve been known to bribe mine with a McDs to get them to be quiet as well, whatever works! I’m sure Isaac was just having an off day. We all have them but can explain our feelings better as adults x
Very pleased to hear your parents evening went well I’ve seen a lot of people mentioning them on Facebook 🙂 x
Glad it all went ok and i wouldn’t worry to much, in my experience it is a phase that will just pass. You are doing a great job xxx
If the teachers were overall pleased with your kids progress then I’m sure it’s just a blip and it’ll sort itself out. Fingers crossed!
What a shame after such great feedback. I don’t have any tips as unfortunately our 6 year old seems to be having some issues with completing his work at school too at the moment. I am mostly putting it down to his age and the fact he is a boy! We, along with his teachers, are trying other things but haven’t found the solution yet! Good luck!
i really dont enjoy parents evenings, i find they dont tell you much at all , and even if they havent done well they tell you they have , and if they have dont seem so enthusiastic about it, the bst bit is going for a well done family meal afterwards as a good excuse of praise lol x
We have our parents evenings next week and I always feel rushed through it. I feel like they’re reading from ticked boxes and it’s missing something. My son hated school all the way through and today he’s a very good chef with a good job and he’s happy, not all kids are made for the system xx
Glad it went well, I’ve got all this to come! xxx
Gosh, it’s tricky to give advice….my own son is very up and down, sometimes as good as gold, sometimes playing up. I always try not to come down too hard on him, and get to the bottom of why he’s acting up. It’s very tricky though….great that you had good feedback on parents’ evening, though.
There’s usually always a reason, and it’s worth trying to piece what’s happened together… but if he is under the weather, it really could be just that. Let him rest up xx
We had a difficult parents evening this year. Both boys are streaming ahead academically but Mini has some other issues we need to deal with. Parenting really is all or nothing. I want a happy middle please!
Well done for the great reports! No advice really about the stubbornness unless he’s copying other children maybe? We had parents evening this week too x
Perhaps Issac is finding the work not challenging enough.
Ask him what school could do to make it enjoyable for him
hope it gets resolved
I am sure it will pass in no time or at least I truly hope so
I don’t have any tips except as others say it’s probably a phase and at least he isn’t a pushover!! It sounds like school is going really well though which is great. I’ve got parents evening coming up this week!
Sorry I don’t have any tips, does he say why he refuses?
I hate secondary school parents evenings…even with appointments with the teachers it’s still a bit hit and miss.
Glad that they were all good ones for you. 🙂
Yikes parents evenings are bad enough when only 5 minutes long, an hour with loads of teachers is my kind of hell.
Hoping that’s just a mini blip and next week is back to normal
The appointment system sounds awful. We just turn up early doors if I’ve got the babies and whizz round them all before the rush starts. It was all going so well wasn’t it, such a shame about the stubborn streak
That’s parenting for you, I suppose. They lull you into a sense of complacency and then… x
It’s always nice to hear when your children are doing well at school. I’m sure Isaac’s ‘blip’ is nothing to worry about though – we all have our off days.
ah bless you it does always seem like when things are going really well they change overnight doesn’t it! not that I have any experience with older kids. x
The parents’ evening booking system sounds the worst! I’m sorry he’s had a blip – mine never refuse at school, it’s at home usually. Backing off usually helped children in my class. Boys under pressure can be amazingly resilient to persuasion!