Parents’ evenings (parent-teacher meetings) are an excellent opportunity for you to speak with your child’s teacher(s) and find out how they are doing in school. It is a chance to understand your child’s progress, familiarise yourself with their teachers and explore ways you can support them at home.

The meetings are very short, so planning ahead ensures you can make the most of this invaluable time to ask all the questions you may have. Find out more about parents’ evenings below and how to prepare.

When are parents’ evenings?

Schools often hold two parents’ evenings per year, which at least one parent is expected to attend. The first one is usually held in the autumn term (at the start of the year) to inform you of how your child is settling in. If the school runs a second one, it is often during the summer term, after any tests or assessments, to inform you of their results and set plans for your child for the following year. Some schools may send out a detailed written report in place of the second parents’ evening and invite you to arrange a meeting if there are concerns.

How do I book a meeting?

Schools will inform you of upcoming parents’ evenings and provide instructions for booking time slots with teachers. Each meeting with a teacher is usually around 10 minutes long. If your child is in primary school, you may only speak to their class teacher. If they are in secondary school, you will have the opportunity to speak to both their form tutor and subject teachers.

What happens during parents’ evenings?

Parents’ evenings may happen online or in person. They usually follow a set structure which involves the teacher discussing the following:

• What is being taught in class
• Your child’s progress or level
• Your child’s strengths
• Areas for improvement
• Any other questions

They may share your child’s targets, current level and progress, and use phrases such as ‘exceeding or working above/meeting or at/below or working towards age-related expectations’ to describe their attainment level.

How can I prepare?

Teachers have limited time to speak to parents, so plan in advance what you would like to ask and find out. 

To make the most of the session, it helps to ask direct questions. You can prepare your own questions or ask them questions such as: 

• Has my child caught up with their peers?
• Is my child making the progress you expect them to?
• Does my child behave well in lessons and complete homework to a high standard?
• Does my child participate well in class?
• What can I do to help my child improve? 
• Is my child struggling with anything specific in lessons?
• Does my child get along with their peers?

What can I do about the language barrier?

For non-native English speakers, parents’ evenings may be challenging, but the school will do everything they can to help if you ask in advance. They may:

• Arrange a bilingual interpreter
• Ask if you have a friend or other adult family member who can interpret
• Prepare translated documents in advance
• Use Google translate

Alternatively, the school may request that your child, or an older sibling, attends to interpret. Whilst it is common for secondary school aged children to attend their own parents’ evenings in the UK, it is less common at primary school age. Schools may resist this option so that both parents and teachers feel they can speak openly about any concerns without the young child being present. 

What does the teacher really mean?

In the UK, teachers can be very polite, even when they mean to say something negative about your child. It can be difficult to understand what the teacher really means. Below are some common phrases used by teachers and what they really mean.

“Full of energy” / “On the energetic side” = likes to move around a lot and may be disruptive

“Quite shy” / “Keeps to him/herself” / “Would love to hear more from your child” = doesn’t speak up in class and lacks confidence

• This can often be the case with children moving from Hong Kong as lessons in the UK encourage much more discussion and class participation. It is completely normal if it takes your child some time to adjust to this and the teacher may not be aware of this difference between the education systems. 
• Teachers may also misinterpret shyness or quietness as your child having a low level of English and not understanding questions or the lesson. If you think this has happened with your child, try encouraging and reassuring them that it is good to speak up and contribute in class.

“Underperforming” / “Failing to meet targets” / “Got a bit of catching up to do” / “Playing catch-up” = not working at the expected level

“Has potential” / “Shows promise” = is capable but not working at their fullest

“A little sensitive” / “Delicate” = can be easily overwhelmed and needs emotional support 

“Eager to please” = keen to receive praise often and needs a lot of attention

“Working above/at/working towards the expected level” = comparing their progress to the level expected for their age (based on the National Curriculum)

Speaking to teachers beyond parents’ evening

Sometimes 10 minutes isn’t enough and you would like to speak to the teacher again. You can arrange to speak with them again over a phone call, after school, or via email if you prefer. Usually, parents’ evenings only cover progress and deeper issues are discussed at other times.

If you have concerns, you should always arrange to speak with your child’s teacher as soon as you can. No communication from the teacher doesn’t indicate a problem and generally, no news is good news. If you don’t hear from the teacher, it generally means that there isn’t anything concerning to address.

Schools may request additional meetings to discuss any behaviour, safeguarding, or academic concerns.

Remember, parents’ evenings can be as daunting for you as they are for the teacher. By going in with a clear plan, you can make the most of the meeting to support your child’s learning and school experience. If you’re looking for more advice or support with your child’s education, contact us for a free consultation.

為「家長晚會」做準備 – 可能會遇到的情況與要問的問題

「家長晚會」（家長會）是你與學校老師交談並了解孩子在校表現的絕佳機會。這是一個了解孩子學習進度、熟悉他們的老師並探索如何在家支援孩子學習的機會。

會面的時間很短，因此提前規劃可確保你能充分利用這段寶貴的時間，來提出你所有的問題。 向下滑動了解更多有關「家長晚會」以及如何準備的資訊。

「家長晚會」在甚麼時間舉辦?

學校通常每年舉辦兩次「家長晚會」，至少需要一名家長參加。第一次通常在秋季學期（年初）舉行，以告知你孩子在學校的適應情況。如果學校舉辦第二次「家長晚會」，通常會定在夏季學期，在進行任何考試或評估之後，告知你孩子的評估結果並為你孩子製定下一年的計劃。有些學校可能會發送詳細的書面報告來代替第二次「家長晚會」，如果家長有疑慮的話，學校也會與家長安排會面。

我該如何預約會面?

一般而言，學校會通知你即將舉行「家長晚會」，並提供與老師預約時段的指引。每次與老師的會面通常為時10分鐘左右。如果你的孩子正在上小學，你只能與他們的班主任交談。如果他們就讀中學，你將有機會與他們的班主任和學科老師交談。

「家長晚會」會聊甚麼？

「家長晚會」可以是線上也可以是實體舉行。他們通常遵循固定的談話內容，其中老師會集中討論以下內容：

• 課堂教授內容
• 你孩子的學習進度與水平
• 你孩子的優點
• 需要改進的地方
• 詢問家長有否疑問

他們可能會分享你孩子的目標、當前水平和學習進度，並使用「超越預期（exceeding or working above）/合乎期望（meeting or at）/低於或努力實現與目前年齡階段相符期望（below or working towards age-related expectations）」等短語來描述他們達到的水平。

我可以如何準備?

老師與家長會談的時間有限，因此請提前規劃你想問和想了解的內容。

直接、精準的提問會幫助你充分利用該次會面機會。 你可以自己準備問題或向他們提出以下問題：

• 我的孩子趕上了同齡人的進度了嗎？
• 我的孩子有否達到你預期中的進步？
• 我的孩子在課堂上是否表現良好並以高標準完成家課？
• 我的孩子課堂參與情況良好嗎？
• 我可以做些甚麼來幫助我的孩子進步？
• 我的孩子在上課時有沒有遇到任何具體問題？
• 我的孩子與同儕相處融洽嗎？

面對語言隔閡，我能怎麼應對?

對於非英語母語人士而言，「家長晚會」可能會有一定挑戰性，但如果你預先提出相關要求，學校將竭盡全力提供協助。他們可能會：

• 安排雙語翻譯
• 詢問你是否有可以翻譯的朋友或其他成年家庭成員
• 提前準備翻譯文件
• 使用谷歌翻譯

或者，學校可能會要求你的孩子或年長的兄弟姐妹參與翻譯。雖然在英國，中學階段的孩子參加自己父母「家長晚會」的情況很常見，但在小學階段則不太常見。學校也可能會避免這種做法，令家長和老師可以在孩子不在場的情況下公開談論關於孩子學習、生活的任何憂慮。

老師的弦外之音是甚麼?

在英國，即使老師想表達對你孩子的負面評價，他們通常都會表現非常有禮貌，這使我們很難理解老師的真正意思。 以下是老師使用的一些常用短語及其真正含義。

充滿活力/精力充沛（full of energy / on the energetic side）=喜歡四處走動，可能會造成破壞

相當害羞/獨來獨往/希望聽到孩子更多的聲音（Quite shy / keeps to him/herself / Would love to hear more from your child）=在課堂上不說話並且缺乏自信

• 從香港剛搬來的孩子通常會遇到這種情況，因為英國的課堂鼓勵更多的討論和課堂參與。如果你的孩子需要一些時間來適應，這是相當正常的，而老師有時候可能沒有意識到這種教育系統之間的差異。
• 老師也可能將害羞或安靜誤解為你的孩子英語程度較低並且不理解老師的問題或課堂內容。如果你認為你的孩子也遇到過這種情況，請嘗試鼓勵並安撫他們，讓他們知道在課堂上發言和積極參與課堂活動是件好事。

表現不佳/未能達到目標/還有一些需要追上的部分/努力追趕（Underperforming / failing to meet targets / got a bit of catching up to do / playing catch-up）=沒有達到預期的水平

有潛力/表現出希望（Has potential / shows promise）=有能力但沒有充分發揮

有點敏感/脆弱（A little sensitive / delicate）=容易太大壓力並需要情感支援

渴求讚賞（Eager to please）=渴望經常受到讚揚並且需要很多關注

高於/達到/朝著預期目標努力（Working above/at/working towards the expected level）=將他們的進步與其年齡層的預期水平進行比較（基於國家課程）

「家長晚會」後與老師進行交談

我們都知道，有時候會面短短10分鐘是不足夠的，你還想再和老師談談。如果你願意，你可以安排在放學後通過電話或電子郵件的形式再次與他們交談。通常，「家長晚會」只討論學生的學習進度，其他時間則會討論更深層的問題。

如果你有任何疑慮，你應該盡快安排與孩子的老師交談。老師沒有主動溝通並不表示有問題，一般來說，沒有消息就是好消息。如果你沒有收到老師的回覆，通常意味著沒有甚麼需要解決的問題。

學校可能會要求召開額外會議來討論任何關注學生行為、安全保護或學術上的問題。

請記住，「家長晚會」對你和老師來說都可能是令人卻步的。通過制定明確的計劃，你可以充分利用會面時間來支援你孩子的學習和在校體驗。如果你正在孩子教育方面尋求更多建議或支援，請聯絡我們進行免費諮詢。