Steve Francis

Due to COVID restrictions, many schools are now conducting Parent-Teacher conferences over the phone or using ZOOM. This creates some different challenges to the usual face-to-face meetings. Here are some tips to optimise your parent-teacher conferences. BEFORE THE CALL – Be prepared – Make sure you are absolutely clear on the following. What are the key messages you want to communicate to the parent? What outcomes are you trying to achieve? Whilst this might be one of many calls that you need to make to parents, this is THE CALL that parent has been waiting for. It is likely to be an important call for the parent. Remember this is their son or daughter and for most parents their children…

Schools are busy places, filled with busy people. Often there is too much to do and not enough time. It is therefore essential that available time is well utilised. We have all attended meetings that have been a frustrating waste of time. Some of them have been meetings that we have led. Meetings that are seen to be a waste of time is one of the biggest frustrations of staff in many schools. To ensure that people’s time is well utilised, it is essential that the following questions are considered and strategies applied. What are we trying to achieve? Is a meeting necessary? Is a meeting the best way to achieve the intended outcome? If we are delivering a message…