Before the Interview

Prestons Public School

Cnr Kurrajong & Box Roads, Prestons 2170
PO Box 230 Casula Mall, Casula 2170
Phone: 9602 7435/ 9602 0823 Fax: 9821 1192
Email address: prestons-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
School Website: www.prestons-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

9th June, 2015

!!

Letter sent home

Stage 3 Parent Teacher Interviews

Dear Parents,
Prestons Public School would like to invite parents to attend Parent-Teacher interviews.
Interviews for classes K-6 will be held on Wednesday 24

th

June 2015

from 3:10pm to

6:20pm.
The interviews will be held in the School Hall for Years 3-6. Interviews will be of
approximately 10 minutes duration.
Please circle the 2 times below that are most convenient to you and return to your child's class
teacher as soon as possible. Times will be allocated and sent home as the forms are returned.

This year Stage 3 have been working in Maths groups. The classroom teacher will have the
information from the Maths teacher regarding your childs progress. If you still require an
interview time with the Maths teacher please write a note to them requesting an interview. This
may or may not be on the interview night.

Mr Mark Greentree
Principal
Parent Teacher Interviews Wednesday 24 th June 2015
Stage 3
Students Name: ______________________________ Class: _______________
Parent names/s: _______________________ Siblings names/classes: _________________
Preferred Interview Times (please circle 2 times)
3.10 - 3.30

3.30 - 4.00

5.00 - 5.30

4.00 - 4.30

5.30 - 6:00

4.30 - 5.00

6:00 - 6:20

Interview Time
Students Name: ________________________________ Class: ___________
Your interview appointment is confirmed: ________________ pm in the Hall.
Thank you
Class teacher

Learning & Caring with Pride

Parent /Teacher Interview Procedures

! Fill in the parent return slip and send home the same day with the
student.
! Be sure to confer with teachers of siblings in order to be efficient
with parent timetable
! Record the interview booking on the Booking Sheet.
! Record interview time on the class list
! Before the night, contact parents who have not responded by sending
home the follow-up note
! Not all students will fit in on the night first in best dressed. You will
need to use before/after school times and RFF to finish you
interviews.
! Fill in the Parent/Teacher Interview Notes for each student so
that you are prepared for the interview and you can keep to the time
frame. You may want to bring along some work samples for particular
students to reinforce a point you may be making.
! If the parent wants more time than the 10 minutes, or if you feel you
need more time, you will need to make the interview for another time.
! Book in for another time for tricky/more confidential/long
interviews.
! Inform Mark/Jennifer/Sam/Haley/Kirsty/Elissa if you would like
them to sit in on an interview. An alternate time may be needed.
! Queue rage. Avoid interviews going over the set time as this
creates angst amongst those who are waiting queue rage. Direct
those parents who want to talk longer to make another interview.

Parent Teacher Interviews Booking Sheet

Time
Wednesday 24th June 2015

Time

Name

Attended Y/N

3.10
Attended
Y/N
3.20
3.30

3.10

3.40

3.20

3.50

3.30

4.00

3.40

4.10

3.50

4.20

4.00

4.30

4.10

4.40

4.20

4.50

4.30

5.00

4.40

5.10

4.50

5.20

5.00

5.30

5.10

5.40

5.20

5.50

5.30

6:00

5.40

6:10

5.50

6:20

6:00
6:10

Other Dates / Times Booked

6:20
Other Dates / Times Booked
Time

Name

Name

Time

Attended Y/N

Name

Attended Y/N

Before the Interview

1. Think about it from the parents perspective.

parents can be more nervous about the interview than you are. It can be
pretty intimidating for a parent to have a formal face-to-face meeting with
their childs teacher. Remind yourself that they are a person just like you.

2. Anticipate questions parents might ask

- What are their grades for each subject?

- How does my childs work compare to the rest of the class?

- Do you have any concerns about their academic progress?
- Does my child do their homework? Are you satisfied with the quality of their
homework?
- Does my child listen in class?
- Does my child contribute to class discussions? Are they confident talking in
front of the whole class?
- How are their social skills? Do they get along with other students?
- Who are their friends? Who do they play with?
- Is my child liked by other students?
- Are there any issues in the playground? Do they behave appropriately?
- Are there any subjects which my child is reluctant to participate in?
- Is there anything else we should know about?

3. Be Prepared for Surprises

Parents sometimes surprise us with negative or personal

questions or comments: "My son's teacher bullied him all last year."
"My daughter's lazy. She never tries at anything." "My husband
doesn't care about Mark. He never comes to these
conferences." "My wife's divorcing me. Things are falling apart."
What can you do in such an instance?
Steer the conversation back to positives: "I'm sorry things
didn't go well for Adam last year. But because our time is limited,
I'd like to focus on what we can accomplish this year if we work
together.
Focus on the child: "You seem to be going through some tough
stuff right now. I wonder if that's taking Jasmine's attention
away from school. What do you think we might do to help her
concentrate?
Listen with empathy: "That must be hard" or "You've been through
a lot" can help parents feel heard without injecting your own
opinion or advice.
Offer to get help: "You seem to be wondering what to do next.
Our school counselor may have some ideas for you."

4. Plan your physical environment

Think about the layout of the physical space where your interview will be
conducted. Where will you sit? Where will the parent/s sit? If you teach a
younger grade, please dont make your parents sit on little chairs! Find
some adult size chairs and place them accordingly. I recommend that you
do not sit behind your big teachers desk to conduct a parent-teacher
conference. This makes rapport and connection much harder and limits the
communication space.
How your room/space looks is really important. Is it clean and tidy? Are
things well organised? What will the parents be looking at over your
shoulder whilst the interview is progressing? Remember, everything about
you says something about you. The physical layout and feel of your room/
space/office is crucial in conducting effective parent-teacher
conferences.

5. Complete your interview proforma

For every single parent-teaching meeting that I have had, I always take a
few moments to prepare to write down some thoughts and notes that
will help me to be most effective during the interview.
Think about taking reports, assessments, work samples ...

iPads....

come and see me if you would like help organising reports,

photos of work samples, assessments onto an iPad.

APPS....

three rings, doceo

Parent Teacher Interview Proforma

Interview Details
Student Name:

Date:

Time:

Parents Names:

Important Information
Relevant assessment results, anecdotal records, previous reports, etc

Strengths
Personal, Social, Academic - this could include specific anecdotal stories/examples

Areas To Improve
Concerns, challenges, behavioural/work ethic/academic issues, other relevant issues

My To-Do List
Specific things I need to do after the interview

PARENT / TEACHER INTERVIEW NOTES

Student:
ACADEMIC

CLASS/PLAYGROUND BEHAVIOUR

SOCIAL / OTHER ISSUES

ACADEMIC

CLASS/PLAYGROUND BEHAVIOUR

SOCIAL / OTHER ISSUES

Student:

During the Interview

5. Be friendly and welcoming

I am amazed at how many teachers dont think about the first 60 seconds
of their meeting with parents. I am also amazed at how many teachers dont
say a genuine hello or how are you. The first 60 seconds counts. Heres all
you need to do: be friendly and welcoming! Smile! Make the parents feel at
home! Ask them how their day has been. Thank them for their time. (Yes, they
are giving up their time just as much as you are). Be genuine and authentic,
and remember to smile!

6. Use the Feedback Sandwich

Sometimes you may need to raise a tricky issue about the students
behaviour/work ethic/etc. I always use the Feedback Sandwich using the
analogy of a sandwich with 2 pieces of bread and filling in between. Simply
put, you start with the bread something positive and encouraging; then you
put in the filling the students behaviour that you need to address;
followed by another piece of bread something positive and encouraging. This
is a great little strategy to help you talk through any tricky issues about
the student.

Offer conversation starters

- Did you have any specific questions?

- Invite parents to share their thoughts. As experts on their children,
parents can share valuable insights. And they'll appreciate your respectful
-recognition of their role in helping their children.
- Highlight the positives. Recognize a child's strengths before discussing
her struggles. You'll give parents some perspective while encouraging them
to work productively with you.
- Address just one or two concerns. Listing too many problems can make
parents (and their children) feel defeated. Mention that you'd like to help
the student with several things, but for now you'd like to concentrate on
just one or two.
- Let parents know if you need thinking time. It's perfectly OK to tell
parents you want to think through what they've said, observe their
children for a bit, consult others, or read up on an issue they've raised.

Follow Up and Follow Through

After each parent-teacher conference, thank parents for sharing time with
you. If you offered to find resources, gather information, and so forth,
make sure you do soand share the results with parents.
Each parent-teacher conference can be a powerful occasion for meaningful
communication with families. Thinking ahead and following some simple
guidelines will help ensure that conferences are positive and productive for
everyone.

TO DO...