Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
You may be a veteran of parent teacher meetings (PTMs) or you might be facing your first one as a new parent, but either way I encourage you to treat PTMs with the respect they deserve as they are a formal meeting with important implications.
As a rule, teachers break parent meetings up into five minute slots.
This isn’t a lot of time, but it is enough to give you a general breakdown of how your child has settled into the new year, draw your attention to assessment results and progress, discuss issues and targets for the term and, undoubtedly, ask you if you have any questions.
Effective communication on both sides is the key to successful PTMs and how you conduct yourself is as important.
You should leave feeling informed and more confident about your child’s progress at school as this is the objective, but if there is something specific that you want to know, be prepared so your meeting will be direct and timely.
If you have a range of concerns, arrange a separate meeting so you have enough time to discuss them thoroughly, otherwise you will feel rushed which can lead to frustration.
