Parents' evening: getting a slot, and the ten minutes once you have one
Bookings open at a set time and the good slots go in minutes. How the systems work, what to ask in a ten-minute appointment, what to do if it goes badly, and what to write down afterwards.
By The AskBobbie team · 29 September 20262 min read
Twice a year the school sends an email that says bookings open on Tuesday at 6pm, and at 6:01 the slot you wanted has gone. This is how the bookings work, and what to do with the ten minutes once you have them.
Getting a slot
Bookings run through the school's system: Arbor, MCAS, SchoolCloud, School Gateway or similar. The email announcing the opening time arrives before the app notification, sometimes by a day. Read the email, note the time, and be signed in a minute early with the page open.
Slots are usually five or ten minutes, at set times. Pick, confirm, and check your email for the confirmation; if you did not get one, the booking did not go through. Put the appointment in the calendar with the room and the teacher's name. If it is online, the link is in the confirmation and again on the day.
If you miss the opening, the last slots are the earliest and the latest. Take one; a bad time beats no meeting. If nothing is left, email the teacher directly; most will find five minutes.
The ten minutes
Teachers see thirty families in an evening. Two questions land better than ten:
- "What is one thing my child does well, and one thing they find hard?" Every teacher can answer this specifically, and it is more useful than a grade.
- "What can we do at home that would help most?" You will get one concrete thing. Do it.
Then, if there is time: friendships, how they are at lunch and play, anything you have noticed at home that the school should know. Bring the school report if there was one, and any specific concern written down, because ten minutes is short and it is easy to leave having forgotten it.
If it goes badly
If you hear something that worries you, ask for a proper meeting: "Can we find twenty minutes another day to talk about this properly?" Parents' evening is a check-in, not the place for a hard conversation, and teachers would rather have the longer meeting too.
Afterwards
Write down the one thing to do at home and the one thing to watch, on the day, somewhere the other grown-up will see it. Two lines. Bobbie will take a note ("parents' evening: reading every night, watch the friendship thing") and keep it on the child's page; the fridge works too.
Further reading
Questions people ask
- When do bookings open?
- The school sets a date and time, usually a weekday at 6pm or 7pm, a week or two before the evening. It is announced by email and app notification; the email is usually first. Be online at that minute if you want a slot that suits you.
- How long is an appointment?
- Five to ten minutes at primary, five at secondary where you see several teachers. It goes quickly. Have two questions ready, not ten.
- Can both parents go?
- Usually, in person. Online evenings often limit it to one login, but you can both sit at the same screen.