A Chairde,

The annual Parent-Teacher meetings will take place on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th November.

In order to conduct the meetings over two evenings, a meeting time of 10 minutes has been allotted to each child. Every effort has been made to ensure that parents who have two or more children attending the school can meet each relevant teacher in succession, and be finished within a reasonable space of time. For this system to operate smoothly it is important that you would do your best to engage with your child’s teacher for 10 minutes and proceed directly to the next teacher.

You will meet your child’s teacher and receive an update on his/her progress. You will have an opportunity to ask questions, voice any concerns and inform the teacher of things you believe may be helpful.

These meetings are not intended to involve a long protracted, in-depth discussion on every aspect of your child’s education. If it is felt, by you or your child’s teacher, that a further meeting is necessary, it may be arranged with your child’s teacher at a later date.

Parent-Teacher meetings are as valuable and informative to us teachers as they are to you as parents. We would encourage you to maintain an open line of communication with your child’s teacher and to touch base with him/her from time to time throughout the year.

If you are unable to attend the meeting for any reason, please inform your child’s teacher as soon as possible. He/she will be happy to arrange a more suitable time with you. If we do not hear to the contrary, we will assume you will attend at the scheduled time.

Please see overleaf for a brief outline of some areas to be addressed at the Parent-Teacher meetings.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Le gach dea-ghuí,

Terry Kavanagh,

Príomhoide.

Key Areas for Discussion.

Social skills and emotional wellbeing.

Your child’s strengths and talents, hobbies and interests.

Behaviour.

Homework

Progress in Mathematics, English, Gaeilge.

Progress in other curricular areas.

You will be informed of your child’s performance in his/her recent standardised tests in English Reading, English Spelling, Mathematics and Gaeilge. Performance will be expressed in terms of Sten Scores (a scale of 1 to 10). These Sten Scores may be interpreted as follows:

8-10 Well above average

7 High average,

5-6 Average

4 Low average

1-3 Well below average

Standardised tests are a useful diagnostic tool and indicator of a child’s level of progress in a given subject. They DO NOT define a child’s academic potential. They amount to a snapshot in time of a child’s performance in comparison to children of that class level nationwide.