Parents Day

The aim of Parents Day, as far as the Madressa Administration is concerned is as follows:

  1. To create an environment for parents and teachers to meet and get to know one another
  2. To create a new channel of communication between teachers and parents that may have not previously existed
  3. To present feedback at the half way point to parents on their childs progress, with the aim of improvement for the second half of the year

For many teachers this may be the only contact with their student's parents, and it is therefore important that teachers present the report in a manner that will inform the parents of the strengths and weaknesses (areas of improvement) of their child.

WIth this in mind, the following guidelines are provided based on past experiences for teachers to follow:

Do  

 Don't

Make brief notes on each student’s progress all the time so that you can refer to these when talking with your student's parents

Leave it to the last minute and prepare a vague report that is based on a dim memory of your opinion of the student.

Base your reports on factual evidence as far as possible

Be overly critical

Distinguish between the effort, progress and standard of each of your students.  

Be positive and suggest how the student’s work can be improved. 

Be influenced by what another teacher has written

Keep your own record of the student’s grades, comments, etc, for future use in a way that makes sense to you - do not just rely on the information provided to you

Produce stereotype meaningless phrases like,

“Can do better”, “Could work harder” etc.

Present any areas of weakness in a diplomatic way –  students and especially parents are sensitive to tactless criticism and always ensure that you have something positive to say about every student. 

Be afraid to ask parents if their child undertakes any work at home to support what they have learnt on a Sunday

Quran teachers should try and emphasise the importance of daily recitation and the completion of Quran charts online 

 

Fiqh teachers should try and emphasise the importance of daily Salaat and the completion of Salaat charts online

 


Some examples of the useful phrases which teachers can use to help convey a particular message across to parents are given below:

  • "It would be in ..... interest, if they could continue this activity at home during summer holidays as it would lead to an improvement
    This is useful when trying to convey that a student maybe in danger of forgetting something if they do not practice / revise the topic over the long summer period 
     
  •  "..... needs to try to actively participate in classroom discussion"
    The above phrase is trying to convey that a student is perhaps a bit too quiet in the classroom, and does not easily let on as to whether or not they have understand the topic at hand
     
  •  "..... participates well in the classroom"
    If a student actively and enthusiastically engages in discussions in the classroom (even if sometimes over zealously) then let the parents know that they do respond well when asked any questions
     
  •  "..... listening skills need to further improve in order to give ..... a better understanding of the topic"
    This is useful when trying to convey that a student does not always follow instructions or does what they have not been asked to do leading them off topic / task
     
  •  " .... responds well in the classroom"
    If a student does answer when asked any question, or follows your instructions then let parents know that they are really good at this
     
  •  "..... needs guidance and support from you both at home in order to provide ..... with a better understanding"
    If you find that a student is frequently forgetting what they have been taught and because of this they are unable to build on their knowledge, this the above is useful to convey this message to parents
     
  •  "..... speaks with confidence"
    If a student is sure about what they say in your classroom, irrespective of whether or not they are correct then it shows a lot of courage from them to say something in front of their peers so you can highlight this using the above to parents
     
  •  "It would be beneficial for ..... to have consisent attendance / regular to benefit him / her"
    If you find that a student does not often attend the classroom then you can highlight this to the parents but also illustrate the positive side of regular attendance which is the advacement of their learning


The above list is not intended to be exhaustive nor is it attended to be a strict guideline on what should be said to parents on parents day. Rather this is a simple guideline if teachers are stuck on how to convey a particular message across to their student's parents without creating any unintended offence - as always, if you are stuck, speak with your HoD or any member of the admin who are their to assit you.