Tuesday 14 December 2021

Finally! A parents evening!

The last time we had a proper parents evening for Ellie was at her old school at the end of year 7. She is in year 10 now and because of Covid we've not had one at all at her new school. The school have been amazing at keeping us informed about how Ellie is getting on but it's not the same as having a face to face conversation with her teachers.

My youngest sat on a rock

Last week we had parents evening and it was a good one. The school had organised things well, giving everyone 5 minute appointments with each teacher but of course no one stuck to the plan, us included. We were supposed to see the head of year first but the science teacher was free and she called us over which then knocked us off all the timings with the rest of the appointments but we just snuck in to see the teachers when they were free.

Science.
Ellie is so doing so well at science, better than she has ever told us, she has always said she finds it hard. It turns out it's not the understanding that she finds hard it's the amount of writing that she has to do. She has always been lazy when it comes to writing but is thankfully starting to improve. She is expected to get 4's in science for her GCSE's which is an old school C. We were given a load of resources to help with revision which Ellie was not overjoyed about but she does know that revision has to be done.

Head of Year.
The head of year only had fantastic things to say about Ellie. She has a good group of friends, is kind, helpful and works hard. She said that the only worry she has that is she is sometimes so quiet but that has been the same throughout all of her school life, her sister was the same. 

The head of year said that as Ellie has struggled over the last couple of years because of being deaf in one ear with everyone wearing masks, it has impacted her learning. They are putting it to the powers that be with the exams that she needs extra time in her written exams when it comes to doing her GCSE's. She could potentially get an extra 15 minutes time for every hour in an exam which I think will be helpful for her.

Geography.
This is Ellie's least favourite subject and it really showed. The teacher is worried about her. The work she does in her exercise books is fantastic but when it comes to the assessments she is not doing so well. She knows the answers to the questions but just can't get them across on tests which is really confusing as in all of her other subjects she tests really well. It all came out that she doesn't feel comfortable sat where she is and with the people she is sat with. The class is full of big characters and Ellie is not a big character. The geography teacher is going to speak to the Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) teacher and see what they can do to help.

Engineering and Photography.
The engineering teacher wasn't there at parents evening which we were gutted about but the photography teacher had all of his notes to give us some feedback. It was all good and just what we expected as it's Ellie's favourite subject. For photography she is doing great but has to be more confident in the photos that she takes. She sometimes thinks they are rubbish but they're really not. She is heading towards C's or B's in those subjects if she really pushes herself which I think she will.

English.
We were so excited to meet Ellie's English teacher. Ellie raves about her. The teacher said she handpicked her class, those kids who weren't doing too well but had potential and she has made sure it was a tiny class with only about 12 kids in to get the most out of them and it's working. She showed us a couple of Ellie's exercise books and at the start of the school year her essays were a page long at the most now they are 3 verging on 4. We told the teacher how Ellie comes home and tells us what she has learned in English, how she's the best teacher and how good she feels because of these lessons and it made the teacher cry. She really is an amazing teacher. She was asking about how Ellie was getting on with other subjects and if there was anything that Ellie could take from English to use in other lessons and we talked about Geography so the English teacher is going to have words with her Geography teacher and see if they can make things easier. I totally get now why Ellie loves her English teacher, she is one of those people that you instantly feel at ease with.

Maths.
I was so keen to meet the maths teacher as Ellie had told me that he was only 23 years old. Oh my goodness, he looked like a teenager but he sounds like such a good teacher. At the start of the year Ellie really struggled and it showed on the assessment, she got 21% which wasn't great but on her latest assessment which she did last week she got 43% which is a massive jump and it's thanks to him. He said if she carries on the way she is she will easily be able to get a C for her GCSE's. She has always struggled with algebra but he said the whole class has so not to worry but she is doing great. He said the only time he has to raise her voice to Ellie is when she is arguing with the person who she sits next too, one of her best friends. The thing is 99% of the time they are arguing about the work they're doing and who's answer is right so he doesn't really want to tell them off, they just need to pipe down a little. He said Ellie needs to have more confidence in herself, it turns out Ellie will give the right answer to her friend to shout out instead of her shouting it out herself. lol

P.E.
I did not have good thoughts about P.E. I expected the teacher to say that Ellie turns up with the correct kit and not much else but it turns out she tries really hard in her lessons and told us after Christmas they will be doing trampolining which all the kids are very excited about.

Out of all of the parents evenings we've had for Ellie this has been the best one. We really did make the right decision moving house and changing Ellie's school. Every single teacher knew who Ellie was which didn't happen at her old school and they all were well aware of her hearing loss and have all made a point of checking that Ellie has heard everything when they are talking to the class. It seems like all of the teachers communicate with each other and really do care about the kids. Ellie is thriving and I really am starting to believe that she will do well in her GCSE's.

Have you had a parents evening recently? I hope it went well.

3 comments :

  1. It sounds like Ellie has settled very well #MMBC

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  2. Ah Ellie's English teacher sounds amazing. Pleased she is doing well.

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  3. It sounds like your daughter is really lucky to have such a great English teacher. I bet it was wonderful to meet them all face to face. I have been so bummed that our school has canceled everything and I have yet to meet a single teacher of Alec's.

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