Parents’ evening is a valuable opportunity to gain insight into your child’s progress, wellbeing and overall school experience. With limited time available, it helps to arrive prepared with thoughtful questions that give you a well-rounded picture. Rather than focusing solely on grades, consider exploring your child’s strengths, challenges and development both academically and socially.
Here are some useful questions to guide your conversation.
How Is My Child Progressing Academically?
Start with the basics. Ask how your child is performing compared to expectations for their age and year group. You might ask:
- Is my child working at the expected level?
- What are their strongest subjects?
- Where could they improve?
- Are they making good progress since the start of the year?
This will help you understand not just attainment, but progress over time. If there are areas of concern, ask what specific skills need strengthening and how you can support this at home.
How Does My Child Participate in Class?
Academic performance is only one part of school life. Understanding how your child engages in lessons can reveal a great deal about their confidence and attitude to learning.
Consider asking:
- Do they contribute to discussions?
- Do they work well independently?
- How do they approach challenging tasks?
- Do they stay focused and organised?
These questions can help identify whether your child needs encouragement to participate more actively or develop better study habits.
How Are Their Social Skills and Friendships?
School is also where children develop vital social skills. It is important to know how your child interacts with others.
You could ask:
- Do they work well with their peers?
- Have you noticed any friendship issues?
- Are they kind and respectful towards others?
- Do they seem happy and settled?
If there are any concerns around friendships or behaviour, early awareness allows you to address them constructively.
Is There Anything We Should Be Doing at Home?
Teachers often have practical suggestions that can make a real difference. Ask:
- How can we best support learning at home?
- Are there particular resources you recommend?
- Should we focus on reading, times tables, spellings or something else?
This ensures that your efforts at home align with what is happening in the classroom, creating consistency and reinforcing progress.
What Are the Next Steps?
Finally, ask about future goals. Understanding what your child should be working towards provides clarity and direction.
Questions might include:
- What targets would you set for the next term?
- What would ‘excellent progress’ look like?
- Are there extension opportunities if they are excelling?
Clear targets help both you and your child stay motivated and focused.
Make the Most of the Conversation
Parents’ evening works best as a two-way discussion. Share any changes at home that may affect your child’s learning, and be open to honest feedback. If time runs short, ask whether you can follow up by email.
Approaching parents’ evening with prepared, thoughtful questions helps you gain meaningful insight into your child’s development. More importantly, it demonstrates to your child that you are invested in their education — a powerful message that supports confidence, motivation and long-term success.