✍️Asking My Child's School For a Meeting & Tips For a Productive Meeting -Back To School Challenges✍

Mary_Scope

Part One - An Introduction to Back to School Challenges
Part Two - Why Is My Child Struggling Going Back To School?
Part Three - How Can I Help My Child Settle Into School?

As a parent of a disabled child, you are their best advocate.

When you have concerns about your child's school experience, effective communication with teachers is essential to making sure your child is getting the right support and help.

I know it can often feel daunting to start these conversations with your childs teacher/SENCO so it can be helpful to remind yourself you and the school share a common goal which is your child's success and wellbeing.

I’ve created this post to hopefully make you feel confident approaching your childs teacher and setting up productive meetings.

Define Your Concerns

• It is helpful to be as specific as possible and note down exactly what you've observed and why you're concerned.

Request a Meeting

• It is usually best to email as this provides a paper trail and is often easier than trying to talk to teachers at busy times such as pick ups and drop off. Don’t be afraid to chase the email and send another one if you don’t get a response after a week or so.
• In the email, it is helpful to state who you are, your child's name and that you'd like to schedule a meeting to discuss your child's progress or observations and offer your general availability.
• The document below is a template that you can use when emailing your childs school to request a meeting.
  Requesting a meeting with a teacher or SENCO template.docx

Prepare for the Meeting

• It is helpful to organize your specific concerns and examples and consider bringing notes and relevant documents such as a speech and language report).
• The document below is a good meeting template that you can use to prepare for the meeting and have all your thoughts and points in one place. It can also be a handy tool to feel on track during the meeting.

Scope Preparing for a School Meeting template.docx

During the Meeting

• It is usually best to start positively and acknowledge the teacher's efforts so far.
• It's helpful to be as clear as possible and state your concerns with specific examples and listen to the teacher's perspective and observations.
• Open ended questions can generate deeper more effective discussion such as "What strategies have you tried so far?"
• Discuss potential solutions and agree on concrete next steps and schedule a follow-up if needed is also good.

Follow Up

• It is also helpful to send a brief thank you email summarizing the discussion and agreed-upon actions. This way you are creating a paper trail

Do you have any tips other for school meetings? What is something that makes you feel confident approaching teachers and sharing your concerns?