Making meetings matter

Our making meetings matter booklet can help you keep your meeting notes in one place. 

It has the advice from this web page, a meeting planner and space for you to write notes.

Download the making meetings matter booklet (DOCX 320 KB)

Before the meeting

Things to consider:

• Find out who will be at the meeting
• You may like to bring a friend or relative for informal support it's helpful to let the school know!
• Ask if there's any new information that will be shared at the meeting that you can read beforehand
• Think about what you would like to get from the meeting. Is there any information that you need?
• Make some notes to help keep you focused including
  • Your key questions or concerns (use the planner in the making meetings matter booklet)
  • Any positive ideas you may have yourself, what works for you
  • Any strategies which are likely to make the situation worse
• Your emotions are likely to be raised because this involves your child but remember the meeting will go better if you remain calm.

During the meeting

Things to consider in the meeting.

Make sure everyone introduces themselves and you are clear about their roles and responsibilities.

• Check the finishing time of the meeting
• If anyone is going to take notes ask for a copy, or take your own notes. Action points particularly should be recorded and agreed before the meeting ends
• If anything is said which you do not understand, ask for an explanation
• Try to focus on solutions, you could use questions such as
  • What can we do to move this forward and make things better?
  • Is there a strategy or different way to support with the difficulty which could be put in place?
  • Do you have any ideas yourself of what could help, what works for you?
  • What could make this better?
  • What support could the school offer?
  • What could I/we do to support?
• If your concerns have not all been discussed ask how this might be followed up- phone calls, email, or further meetings?
• Agree a date to check on progress and agree who you can contact in the future

After the meeting

Following the meeting you should know:

• Who is going to do what and by when?
• How the action points are going to be reviewed?
• How any other issues are going to be followed up?
• Who to contact if you have any questions?

What if there is no improvements?

If, after the given timescales, the situation has not improved:

• It may be that the strategies/ideas put in place are not successful and that something else needs to be tried
• It may be that agreed actions have not happened

If you are not happy, speak to:

• The headteacher and, if you still feel unhappy, you can ask to see or speak to a governor or governors at the school
• The school will have a complaints policy for when you want to take things further