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Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Working with Families and Safeguarding

Parents' evening

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

nounCommon term

In child development & early education, parents' evening means: An event, often held in the evening, when parents come to the nursery or school to talk with staff about their child's progress and well-being.

In Turkish: veli görüşmesi, veli toplantısı

How it is used

A British term; in the US it is usually a parent-teacher conference. Meetings are short and booked in time slots, and staff often share the learning journal, the child's strengths and next steps.

Example sentences

  1. Parents' evening is next Thursday, so please book a ten-minute slot.

  2. At parents' evening we talked about how much her language has grown.

Common collocations

  • book a slot
  • parent-teacher conference
  • at parents' evening
  • progress meeting
  • partnership with parentsWorking closely with parents and carers as equal partners, sharing information and decisions so that home and setting support the child together.
  • learning journalA record of a child's time in a setting, with observations, photos, drawings and notes, showing their interests and progress; it is often kept online and shared with parents.
  • next stepsThe learning goals and activities planned for a child after an observation, based on their interests and what they seem ready to learn next.
  • handoverA short exchange of information when a child passes from one adult to another, for example when a parent collects a child and staff explain how the day went.

More terms: Working with Families and Safeguarding

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