Parents' Evenings
Parents' Evenings at Brighton Hill Community School
We understand the importance of collaboration and that parents' evenings are an important opportunity for you to meet with your child's teachers and receive feedback on their attainment, progress and attitude to learning. To help you navigate these evenings, we have structured our year groups into two sides: 'A' side and 'B' side. This structure is based on the tutor group your child is in. This design increases the number of appointments we can offer to parents in a single year group as each ‘side’ is delivered on separate evenings across a two-week window.
Key Point
Each year group is divided into two sides:
- 'A' Side:
- 'B' Side:
These ‘sides’ reflect the timetable a student will follow across the school week and therefore which teachers they have.
Sides are determined by which tutor group your child is in. For example, if your child is in Horizon 1, they are on the 'A' side and follow an ‘A’ side timetable. If your child is in Horizon 2, they are on the 'B' side timetable. This division helps us organize parents' evenings more efficiently and ensures that you can speak with each of your child's teachers.
Parents' Evenings Schedule
Parents' evenings occur twice a year and directly follow the issuance of your child’s Progress Tracker. Here are the dates for this 2024/25 academic year:
| Year Group | 'A' Side Parents' Evening | 'B' Side Parents' Evening |
|
Year 7 |
Wednesday 26th February 2025 | Wednesday 5th March 2025 |
|
Year 7 |
Wednesday 25th June 2025 | Wednesday 2nd July 2025 |
|
Year 8 |
Wednesday 4th December 2024 | Wednesday 11th December 2024 |
|
Year 8 |
Wednesday 30th April 2025 | Wednesday 7th May 2025 |
|
Year 9 |
Wednesday 15th January 2025 | Wednesday 22nd January 2025 |
|
Year 9 |
Wednesday 14th May 2025 | Wednesday 21st May 2025 |
|
Year 10 |
Wednesday 5th February 2025 | Wednesday 12th February 2025 |
|
Year 10 |
Wednesday 4th June 2025 | Wednesday 11th June 2025 |
|
Year 11 |
Wednesday 13th November 2024 | Wednesday 20th November 2024 |
|
Year 11 |
Wednesday 19th March 2025 | Wednesday 26th March 2025 |
You can also view parents’ evening dates and other key dates in the Brighton Hill Community School - Calendar.
In addition to parents' evenings, we also offer various parent collaboration events throughout the year. For more information, please visit our Brighton Hill Community School - Parent Collaboration Events page.
Virtual Appointments
This academic year, parents' evenings are run as virtual appointments via the 'school cloud' system. For detailed instructions on how to book and attend these virtual appointments, please refer to this parent support and guidance document.
Booking Process
Parents can book appointments no less than a week in advance using the school cloud system. Parent communication on when the booking system opens is as follows:
Parents' Evenings Communication Process
Please note, as each side’s evening runs on different dates, communication timing is bespoke to the relevant ‘side’.
1) Text Message
A text message will be sent to parents/carers of the relevant ‘side’, informing them to check their email for an invitation to book notification.
2) Email
An email will be sent with a letter attached, notifying you that parents’ evening bookings are now open for your child’s ‘side’. The parent support and guidance document will also be included.
3) BHCS Website
The ‘Letters Home’ section of the BHCS website will be updated with the invitation that is attached to the email.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why are appointments only 5 minutes in duration? The evening is designed to provide top-level feedback on attainment, progress and attitude to learning. If there are significant concerns, these will be raised prior to parents' evening by staff.
Where parents wish for a more extended conversation, this can be requested, and meetings/communication arranged outside of the constraints of parents' evening. - What if I want to know something more specific during an appointment? When booking your appointments you will see an 'add notes' option. If you have any specific questions, you can ask them in the notes section. This allows the teacher to see them in advance and prepare the bespoke response. If the feeling is a longer discussion is required, a further meeting can be agreed with the relevant staff member beyond the constraints of the parents' evening.
- What if I can't get an appointment? If, on the rare occasion, all the appointment slots are full or you cannot make the evening due to your commitments, you can use the system to be placed on a waiting list. Relevant staff are provided with the waiting list and follow up with parents on the list to offer alternative feedback arrangements.
- Why are some appointments cancelled at short notice? Unfortunately, there are occasions when staff are unable to attend all or part of an evening due to illness or personal circumstances. We do our best to provide scheduled appointments for staff available at the time of publishing, but there are occasions where unavoidable, unplanned absence occurs. Any cancelled appointments are recorded and fed forward to relevant staff to follow up on.
- Will you return to onsite parents’ evenings? We offer several year group specific events on site across the current academic year, where parents can meet teaching and pastoral staff. We continue to consult with parents and staff on what the preferred model is for 2025/2026.
Parent Survey Details
On the completion of both year group’s parents’ evenings, a parental survey is issued via email. We welcome your honest feedback and additional commentary. This feedback and commentary are shared with our wider team and where necessary followed up on in continued efforts to improve our school and support our student’s in making success inevitable.
If for any reason you feel we are not meeting the commitments outlined above or in our Home or in our ‘Home School Partnership’ please do not hesitate to contact me dwatkins@bhcs.sfet.org.uk Deputy Headteacher.
We look forward to receiving you at the next parents' evening and working together to support your child's education.