Hey there, Tappsters!
A new comp has started! Woohoo! We know how much you love caffeinated drinks – so this month FIVE teachers will receive £100 gift cards for a coffee house from a list of choices that includes Costa, Starbucks, Nero and Gregs!
Taking part is simple: For every 5 days in a row you answer questions, you will receive an entry code.
At the end of the month, we share the winning codes on our socials and email the winners, too .
Read more about the details of the comp and see the full terms and conditions here.
Now, let’s find out what you have told us this week…
Parents evening attendance
Last week, a Tapper got in touch with a question: parents evening at their school was well attended…they thought. But was it? Could we find out?
Parents evenings are sometimes the one opportunity a year for a teacher to discuss a student’s performance with a caregiver. But how many parents engage with school parents evenings?
Attendance among primary schools is higher than secondary: 77% of senior leaders and headteachers reported three quarters or more attended, compared to 50% of secondary schools.
It seems that for younger students, you are more likely to have parents engaging at higher levels with school parents evenings.
But what are the factors that cause this number to change?
One predictable consideration is the level of deprivation at the school: schools with the highest number of FSM are less likely to have parents attending.
More leaders in the most affluent state primary schools reported 75-100% of parents came, compared to leaders in the most deprived schools (93% vs 56%)
It was a similar picture in secondary where again more teachers reported 75-100% of parents attended in the most affluent state schools, compared to the most deprived schools (71% vs 22%), with NONE of the most deprived leaders reporting all parents attended.
Does year group make a difference? If attendance is higher in primary (77% of primary leaders reported that three quarters or more attended), do schools see a decline in interest between KS2 and 3, and then 3 to 4?
It seems not. Although there is an initial drop when children reach secondary school, there is minimal differences between the two key stages. KS3 parents evenings, 49% of leaders reported between 75-100% attendance, and at KS4 this only dropped two percentage points to 47%.
KS5 attendance is higher, but here there is a self-selecting group who have chosen to stay on in education, so the higher numbers of 59% reporting 75-100% of parents attended could be explained by the different demographics of students who stay in to study in schools and colleges.
What else did we find out? There are also a number of schools who do NOT hold parents evenings, and instead have other arrangements. 0% reported this set up in a primary school, but 3% of secondaries did.
Teacher Tapp has been asking about parents evenings for a long time – this blog from 2019 shares some insights into the sorts of things parents say at parents evening…
SATs 2025
This week, the tests for KS2 students began – and so too do the SATs breakfasts, extra sessions, longer break times and post-test celebration. But what schools offer to year six students seems to vary slightly depending on location.
Teachers in schools in Yorkshire and the North East are the most likely to offer SAT breakfasts (81% vs 70% in the South East).
It’s also Yorkshire and the North East where post-SAT celebrations are most likely to take place (65% vs 52% in the South East).
Extra SAT sessions had the widest variation, with 49% of teachers in schools in Yorkshire and the North East offering them, but just 32% of teachers in the South West reporting they take place.
Longer break times are also more common in Yorkshire and the North East (42% vs 33% in London).
What could be happening here? One explanation could be the distribution of schools with high numbers of pupils on Free School Meals. When results are adjusted for this consideration – it’s clear that teachers in schools with the most pupils on free school meals, are more likely than teachers in schools with the least pupils on free school meals to offer extra activities for SATs.
Post-GCSE
This week, the Department for Education announced plans to move results day to an online app.
Generally, feelings about this change were pretty cold, with almost two thirds (65%) believing the experience for students will be worse, and just 15% that the experience will be better. 20% believe that it will make no difference.
But what are schools with sixth forms doing now to prepare KS4 students to move onto the next step?
1️⃣ Open evenings
2️⃣ Taster days
3️⃣ Assemblies
These were the most common transition activities, with teachers in academies more likely than teachers in local authorities to report their school offered open evenings (78% vs 91%), taster days (77% vs 87%) and assemblies (69% vs 78%).
Although summer programmes are less common, they were equally uncommon, as reported by teachers in local authority schools and academies (14% and 15%).
Do students have good options post-GCSE?
Teachers in schools without sixth forms reported back on their perception of student access to options post GCSE.
Good access to A-level options was generally perceived as better among teachers in schools in more affluent areas, where more strongly agreed compared to teachers in the most deprived areas (67% vs 41%).
Good access to vocational options had less variation, with more strongly agreeing in the most affluent areas compared to the most deprived areas (54% vs 44%) but for overall agreeing, the two tied with 88%.
These results could speak to a system that is more prepared to deal with students going onto an A-level pathway than a vocational one, post-GCSE. Recent changes have added to that difficult pathway: confusion about whether T-levels or BTECs are still available, what courses will be funded, and whether a new qualification is going to come in to replace them both.
📣 Tell us what questions about job hunting and interviewing we should ask!
Teacher Tapp is doing a special blog all about the experience of job hunting and interviewing as a teacher…
Did you negotiate your salary? Have you always informed your headteacher? Do new ECTs get paid for the summer?
These are some questions suggested already…what else should we ask?
Send in your suggestions! england@teachertapp.co.uk
Daily Reads
Last week you were really keen readers! But the most-read blog was all about revising information.
Have you seen a great blog you think would make a great daily read? Let us know by emailing england@teachertapp.co.uk and we will check it out!
