I think I would be fascinated to meet parents and see how much they corroborated - or confounded - my impression of their children.

I wonder if bringing children along to parents’ evenings is more common nowadays? With the decline of the nuclear family (yadda yadda) maybe there’s fewer grandparents / neighbours who can be approached for that sort of childcare for younger kids, so that by the time the children are older, that’s the way the family do parents’ evenings…?

‘Beginner’s Eyes’ is a lovely way to put it - a bit like a Mystery Shopper in a department store, I guess… I’d love to find a polite and constructive way to suggest changes to my school’s main entrance.

One of my parents was a teacher - and was adamant that we children never went to parents’ evenings. I guess that if the teacher has a strong preference, that’s going to make a real difference - which would you choose, or does it vary from child to child?

As for MotherSoup that’s where it started - when I was trying to come up with a handle, I was running through phrases with Mum/Mummy/Mother in them. When I came to ‘Mother Superior’ my reaction was “I’m more of a Mother Soup than a Mother Superior!” Then I realised it fitted quite nicely for what was likely to be a very mixed pot…

Thanks so much for your positive comments

What you say about being uncertain as to which door to use strikes a chord. We all tend to forget that familiarity can make some things seem obvious and we soon lose our “beginner’s eyes.”

From the point of view of parents’ evenings, here’s a strange thing I’ve noticed. Some children never accompany their parents; some do, but lurk in the distance; others approach the desk hungrily. There is often little correlation between the distance of the child and the likelihood of a wholly positive outcome.

Now for a humorous misunderstanding. Don mentioned this post at yesterday’s EduBuzz Open Meeting and I heard your “handle” as Mother Sup. But, with my beginner’s ears, the monastic association seemed no less likely than the culinary one.

Keep up the good work.

Of course you’re very welcome to use this in any way which seems fit… and I apprciate your courtesy in asking

I can’t thank you enough for this incredibly helful insight. I hope you won’t mind if I share this with colleagues?

I really like the term “the customer’s perception is always valid”.