Meetings with children's tutors are the opportunity to know what their life is like in the microcosm where they spend a large part of the day, at least from the age of six to sixteen. If there are no major problems, one or two meetings per academic year are usually scheduled, with meetings lasting around an hour. Although lately, teachers and families also communicate throughout the year, via email, when they deem it appropriate.Both Montse Jiménez, a secondary school teacher at Fundació Vedruna Catalunya Educació, and Núria Sabaté, a primary school teacher at Escola Marià Fortuny in Reus, recommend asking, in addition to academic questions, about your children's personal development. There is life beyond notes

Jiménez considers that most families are mainly concerned about grades, focusing on results even though the reports are qualitative and include tutor observations that assess transversal skills: “It still weighs heavily on 'How is my child doing?', and they refer to how they are doing in terms of results”. Along the same lines, Sabaté recommends that families ask questions to ensure they understand the tutors' perception of how their children are in class, if they participate, are happy, integrated, and get along well with their classmates: “To begin with, families should become aware of how their children are doing at school, and if there is anything that concerns the family, this is the time to discuss it”. In these meetings, parents can be interested in their children's overall development, progress and process, their achievements, and if they are improving. “Knowing their strengths, the difficulties they might have, their level, or if they are happy at school”, suggests the teacher. Therefore, it is the perfect opportunity to learn more about your children, beyond the reports. The use of technology

One of the recurring questions that have been arising lately from families is the use of technology in the center, for what, with which applications or platforms and with what supervision. “It is an issue that increasingly occupies families. These meetings can be a space to discuss it,” says the teacher. Meetings with families are also an opportunity for the center to ask – not to scrutinize, they say – about the uses of technologies and screens. “Sometimes we find primary school children who fall asleep in class or have trouble keeping up with the pace,” says the teacher, and she comments that they usually take the opportunity to share good uses of digital devices with families. Bond of trust

The teachers insist on the importance of weaving a bond of trust between the family and the school, “each of us wants the best for our children and students, we need to find points of convergence, focus more on the possible solution than on the problem”, proposes Jiménez. These spaces are perfect for complicity between the school and the family, for families to ask what they can do at home so that their children improve with what they need, and that these are not always shortcomings related to academic matters, they can also be personal or social skills. “The more fluid the communication, the better. It is worth setting common goals, because when the family and the school work together, the children perceive it quickly and it encourages them to improve. This is what we all want, for children and young people to achieve the best of themselves”, explains Sabaté. The two teachers recall the importance of asking about the person in all their dimensions, “they may have good academic results, but they need to improve personal aspects”, says Jiménez. “In such an individualistic society, it is necessary to form empathetic citizens, capable of weaving complicities, and who work for the common good. All together we must worry about what each student does and how they are”, she concludes.

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