Checklist for the parent meeting
Not every tip is mandatory. It is worth asking a colleague what the rules are for class reps, the parent council and the school board. Getting in touch with the class reps early is a good idea too. Good luck!
Suggested discussion topics
Homework
What role should the parents have when the child does homework? Sit next to them, check afterwards, or stay out of it? People have very different answers here, and it is useful for them to hear that.
One tip you can pass on to the parents: praise what the child gets right. Look for what is good in the writing homework, and find the neatest letter or the best word. Then ask the child to find something they are proud of too.
Birthdays
Who gets invited, and how? This is the one thing many classes actually need a shared norm on, because the children are the ones who notice the difference. Two common ground rules:
- Everyone in the class, or all the boys or all the girls, is invited.
- It's nice if you invite in free time and not at school.
Screen time, bedtime and age ratings
When do we put the children to bed? How long do they get to play? And what do we do about a game rated 12 when half the class already plays it? The strict parents often feel alone in it. Often they are not, and they only find out when someone says it out loud.
Clothes in year 1 and 2
In the early years a lot of the contact with parents ends up being about mittens. Take it early: what has to be in the bag all week, what is needed on the outdoor day, and what happens to whatever gets left behind in the cloakroom.
The ones who did not come
The most common reaction in the staff room the next day is "and of course the ones who should have come did not". Do not say it. You do not know why they stayed away, and quite often they are struggling with something.
A tip for you: Call them the day after. Introduce yourself, say who you are and that you are their child's teacher, and tell them briefly what you talked about at the meeting. That phone call is often the best relationship-building you do all year.
Tools you can use
- Seating chart makes the map you hang on the door, so the parents find their child's seat. Open Seating chart
- Name tags give you one tag per desk in a few minutes. Open Name tags
- The back-to-school checklist covers the rest of the practical side. Open the checklist
What the rules say
The parent meeting is in the regulations
The parent meeting is more than good practice. Section 11-1 of the Norwegian education regulations (opplæringsforskrifta) says the school, from year 1 through Vg2, must hold a parent meeting at the start of every school year. There you tell the parents about the content and organisation of the teaching, how they can take part, and about routines and anything else that matters to them.
Udir points out that these are minimum requirements, and that the information has to fit the group: parents in year 1 and year 8 need more basic information about the school than parents who have had children there for years.
FAU
FAU (Foreldrerådets arbeidsutvalg) is the parents' working committee and their voice towards the school. Every primary and lower secondary school must have one, elected by the parents, and it usually has 5 to 20 members depending on the size of the school. FAU gives advice and input, and can raise matters on its own initiative. Typical topics are the school environment, anti-bullying work, social activities, traffic around the school and the cooperation between home and school. The head teacher is responsible for making that dialogue work. FUG, the national parents' committee, recommends electing representatives for two years at a time, with overlap, so the work does not start over every autumn.
SU
SU (samarbeidsutvalget) is an advisory body where parents (often through FAU), pupils, staff and the school owner sit together, usually with the head teacher as one of the representatives. It gives its opinion on things like development plans, the school environment, budget proposals and the school rules, but has no decision-making power unless the municipality has turned it into a governing board. Until 2024 every school had to have an SU. Under the new Education Act, in force from August 2024, the municipality decides which cooperation bodies the school has. A pupil council and a parent-led body are still required.
- Udir: Section 11-1 on parent meetings and parent conversations (Norwegian)
- FUG: Everything you need to know about FAU (Norwegian)
- Store norske leksikon: Samarbeidsutvalg (Norwegian)
Frequently asked questions
How long should a parent meeting last?
An hour to an hour and a half is normal. It is nice if you say how long you plan to keep going.
When should the invitation go out?
Two weeks ahead, with a reminder one week ahead. That gives people time to swap a shift or find a babysitter.
Do the groups have to present anything?
No. The point is the conversation. If you still want a round, ask each group to say one thing, not sum up everything.
What are FAU and SU?
In Norwegian schools, FAU is the parents' own working committee. SU is the cooperation board, where staff, parents, pupils and school management sit together. A class usually only elects a representative to FAU.