THE average meeting at parents' evening lasts only 20 minutes and time seems to fly extra quickly when you are talking about your child.

But there are guidelines available to make the most of the annual review of a child's performance to help parents find out the most about their progress.

Parents are advised to approach the meeting with a co-operative attitude with a pre-prepared list of positive and negative situations their child may have encountered.

There are five main 'why' questions parents tend to want answering. They cover why the child and teacher do not get along, why a child is struggling, why they might not be challenged or are having a tough time socially, or why am I here -- 'Jimmy' is doing fine.

A spokesperson for the parent-teacher conference kit available at wwww.familyeducation. com said: "There are clear tensions that may arise but there is plenty of advice around.

"Parents should bite their tongue and make an effort to get along with a teacher. It is easier to look for the bad than the good."

To help develop a child's academic progress, parents are advised to sit down with youngsters as soon as possible with homework.

Parents can teach a child study skills with reading directions, study examples and writing down assignments.

For children who are not being challenged, they are advised to use Internet study sites and enrol on enrichment courses to challenge bright children.