Editorial: One final walk out of school gate

Wednesday night proved to be a landmark in my life - my last, ever, parent-teacher interview.

For more than 15 years I've headed off at this time every year to primary, intermediate and, finally, high school meetings.

From those first anxious years at Napier Central School, making sure they were up to where they should be with their milestones and if they fitted in with their classmates, to this year's online booking system and regular webmail updates keeping me so informed I wondered if I needed to go.

But I haven't missed a single year and I wasn't going to start now.

It's been 15 years of continuous change from where our bright-eyed model children became, briefly, sulky adolescents and then questioning teenagers.

From those first days at Napier Girls' with clean, pressed, tailored uniforms, to the carefully pulled together mufti outfits of Year 13 that have sometimes left me speechless or spouting off with "are you warm enough?" or "it's not long enough" statements and finally just leaving them to it.

As I drove from Hastings to the appointments with every teacher (five-minute slots to delve into your daughter's academic life), I knew most of the comments would be good - but I still had that slightly anxious feeling of whether I really knew my daughter and had I been missing something?

At the door is a map showing where all the teachers are, most in the school hall but some in classrooms. I jot them down then I'm off, surrounded by hundreds of parents on similar quests.

I'm early for the first meeting and, waiting at the door, run into a couple from our children's parents group which was formed when all our girls were born. It's hard to believe that was 20 years ago. I'm here for my last child: they have three more to go.

The first teacher greets me with a huge smile and it is all positive from there. She has taught my daughter for most of her high school years and they have formed a great bond.

Someone rushes in ahead of me for my next appointment, so I take a moment to look around the school hall buzzing with parents, their daughters and teachers. I've spent seven years popping in and out of this hall and we are nearing the end of an era.

The next three meetings are great. Her teachers all say she is a caring, lovely girl and academically not so bad, either. What more could we ask for?

As I leave the hall I'm pleased I've made the effort to come in one more time. It has confirmed what we already know - we have raised a confident young woman, who will leave high school at the end of the year with some great memories and, I'm sure, a bright future ahead of her.