Parent Questionnaire for Back to School: 20 Questions That Matter

A parent questionnaire for back to school is the one form parents actually want to fill in, if we ask the right questions and make it short. Most schools send a long information form in the first week: contact numbers, allergies, pick-up permissions. Important, but it tells the teacher nothing about how to teach the child. The questions that change planning are different, and they usually never get asked.

This post has 20 parent survey questions for school, sorted by what they tell you, a way to send the questionnaire so that most families answer it, and how to put the answers to work in the first month.

Why ask parents at all

Parents know things that a student interest survey cannot tell you. They know that the child reads for an hour at night but only in Arabic. They know the family moved twice last year. They know that homework happens on the kitchen table with three siblings. They know what the last teacher did that worked.

In many UAE classrooms a third of the families are new to the school or the country each year. The questionnaire is often the first conversation. It also sets the tone: we are asking because we plan to use the answers, not because the office needs a file.

20 parent survey questions for school

Language and home (use for materials and communication)

1. Which languages are spoken at home, and which one does your child use most?
2. Which language would you prefer for messages from school?
3. Does your child read at home? In which language, and what kind of books?
4. Who usually helps with homework, and what time of day does it happen?

Your child as a learner (use for support and grouping)

1. What does your child enjoy learning about outside school?
2. What was easy for your child in school last year?
3. What was hard, and what helped?
4. How does your child react when something is difficult: keeps trying, asks for help, gives up, or hides it?
5. Does your child prefer working alone or with others?
6. Is there anything about reading, writing, attention, hearing or sight that we should know?

Wellbeing (use for seating and the first weeks)

1. Has anything changed recently at home that might affect your child at school? (Optional)
2. Does your child have friends in this class or school?
3. What worries your child about this year, if anything?
4. What worries you about this year?

Working together (use for communication)

1. What did a previous teacher do that helped your child?
2. How would you like to hear about your child's progress: message, email, short call, or meeting?
3. How often is useful: weekly, monthly, or only when needed?
4. Is there a skill or interest you could share with the class this year?
5. What is one thing you hope your child learns this year, beyond grades?
6. Is there anything else you want me to know?

Choose 10 to 12 for one questionnaire. Keep question 11 optional and say clearly who will read the answers.

How to send a parent questionnaire for back to school

What to do with the answers in the first month

1. Add four lines to the class profile. Languages at home, how many families prefer messages in Arabic, the most common "what helped" answer, and the most common worry. This sits at the top of the lesson plan all term.
2. Write a one-line learner note for each child where a parent told you something you would not have seen: "reads at home in Urdu only", "gives up quietly when stuck, ask before she asks".
3. Fix the communication plan. If most parents asked for a monthly message, that is the plan. Put it in the calendar now.
4. Act on the wellbeing answers within the week. A quiet word with the child, a seat near a friend, a note to the counsellor where needed.
5. Plan the first parent contact for good news. The first message home about a child should not be a problem. Use question 5 or 19 to find something to say.

Example: Grade 3, a new arrival

A Grade 3 teacher I know learned from the questionnaire that a new student read confidently at home in Arabic but had never been taught to read in English, and that the mother preferred messages in Arabic. The child had been placed in the lowest reading group by a first-week test. The teacher moved her to a group with strong oral English, gave her bilingual word banks on the worksheets, and sent the first message home in Arabic. None of that would have come from the test score.

How TeachBuddy AI helps

Build the questionnaire in the TeachBuddy AI survey tool with single choice, rating, yes or no and open questions, named or anonymous, and share it by link so it opens on a phone. The answers you decide to keep go into a classroom profile and, where it matters, a learner profile: language, needs, what helps. Every generator reads those profiles, so a lesson plan or worksheet for that class already knows the languages in the room.

Nothing is written to a profile silently. You decide which parent answers become part of the class description, and after each lesson any proposed update waits for your approval. Buddy, the chat assistant on the home page, can answer "which families asked for messages in Arabic" from your own survey responses.

Frequently asked questions

What are good parent survey questions for school?

Languages at home, who helps with homework and when, what was easy and hard last year, how the child reacts to difficulty, any recent changes at home, and how the parent wants to hear about progress. Ten to twelve questions is enough.

When should I send a back to school parent questionnaire?

At the end of the first week, after the child has met you and the office forms are done. Send one reminder after five days and call the families who do not answer.

Should a parent questionnaire be anonymous?

No. You will use the answers for one child at a time. Make the sensitive question optional and say who will read the answers.

Want the parent answers to shape every plan you write for that class? Create a free TeachBuddy AI account, send the questionnaire, and describe the class once.