They are stood by your classroom door in the morning and tap you on the shoulder at the end of the day. They arrive at parents’ evening with notebook at the ready; have the national curriculum stuck to their fridge; and are front and centre of every assembly, reading morning and football match.

You know them all too well: they’re the pushy parent who, if you let them, can take up more time and energy than you expend actually teaching their child.

Faced with such a situation, there’s no need to despair. Demanding parents might be overbearing, but this pretty much always springs from a laudable - if overstated - desire to get the best for their child. Get them on side early and you might find they even become something of an ally.

If you find your patience being tested by a demanding parent, here are some things you could do.

1. Charm and disarm

Launching a charm offensive is essential. There is nothing to be gained and everything to lose by antagonising the pushy parent. Slight them and they will simply redouble their efforts (and brand you an uncaring, incapable teacher into the bargain).

Start the year by winning them over. As soon as you’ve identified this year’s candidate (it won’t take long), give them a bit of your time. They will want to get to know you and check you understand how special their child is, so let them tell you. You don’t need to say much, just smile and nod a lot.

Don’t be cornered into agreeing that their child is the brightest spark you have ever come across and offer to provide weekly updates on their progress.

Remember to thank the parent for supporting their child and suggest it’s best that you be given time to really get to know the pupil before having any more in-depth discussions about their education. If you’re lucky, this should buy you at least half a term’s grace.

2. Harness the enthusiasm

Yes, they can be overbearing, insensitive and pointlessly competitive, but it’s still better to have a parent who cares too much about their child’s education than one who doesn’t care at all. You need to harness this interest, without letting it take up too much of your time.

Homework is guaranteed to come up. You won’t be giving their child enough; it won’t be stretching them; surely a daily personalised homework task is not too much to ask for?

Pre-empt this by having something extra to hand over: a list of good websites; 100 books to read before leaving primary school; or a guide to local museums.

Gathering this type of material is the work of minutes, but you can always refer back to it - alongside any other curriculum information the school already gives out - when they come back for more. If you suspect the child is getting too much work and not enough play, quote any reports you can find on the benefits of letting children have time to relax and unwind.

3. Work on the child

If you can’t persuade an over-attentive parent to step back and give their child some breathing space, then try tackling the problem from the other end. Talk to your class about the importance of being independent and making their own decisions. If you are teaching older children, encourage them to detach themselves from their parents as soon as they enter the playground and, at sporting events, find reasons to keep the players well away from their supporters until the end of the game.

4. Defend and block

If they do the school run, you could be caught up in several “impromptu” progress chats a week, building up to almost daily conferences if you’re not careful. If they try to waylay you at the start of the day, explain politely but firmly that you have to get the class inside and move away.

At other times, you can jangle keys, be running late for a meeting or have a teaching assistant on hand to interrupt you with some “urgent” business.

Don’t tell them you have 29 other children to think of - what the pushy parent will hear is that their child isn’t important to you.

Don’t be cornered into agreeing that their child is the brightest spark

Do look regretful that such an interesting chat had to be postponed and, if they are really becoming a drain on your time, redirect them to the headteacher. Heads are used to dealing with demanding parents and will usually step in if needed to dial down their demands (feel free to look regretful but powerless at this decision if the parent brings it up).

If the parent uses email to try to turn you into a 24-hour tutor, reply politely but succinctly to about one in 10 (depending on how many you get). If you’re being emailed every day, get your head to deal with it.

5. Put them to good use

If they still find it hard to stay away from your classroom, then use that energy for good: invite them in to hear readers (just make sure you sit them in the corridor).

Jo Brighouse is a primary school teacher in the Midlands