Parent Council

The Scottish Parliament has recently passed a new law called "The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006" to encourage and support more parents to become involved in their children's education.

The Coulter Parent Council was recently formed to represent the Parent Forum (all parents within the school). Primarily, our function was seen as a forum to discuss what is going on within the school, be a resource to assist parents in contributing to life in school and be more involved in the child's education and learning. In addition, we want to ensure that any funds raised would be put towards raising achievement and attainment within our school.

OUR CURRENT MEMBERS:

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT ACT 2006

Most schools are already working very hard to involve parents, but the Act makes it a top priority for every education authority and every school to support the involvement of parents:

The main aims of the Parental Involvement Act (the new law) are to:

To help achieve these aims, all parents will automatically be members of the Parent Forum at their child's school and will be entitled to have a say in what happens at the school.

As a member of the Parent Forum you can expect to:

You can find out more information about parents as partners in children's learning, by:

You can find out more information on this or any other aspect of Scottish education by looking on the link below to Parentzone: education.gov.scot/parentzone

This is the constitution for Coulter Primary School Parent Council

1. Objectives of the Parent Council
1.1 The objectives of the Parent Council are:

2. Membership of the Parent Council

2.1 The membership will be a minimum of three parents of children attending the school.

2.2 The Head Teacher, or his or her representative, has a right and a duty to attend.

3. Co-option

3.1 A Parent Council may co-opt up to 2 members (including teaching and support staff in the school) to assist it with carrying out its functions.

3.2 The number of parent members on the Parent Council must always be greater than co-opted members.

The Parent Council will extend an invitation to the local councillor(s) to attend meetings but he/she will not be a formal representative of the Parent Council.

4. Period of Tenure on Parent Forum

4.1 The Parent Council will be selected for a period of two years.

4.2 After which parents may put themselves forward for re-selection if they wish provided their child is still at the school.

4.3 Co-opted members will be invited to serve for a period of 2 years after which time the Parent Council will review and consider requirements for co-opted membership.

4.4 Parents will have 2 weeks to select their representatives.

Anyone not selected to be a member of the Parent Council may be offered the opportunity to be part of any sub-groups set up by the Council.

5. Selection of Chair/Postholders

The Chair, Secretary and Treasurer of the Council will be agreed by the Parent Council members immediately following its formation.

Office bearers will be re-selected by the Parent Council on an annual basis (at the annual meeting of the Parent Forum).

or

If the Parent Forum decides to have a Chair:

The Parent Council will be chaired by a parent of a child attending Coulter Primary School . If the child ceases to be a pupil, a new Chair will be agreed at the next meeting.

or

If the child ceases to be a pupil, the role of the Chair will be rotated around the parent members of the Parent Council until a new Chair is appointed at the annual meeting.

6. Reporting/Meeting Arrangements

6.1 The Parent Council is accountable to the Parent Forum for Coulter Primary School and will make a report to it at least once each year on its activities on behalf of all the parents.

6.2 If 50% of members of the Parent Forum request a special general meeting to discuss issues falling within the Council’s remit, the Parent Council shall arrange this. The Parent Council shall give all members of the Forum at least 2 weeks notice of the meeting and, at the same time, circulate notice of the matter, or matters, to be discussed at the meeting.

6.3 The Annual Meeting will be held in September of each year. A notice of the meeting including date, time, and place will be sent to all members of the Parent Forum at least 2 weeks in advance. The meeting will include:

6.4 The Parent Council will meet three times per session. Should a vote be necessary to make a decision, each parent member at the meeting will have one vote, with the Chair having a casting vote in the event of a tie.

6.5 Any two members of the Parent Council can request that an additional meeting be held, and all members of the Parent Council will be given at least one week’s notice of date, time and place of the meeting.

6.6 If a Parent Council member acts in a way that is considered by other members to undermine the objectives of the Parent Council, their membership of the Parent Council shall be terminated if the majority of parent members agree. Termination of membership would be confirmed in writing by the Chair or designated representative to the member.

7 . Minutes/Procedures of Meetings

7.1 Copies of the minutes of all meetings will be available to all parents of children at Coulter Primary School and to all teachers/staff at the school. Copies will be available from the Secretary of the Parent Council and from the school office/website.

7.2 Meetings of the Parent Council shall be open to the public, unless the Parent Council is discussing an issue which it considers should be dealt with on a confidential basis. In such circumstances, only members of the Parent Council and the head teacher, or his or her representative, can attend.

8. Funds

8.1 The Treasurer will open a bank or building society account in the name of the Parent Council for all Parent Council funds. Withdrawals will require the signature of the Treasurer and one other Parent Council member.

8.2 The Treasurer will keep an accurate record of all income and expenditure, and will provide a summary of this for each Parent Council meeting and a full account for the Annual Meeting. The Parent Council accounts will be audited by the auditor appointed at the previous Annual Meeting.

8.3 The Parent Council shall be responsible for ensuring that all monies are used in accordance with the objectives of the Parent Council.

8.4 Should the Parent Council cease to exist, any remaining funds will be passed to the education authority to be used for the benefit of the school, where this continues.

9. Changes to the Constitution

9.1 The Parent Council may change its constitution after obtaining consent from members of the Parent Forum. Members of the Parent Forum will be sent a copy of any proposed amendment and given reasonable time to respond to the proposal.

A copy of the revised constitution must be sent the local education authority along with a list of Parent Council member.

Appendix 1

Election procedures – First Council

Nominations for the membership of the first Parent Council of Coulter Primary School will be sought from 28th August with a closing date of 25th September.

Members of the Parent Forum will be sent a letter with a reply slip so that parents can indicate their interest.

A reminder will be sent to all Parent Forum members 3 days before the final return date.

If necessary, election information will be sent to all parents and a ballot arranged. The ballot will be completed by 22nd October.

Votes will be counted by Mrs Kennedy and the Office Team Leader.

Each Forum member will have the same number of votes available to them as vacancies on the council. Those candidates who gain the highest number of votes will be elected.

The Parent Forum will be informed of the membership of the Council by 29th October.