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The Parent Forum & The Parent Council

The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 has changed the arrangements for parental representation in all schools. Since August 2007, all parents/carers are automatically members of the Parent Forum for their school and they have a right to establish a Parent Council to represent them.

 

Parent Forum

The membership of the Parent Forum is made up of all parents/carers who have a child or young person at an education authority school. Membership of the  Parent  Forum  allows  parents/carers  to  have  a  say  in  the  local arrangements to enable their collective view to be represented on matters  such as the quality and standards of education at the school and other matters of interest to parents/carers. One of the ways parents in the Parent Forum will be able to express their views will be through the Parent Council.

Parent Council

The Parent Council is a group of parents/carers selected by members of the Parent Forum to represent all the parents/carers of children and young people at the school. Parent Councils are very flexible groups and the Parent Forum can decide on the type of group it wants to represent their views.  A Parent Council could get involved in:

Ø  Supporting the work of the school;

Ø  Gathering and representing parents’ views to the Head Teacher, Education Authority and HMIe;

Ø  Promoting contact between the school, parents/carers, children and young people and the local community;

Ø  Fundraising;

Ø  Involvement in the appointment of senior school staff.

Parent Councils are recognised in law from August 2007. As a statutory body, the Parent Council has the right to information and advice on matters which affect children and young people’s education.    So, the school and the local authority must listen to what the Parent Council says

and give it a proper response. Every school’s Parent council will be different because it will be parents/carers in each school who make the key decisions. The Parent Council is also entitled to support from the education authority in fulfilling its role.

Membership of the Parent Council

Generally, members of the Parent Council must be parents/carers of children and young people who attend the school and the chairperson must have a child in the school.  However, the Parent Council can decide to co-opt other members from teachers and the community who will have knowledge and skills to help them.

The Parent Council Constitution is available from the school office. Members of the Parent Council include;

Ø  Mrs Joanne Murray (Chairperson) Ms Siobhan Cloherty

Ø  Mrs Barbour (Secretary and Co-­-opted Teacher Representative)

All of the above can be contacted through the school.

The St Michael’s Primary School Parent Council also fundraise throughout the year.