{"id":260,"date":"2026-04-09T09:47:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/parentcouncilsupport\/?page_id=260"},"modified":"2026-07-09T13:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T12:33:54","slug":"roles-and-responsibilities-3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/parentcouncilsupport\/?page_id=260","title":{"rendered":"Roles and Responsibilities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Roles and Responsibilities<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>The main job of a Parent Council is to represent the views of the parents at the school so that all parents know that their views matter, and where they feel confident and comfortable putting them forward. All parents in the school are referred to as the Parent Forum. Any parent or carer who has a child attending school can put themselves forward to be on the Parent Council for that school. It is the responsibility of the Parent Council at your Annual General Meeting (AGM) to advertise Parent Council meetings to all parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code><div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-3\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"3\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Working with your Parent Council\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/code><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Parent Council Roles and Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Office or Role Bearers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To run a Parent Council, it is best to have the following roles, these are referred to as Office or Role Bearers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Chairperson<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Chairperson must, by law, be a parent or carer of a child currently attending the school<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sets the agenda for meetings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chairs meetings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Liaises with the Headteacher about matters brought to the attention of the Parent Council<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Vice Chair<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Acts in the absence of the Chair to carry out the responsibilities detailed above<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Treasurer<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Keeps track of the Parent Council accounts*<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensures all monies are used in accordance with the objectives of the Parent Council<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provides a summary of income and expenditure at each meeting<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Presents the accounts at the AGM<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Completes a financial statement for the local authority<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>*Accounts should be audited by someone independent of the Parent Council.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Secretary<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Works in partnership with the school to publicise Parent Council meetings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Takes minutes of meetings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Is responsible for the distribution of minutes, including to the school<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All roles apart from the Chairperson can be split if that helps your Parent Council. Parents nominate and vote for the Officer Bearer roles to speak on their behalf; this is done at an Annual General Meeting (AGM).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Non Office or Role Bearers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Non office or role bearers are ordinary members voted on as members of the Parent Council. These parents have the right to a vote on any matters raised by the Parent Council.  Parents can also decide on their Parent Council Constitution \u2013 the rules and regulations set by each Parent Council for how they want to run things \u2013 this is done at the AGM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ordinary Members<\/strong>: Parent Council members who do not have an office bearer role have the right to vote on any matters raised by the Parent Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Parent Forum<\/strong>: All other parents and carers of the school can attend meetings to have a opinions or suggestions heard, and be part of the discussions; they do not have any voting powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Co-opted Member<\/strong>: Some people without a child attending the school, but with an interest in the wellbeing of the school as a whole, such as local businesses, or past parents who wish to continue to support can be voted in as a Co-opted Member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Elected Member attendance: <\/strong>You may wish to consider inviting your locally elected ward members to attend your Parent Council meetings. You should invite all political parties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pupil Council attendance: <\/strong>You may wish to invite the Pupil Council or Pupil Voice forum in your school to attend your Parent Council meetings to hear directly from children and young people about matters important to them that the Parent Council could support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Headteacher of the school has a right and a duty to attend meetings of the Parent Council. The Headteacher may defer to another member of staff if they are unable to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Headteacher can play an important role in advising the Parent Council on all issues relating to the work of the school and what it does to involve parents, as well as general education matters of interest. it is recommended that a pre-meeting with the Headteacher to discuss up and coming items to be clear on expectations and any desired outcomes of forthcoming meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fundraising<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Parent Council often works together with the school when fundraising.  If any funding applications are being discussed it is vital that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a) matters should be discussed with the Headteacher on how best to apply for funding to improve the school and benefit pupils. Be aware that most local authorities have contract arrangements for the supply of equipment so you may be restricted in what you will be able to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b) the Parent Council is clear about the reasons for the fundraising, how the money will be spent and the timeframe within which the money will be spent. This should be recorded as part of PC meetings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>c) the wider Parent Forum should be aware of fundraising activities through meeting minutes\/ other communication set up by the Parent Council or through articles from the Parent Council shared via the school newsletter or socials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>d) that funds are held in the bank account listed on the application and spent in accordance with any terms and conditions. Applications by the Parent Council must be managed through them and by them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roles and Responsibilities The main job of a Parent Council is to represent the views of the parents at the school so that all parents know that their views matter, and where they feel confident and comfortable putting them forward. All parents in the school are referred to as the Parent Forum. Any parent or carer who has a child attending school can put themselves forward to be on the<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/parentcouncilsupport\/?page_id=260\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19366,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-260","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/parentcouncilsupport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/parentcouncilsupport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/parentcouncilsupport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/parentcouncilsupport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/parentcouncilsupport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=260"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/parentcouncilsupport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/parentcouncilsupport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/260\/revisions\/342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/parentcouncilsupport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}