The Parent Council is a group of parent/carers selected by members of the Parent Forum to represent all the parents/carers of children 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:

• Supporting the work of the school
• Gathering and representing parents’/carers’ views to the Headteacher, education authority and HMIe
• Promoting contact between the school, parents/carers, children and the local community
• Fundraising
• Involvement in the appointment of senior school staff

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.

Generally, members of the Parent Council must be parents/carers of children 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 Head Teacher has a right and a duty to attend all meetings but does not have a right to vote.

Our Parent Council meets on a regular basis. Our constitution states that membership should be a minimum of five and a maximum of twenty parents of children attending the school. Parents can raise matters with members to be discussed at meetings.

What are the benefits of being on our Parent Council?

Being a member of the Parent Council requires energy, enthusiasm and a bit of your spare time. As a member you have the opportunity to develop new skills and to strengthen existing ones with training available. You work with a wide range of people. You gain an idea of how the school is run and how the education system works as a whole. You can enjoy the personal satisfaction and sense of achievement of working to improve the school.