Schools - Parent Councils

 

The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 was passed to encourage and support more parents to become involved. The Act came into effect in August 2007.

The main aims of the Parental Involvement Act are to:

  • help parents become more involved with their child's education and learning;
  • welcome parents as active participants in the life of the school;
  • provide easier ways for parents to express their views and wishes.

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.

Parent Councils

The Parent Forum will decide on the kind of parent representative body, called the Parent Council, that they would like. 

The role of the Parent Council is to:

  • support the school in its work with pupils
  • represent the views of all parents
  • encourage links between the school, parents, pupils, pre-school groups and the wider community
  • report back to the Parent Forum.

The school and the local authority must listen to what your Parent Council says and give it a proper response.  Every school's Parent Council will be different because it will be parents in each school who decide such things as:

  • how their Council will be set up
  • what it should be called
  • what size it should be - e.g. in a very small primary school, all parents could be involved      
  • who should be a member of the Parent Council
  • how they should be appointed
  • what the most convenient time is to hold meetings

  • what will be discussed at meetings - these might be topics such as school uniform, parking near the school, the school's anti-bullying policy

Seventy-four Primary Schools, all eleven Secondary Schools and two Special Education establishments have established Parent Councils.  For further information please contact your school direct - school contact details can be found by selecting the Schools List under 'Online Tools' on the right and searching for the relevant school.

Parent Council Representatives meetings are held 4 times a year.   These are interactive meetings between Parent Councils and the Authority.  Agendas, Minutes and relevant Papers can be accessed below:

Meeting to be held on Tuesday, 2 December 2008

Agenda

Papers:

Meeting held on Tuesday, 23 September 2008

Agenda
Papers:

Special Meeting held on Thursday, 21 August 2008

This special meeting was held to discuss the Scottish Government's recently published consultation arrangements on Curriculum for Excellence.

Meeting held on 27 May 2008

Meeting held on 26 February 2008

 

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