Setting up a Parent Council

Setting up a Parent Council

The Act is designed to allow parents to decide on Parent Councils that reflect local circumstances. It is for members of a school’s Parent Forum to decide on what kind of Parent Council they want for their school, how it works and what it is called. However, parents can call on the support of education authority staff and the headteacher to help them decide on arrangements that will ensure an effective partnership with the school. This guidance and the resource materials provided in the toolkit should be used to help parents reach a decision on what kind of representation is right for their school and to review this as necessary. Some of the key issues that parents should consider are:

• how will the Parent Council represent the views of all parents? 
• how will it be open and accountable to members of the Parent Forum? 
• what kind of partnership should the Parent Council have with the school and the wider community? 
• what will be its main areas of interest or activity? 
• how can it involve more parents in what it does?

The toolkit resource materials can help parents and the school through the process of establishing a Parent Council and a constitution that reflects the nature of the school and the wishes of parents. In particular, they can help parents consider what number of parent members they wish to have on the council, how they are selected, who they wish to co-opt from the school and the wider community, how often they may wish to meet, and what kind of resources they will require.

Once established, the Parent Council must inform the headteacher of the school, members of the Parent Forum, pupils and other parties as they consider appropriate that it has been established. The Parent Council must also inform them who the members are and how they can be contacted. It must also provide a copy of its constitution to the headteacher and inform members of the Parent Forum and other parties as they consider appropriate of what its functions will be. The Parent Council should be supported by the authority to develop effective communication arrangements with all those that they need to keep informed of and involved with its functions.