1. Hyndland Primary School Parent Council 24 May 2017
John Lewis
Chair, HPSPC

2. WHAT IS THE Parent Council?
Parent Council – a group of parents & carers selected by members of the Parent Forum (the collective name for every parent, carer or guardian at a school) to represent all of the parents of children at the school
Parent Councils – an important role to play in ensuring that our children's education is enriched by parents’ & carers’ valuable life experience, individual personal skills & unique knowledge of their own child
It’s a statutory role providing support to the school; gives us as parents & carers – as the wider Parent Forum – a voice in our children’s education (covered in the guidance on the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006: Section D (section headed 'role of Parent Council')

3. ROLE OF THE Parent Council
Helps us as parents & carers become more actively & effectively involved in our children’s learning
Recognised that we play an important role both in our own child’s learning & in the life of the school
Flexible & designed to make sure that the Parent Council represents our school & its interests effectively
Parent members should decide what is most important for the Parent Council to work on

4. ROLE OF THE Parent Council
As the Parent Councils we can:
provide a voice for parents & carers, in the school & with the local authority, on issues that are important to us & our children
help the school to understand how to most effectively involve us in our children’s learning & in the life of the school
support the school & head teacher in developing strong home/school partnerships
support the school in its development & improvement, & in understanding & making links with the wider community
capture the unique & varied skills, interests, knowledge & experience that we as parents & carers can offer to support the school & our children’s learning

5. Working in partnership with the school
Helps to create an environment where we all as parents & carers know that our views matter, & that we feel confident & comfortable putting them forward
Important that the Parent Council & school have a joint commitment to seek parents’ & carers’ views & ideas & to ensure that these make a real difference to the work & life of the school
Sharing parents’ & carers’ views with the head teacher & staff, making sure those views are listened to & taken into account, which is possible because the Parent Council & school have a positive working partnership

6. Gathering and sharing parents’ / carers’ views
Different school communities are unique & so this might affect the type of educational issues on which parents & carers may wish to contribute their views, such as:
how the school communicates with parents & carers
the standards & quality of the education provided by the school
supporting delivery of Curriculum for Excellence by tapping into parents’ & carers’ skills, experiences & expertise
the processes involved in preparing children for key transitions, such as from nursery to primary, primary to secondary & leaving school
having inputs to school reviews (i.e. inspections by HM Inspectorate for Education)
revising existing school policies & introducing new policies
any significant changes (for example, school building work)

7. OTHER EXAMPLES OF PARENT COUNCIL INVOLVEMENT
Challenged Glasgow City Council (GCC) to ensure that The Afty wouldn’t be used as classrooms in a school catchment consultation
Undertook a parent/carer survey and lobbied GCC to change Fortrose in to one-way street with traffic calming measures
‘Persuaded’ GCC to remove potentially dangerous rubble from the loft, after they had refused to do so
Raised £1,000’s in funding for: the outdoor classroom, school garden and outdoor space improvements, sports equipment, school trips, buddy caps, P7 leaving gifts/celebration, books, computers, etc.

8. PLEASE BE INVOLVED
Please be involved in helping shape your child’s learning experience while at the school
Come along to meetings
Help with fundraising
Take part in events and activities
Be volunteer helpers on school trips
Share your ideas about how we might raise funds and what we should spend them on
Scottish Government’s Empowering teachers, parents and communities to achieve excellence and equity in education – A governance review (2016) is likely to enhance the role of Parent Councils in relation to the governance of schools. They will publish a Next Steps document in June.

9. Hyndland Primary School Parent Council
Parent Council Annual General Meeting
Wednesday 13 September 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

10. Thanks for listening
Comments & questions?