Parent councils are being introduced into Scottish schools to ensure that parents are involved in decisions affecting their children’s education. They are set up to help decide the direction, focus and ethos of schools, and have a special duty to represent and communicate with parents.

Each school can write its own constitution for its parent council, which includes the size and make-up of the council and how it is selected. A combined parent council may even be set up to cover more than one school - for example, a secondary school with its local primary.

It is hoped that most schools will have a parent council which represents the various aspects of school life: the parents, the pupils and the local community. At denominational schools at least one church minister will sit on the parent council. School boards

Parent councils were introduced in the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 and replace school boards from August 2007. Many of the function and powers of parent councils are the same as school boards, with a few differences.

Schools that already have a school board will need to write a new constitution for the parent council. However, parents can choose for a new parent council to have a similar shape to the previous school board.

What the parent council does
Parent council members discuss and have input on:

• Staff appointments and dismissals
• School policies on issues such as discipline, dress, sport,
• bullying and homework
• How the school budget will be spent, including spending proposals for books and equipment
• How the school will try to reach performance targets
• The long term plans and future of the school, known as ‘school development planning’
• Repair and maintenance of school buildings
• Complaints from pupils, staff and parents
• The parent council may chose to appoint sub-committees of members to look at specific issues such as finance, appointments, curriculum and premises.

However, it is important to note that the parent council does not have final approval over these decisions. Ultimately the decisions are the responsibility of the headteacher.

The headteacher must attend parent council meetings and listen to its recommendations, but does not have to implement them. If there is an issue between the headteacher and the council that cannot be resolved, the council can ask for Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) to look at the problem.

Members of the Council are:

Robert Shaw (Chairperson)
Dorothy Shaw (Secretary)
Fiona Howat (Treasurer)
Alan Telfer
Carol McTurk
Catherine Harvey
Catherine McKerrow
Dawn Maider
Helen Johnstone
Julie Varney
Karen Harrow
Kim Philips
Morag Miligan
Rosalie McClusky
Sheena Carey
Shirley MacKinnon
Stephen Varney
PC Ross Kelly
Colin MacLean
Carolyn Ingram

What do parent council members do?

Being a member of a parent council requires energy, enthusiasm and a bit of your spare time. Parent council members make a commitment to serve for a one, two or three years, but as volunteers they can leave before this if their circumstances change.

Parent council meetings are likely to take place once a term, usually in the evenings. If there are sub-committees (on issues such as finance, personnel, curriculum and premises), these may meet once a term. Once a year the parent council must have an annual general meeting.

Benefits of being on a parent council

There is a lot to gain from joining a parent council. You’ll have the opportunity to:

• Develop new skills and to strengthen existing ones with training available
• Work with a wide range of people from a variety of social, cultural and religious backgrounds
• Gain an idea of how schools are run and how the education system works as a whole
• Enjoy the personal satisfaction and sense of achievement of working to improve the school
• Enjoy using your skills for the good of the local community

The budget for parent council includes funding for the training of all members, which is normally arranged through the local authority. The Scottish School Board Association runs courses on ‘effective meetings’ and ‘effective communication