College Council
One of the challenges of secondary schools is gaining involvement of parents. After significant time spent in school based activities in primary schools, it is not uncommon for parents to step back from similar activities at secondary school.
There is not the range of opportunities for parents in a secondary school; however, it is important that we look to increasing this range.
In 2009 the first place for us to discuss parent involvement will be at School Council.
Today we are calling for nominations for Council.
Who is on the school council?
There are three possible categories of membership:
- A mandated elected parent category. More than one third of the total members must be from this category. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) employees can be parent members at their child’s school.
- A mandated elected DEECD employee category. Members of this category may make up no more than one third of the total membership of school council. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members.
- An optional community member category. Its members are coopted by a decision of the council because of their special skills, interests or experiences. DEECD employees are not eligible to be community members.
The term of office for members is two years. Half the members must retire each year and this creates vacancies for the annual school council elections.
We meet as a Council once a month, usually at 7.30pm on the fourth Tuesday of each month.
There are four Parent positions vacant.
Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the school.
Those parents who become active on a school council often find their involvement satisfying in itself and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.
Nomination papers are available from the General Office or attached below for download.