This is the Constitution for Dunbar Grammar School: School Council.
The objectives of the School Council are:
•To report to the Parent Forum.
•To promote partnership between the school, its pupils, its parents or carers of children and the Dunbar school community.
•To develop and engage in activities which support the education and welfare of the pupils.
•To identify and represent the views of parents on the education provided by the school and other matters affecting the education and welfare of the pupils.
•Promoting contact between other schools and providers of education within the community.
•To act within the principles and practices of the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006.
The membership would include:
A minimum of three parents or carers of children attending the school with a maximum of twelve.
•An ex-officio representative from the PTA.
•The Headteacher
•The School Council may co-opt up to three members of the community to assist it with carrying out its functions.
•The School Council may co-opt up to a maximum of 2 staff to be decided by the Staff Association.
•The School Council may co-opt up to a maximum of 2 student members normally the Head Boy and Head Girl or representatives of the Student Council.
Others allowed to attend:
•School Council meetings to be fully open to all parents or carers of children, who can attend & participate at any meeting.
•Councillors and local representatives of religions are welcome to attend Council meetings.
•Meetings of the School Council will be open to the public, unless the School Council is discussing an issue which it considers to be confidential. In such discussions, only members of the School Council and the Headteacher, or his or her representative, can attend.
Voting rights
Should a decision need to be made that requires a vote, all members may vote with the Chair having a casting vote in the event of a tie.
Office-bearers
The Chair, Secretary and Treasurer of the Council will be agreed by the School Council members by ballot if necessary. Only parents or carers of children may hold the position of Chair.
Sub Groups and Working Groups
There shall be a number of sub groups together with working groups (as deemed necessary) to report to the School Council for ratification. As set out in appendix 1.
Method of selection for parents or carers of children
The School Council will be selected for a period of three years, after which members may put themselves forward for re-selection. All parents or carers of children at the school can take part in the selection by process. The parents or carers will have 4 weeks to select their representatives. Each member wishing to be selected must be supported by two members of the Parent Forum who are not related to the candidate. Each member of the Parent Forum may only nominate one candidate.
In the event of more parents or carers wishing to be selected than places available, an election will take place as set out in appendix 2.
The Chair will be appointed for a maximum period of 2 years by a majority of the members of the School Council. A Chair may only serve for a maximum period of two consecutive terms.
Accountability
The School Council is accountable to the Parent Forum for Dunbar Grammar School and will make a report to it at least once each year on its activities on behalf of all the parents.
The Annual Meeting will be held in the first term of each school year. A notice of the meeting including date, time, and place will be sent to all members of the Parent Forum at least two weeks in advance. The meeting will include:
•A report on the work of the School Council and its committee.
•Selection of the new School Council where appropriate.
•Discussion of issues that members of the Forum may wish to raise. These must be submitted in writing to the Chair seven days before the date of the annual meeting.
•Approval of the accounts and appointment of the auditor.
The School Council will meet at least once per month in every school term.
Copies of the minutes of all meetings will be available to all parents or carers of children at Dunbar Grammar School, all staff at the school and all members of the Dunbar community. Copies will be available from the Secretary of the School Council and from the school office.
If 10% of members of the Parent Forum request a special general meeting to discuss issues falling within the School Council's remit, the School Council shall arrange this. The School Council shall give all members of the Forum at least 2 weeks notice of the meeting and, at the same time, circulate notice of the matter, or matters, to be discussed at the meeting.
Any 2 members of the School Council can approach the chair to request that an additional meeting be held, and all members of the School Council will be given at least one week's notice of date, time and place of such a meeting.
Funds and fundraising
The School Council may hold funds and raise funds to cover costs of administration and for the benefit of the school as set out in appendix 3.
Changes to the Constitution
The School Council may change its constitution after obtaining consent from members of the Parent Forum. Members of the Parent Forum will be sent a copy of any proposed amendment and given reasonable time to respond to the proposal.
Appendix 1
Sub Groups
There shall be a number of sub groups together with working groups (as deemed necessary) to report to the School Council for ratification.
The School Council will have as part of its structure the following permanent sub groups:
- An 'Appointment Group' which will represent the School Council in the appointment process of Headteacher and Depute Headteachers. Membership of this group is only available to those members who have completed the necessary recognised training for recruitment and selection.
- In the appointment of a Principal Teacher a parent member of the School Council may also be invited to participate in the short leet interview subject to having completed the necessary recognised training for recruitment and selection.
Working groups
- The School Council may wish to form a working group at any time to work on a specific task or aspect of its work and responsibilities.
e.g. publicity, policy determination, liaison with other bodies etc.
- These working groups may only make proposals to the School Council for ratification and may not act outwith the tasks and boundaries set to them.
Election of School Council members
In the event of more parents or carers wishing to be selected than places available, an election will take place.
- The election will be overseen by the Secretary of the School Council.
- All members of the parent forum will be given the opportunity to vote with one vote per member.
- All candidates will be given the opportunity to give their reasons for seeking election in a written statement. These statements shall be distributed to all parents or carers along with a voting form.
- The candidates receiving the highest number of votes will be deemed as elected.
- No expenses shall be made available to candidates.
Funds and fundraising
The School Council may hold funds and raise funds by any means, other than by borrowing, to cover costs of administration and for the benefit of the school where funding is required outwith the school budget.
•The School Council may not purchase land or buildings.
•The Treasurer will open a bank or building society account in the name of the School Council for all School Council funds. Withdrawals will require the signature of the Treasurer and one other School Council member.
•The Treasurer will keep an accurate record of all income and expenditure and will provide
a summary for each School Council meeting. o a full account for the Annual Meeting.
•The School Council accounts will be audited by the auditor appointed at the previous Annual Meeting.
•The School Council shall be responsible for ensuring that all monies are used in accordance with the objectives of the School Council.
•All necessary licenses shall be obtained and maintained e.g. Lottery Licence should this method of fundraising be used.
•Should the School Council cease to exist, any remaining property* will be passed to Dunbar Grammar School to be used for the benefit of the school.
Property is the term in legislation used to denote funds held by the School Council