Armadale Academy

Parent council

The Parent Council minutes for 06/11/2007 are available. Please click here to view them.

Armadale Academy Parent Council Constitution

1. The objectives of the Parent Council are to:

• work in partnership with the school to create a welcoming school which is inclusive for all parents
• promote partnership between the school, its pupils and all its parents
• develop and engage in activities which support the education and welfare of the pupils
• 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.

2. Council membership will be a minimum of five and a maximum of twenty parents of children attending the school.

3. Members of the Council will be selected for a period of three years after which they may put themselves forward for re-selection if they wish. Members may be nominated at the Annual Parent Forum meeting in September of each year or may volunteer themselves at this meeting.

4. Any parents of a child at the school can volunteer to be a member of the Parent Council. In the event that the number of volunteers exceeds the number of places set out in the constitution, members will be selected by drawing names at random. Anyone not selected to be a member of the Parent Council may be offered the opportunity to be part of any sub-groups set up by the Council.

5. The Parent Council may co-opt up to 10 persons to assist it with carrying out its functions. These members may be drawn from school staff, pupils and members of the community or, exceptionally, other groups as agreed by the Council.

6. Co-opted members will be invited to serve for a period of three years after which time the Parent Council will review requirements for co-opted membership.

7. The Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer of the Council will be agreed by the Parent Council at its first meeting. The Chair should always be a Parent Member. Parents and Co-opted members may hold any of the other posts.

8. Office bearers may serve for 3 years after which they may put themselves forward for re-selection by the meeting of the Parent Forum held in September each year.

9. The Parent Council is accountable to the Parent Forum for Armadale Academy and will make a report to it at least once each year on its activities on behalf of all the parents.

10. The Annual Meeting will be held in September of each year. A notice of the meeting including date, time, and place will be sent to all members of the Parent Forum at least 2 weeks in advance. The meeting will include:
• a report on the work of the Parent Council and its committee(s)
• selection of the new Parent Council where vacancies arise or at the end of the three year period for members.
• discussion of issues that members of the Parent Forum may wish to raise.
• approval of the accounts and appointment of the auditor.
• A Report by the Head Teacher

11. If 60 members of the Parent Forum request a special general meeting to discuss issues falling within the Council’s remit, the Parent Council shall arrange this. The Parent 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.

12. The Parent Council will meet at least once in every school term. Any parents should be able to attend to raise a specific issue by agreement with the Chair.

13. Should a vote be necessary to make a decision, each parent member at the Parent Council meeting will have one vote, with the Chair having a casting vote in the event of a tie.

14. Any two of the office bearers of the Parent Council can request that an additional meeting be held, and all members of the Parent Council will be given at least one week’s notice of date, time and place of the meeting.

15. Copies of the minutes of all meetings will be available to all parents of children at the school and to all teachers at the school via the school web site. A copy will be posted in the Staff Room. Copies will also be available on request from the Secretary of the Parent Council / Clerk to the Parent Council and from the school office.

16. Meetings of the Parent Council shall be open to the public, unless the Parent Council is discussing an issue which it considers should be dealt with on a confidential basis. In such circumstances, only members of the Parent Council and the head teacher, or his or her representative, can attend.

17. The Treasurer will open a bank or building society account in the name of the Parent Council for all Parent Council funds. Withdrawals will require the signature of the Treasurer and one other Parent Council member.

18. The Treasurer will keep an accurate record of all income and expenditure, and will provide a summary of this when requested by a Parent Council meeting and a full account for the Annual Meeting. The Parent Council accounts will be audited by the auditor appointed at the previous Annual Meeting.

19. The Parent Council shall be responsible for ensuring that all monies are used in accordance with the objectives of the Parent Council.

20. The Parent Council may change its constitution after obtaining consent from the majority of 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.

21. Should the Parent Council cease to exist, any remaining funds will be passed to the education authority to be used for the benefit of the school where this continues.

All minutes from Parent council meetings are available for download in Microsoft Word format from the documentation section.