This is the proposed constitution to be agreed at AGM on 30 August 2023. Current constitution from pre-2019 can be found by clicking on this link.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONSTITUTION -DRAFT TO BE AGREED AT AGM 30 Aug 2023
Parent Council & Friends
at Broughton Primary School and Nursery
August 2023
Definitions
|
School
|
Broughton
Primary School, including Broughton Primary School Nursery. |
|
Children
|
Children attending the Broughton Primary School and Nursery. |
|
Parent Forum |
All parents, guardians & carers of
pupils at the school and nursery. |
|
Parent
Council |
A
committee of parents, guardians & carers of the children nominated to
represent the Parent Forum. |
|
Office
Bearers |
Key
Parent Council roles: Chair/Co-Chairs, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and
FAB Coordinator and Gardening Coordinator. |
|
Constitution |
A
set of rules for operating the Parent Council agreed by the Parent Forum. |
|
Friends
At Broughton or FAB |
A
sub-committee of the Parent Council that organises fundraising and social
events for the benefit of the children. This sub-committee is led by the FAB
Coordinator |
|
Broughton
Primary School Trust |
the
Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation of that name, charity number
SCO44041. |
|
AGM |
Annual General Meeting where the Parent
Council makes itself accountable and reports to the Parent Forum on progress
towards its aims over the past year, sets out the aims for the coming year
and nominates, elects or appoints new Office Bearer. The account will also need to be approved
at an AGM. |
|
EGM |
An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) is
called if a major issue with the constitution arises during the year. The Chairperson may call an EGM at any time
to discuss it. The EGM should then be
run as an AGM. An EGM can be called
provided two weeks' notice has been given. |
Aims
Ideally, the Parent Council should consult and gather the
Parent Forum’s aims for the forthcoming year in June. The Parent Forum of
parents and carers of children attending Broughton School Nursery and Broughton
Primary School should also prioritise those aims. The aims are then usually
published in August at the AGM at the start of the academic year
Aims of the Parent Council
2022/23
·
Welcome
new families and promote values of inclusion, diversity and equality in our
activities and communications.
·
Promote
cooperation and communication between parents & teachers by working with
the Head of School and Staff to represent the views of the Parent Forum.
·
Communicate
with parents in the most effective way, either newsletters, social media, noticeboard,
via school email or in person.
·
Deliver
social events and activities for children raising money through inclusive
prices.
·
Donate
money raised to enhance the education experiences for the children by subsidising
school trips, funding extra curriculum activities and buying equipment and
where possible involve children in prioritising what that money should be spent
on.
·
Support
additional learning opportunities for children in the school such as baking gardening
trips etc.
·
Identify
opportunities to create links between the school and the community.
·
Working
with staff on new approaches to learning and teaching and identify how parents
can be involved.
·
Assist
in the appointment of school staff in accordance with City of Edinburgh Council
recruitment policy.
·
Manage
the Broughton Primary School Trust of funds raised by the Parent Council to benefit
the children.
·
Respond
on behalf of the Parent Forum to City of Edinburgh Council consultations.
·
Attend
meetings of the wider parent council in Scotland such as Connect and Edinburgh
Parent Council network to maintain best practice, keep up to date with
legislation.
Aims of the Friends at
Broughton Sub-Committee
·
Plan
and organise fun social events for parents and children
·
Plan
and organise fundraising events to further the aims of the Parent Council
·
Maintain
the playground garden and raised beds.
Office bearers
Any Parent Forum member can
nominate themselves for one of the office bearer roles at the August AGM. Invitations to seek nominations to become an
office bearer of the Parent Council can be submitted before the summer holiday
to allow the Parent Forum time to consider nominating themselves and speak to
current office bearers about the role. Parent Forum members seeking to become
an Office Bearers: Chair, Vice-Chair or Co-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer &
Friends at Broughton (FAB) Coordinator(s) should nominate themselves for
election at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in August. If more than one person is nominated for the
same role the AGM should vote by a show of hands. Or alternatively a role can
be held jointly by two people. Office
Bearers should commit to the position for one year from August AGM to August
AGM. If a person leaves office during
the year, a replacement can be selected at a Parent Council meeting, except for
Chair where an Extraordinary General Meeting would need to be called to select
a new Chair. Office bearers can be in position for as long as they have a child
at Broughton School or Nursery. Committee
members of the Parent Council and Trustees of Broughton Primary School Trust
will be noted at the AGM.
Chair
The Chair/ (or joint chairs) will act as a liaison to
represent the Parent Forum to the school, the Edinburgh Council and wider
Scottish Parent Council network. The Chair will provide general leadership
(in-person or online) representing the parent forum to the school staff and
will chair parent council meetings to guide the Parent Council to achieve its
aims. The Chair will set out the
priorities of the coming year and ensuring they are fulfilled by the end of the
year. The chair should also represent the Parent Forum at wider Edinburgh
Parent Council meetings and respond on behalf of the parent forum to City of
Edinburgh Council consultations. The
Chair is also a source of support to other national parent council network. This role also includes event planning for
the year, making sure the FAB events, school events and Parent Council events
work well together.
Vice-Chair
A Vice-Chair can deputise for the Chair. And even build
up confidence and experience with a view to becoming a future Chair. In 2023 this position is vacant but remains
open to anyone wishing to help or experience being a Chair or other Office
Bearer.
Secretary
The Secretary keeps a record of what was agreed at parent
council meetings then circulates minutes for agreement by the Parent Council,
finally publishing them for the Parent Forum on the school’s website: https://broughtonprimary.org/parent-bodies/, in MS Teams and on the Broughton
Primary School Parent Forum Group in Facebook. Minutes of Parent Council or Friends at
Broughton meetings should normally be available within seven days of a meeting
(and no later than 4 weeks before the next Parent Council meeting). In addition,
minutes are available on request to any parent. The Secretary monitors the
Parent Council in-box broughtonpsparents@outlook.com and stores minutes and other Parent Council records in MS Teams online that are
accessible to Office Bearers.
Treasurer
The Treasurer is responsible for managing financial
transactions approved by the Parent Council and Friends at Broughton and for
keeping accurate records of all their finances.
Annual accounts will be reviewed and approved independently by an
individual appointed by the Parent Council and will be presented at the
AGM. Summaries of the financial
position of the Parent Council and Friends at Broughton & Gardening
sub-committees can be requested at meetings as necessary during the school
year.
Friends at Broughton
Sub-Committee Coordinator
·
Plans
and organises fun social events for children, raising funds, to further the
aims of the Parent Council.
·
Provides
leadership in drafting a programme of events for agreement at Parent Council.
·
Gives
guidance and encouragement to the Parent Form to take ownership of or help at
individual events.
Gardening Sub-Committee Coordinator
·
Provide
leadership to encourage and involve the Parent Forum, children and school in
any playground gardening activities.
·
Maintain
the playground garden areas and raised beds involving children and the Parent
Forum in their upkeep.
Trustees of Broughton Primary
School Trust
Trustees are signatories of the Parent Council
account. The Chair and Treasurer are
usually responsible for administrating the Broughton Primary School Trust,
although other members of the Parent Council and Friends at Broughton can be
elected to carry out this role.
Staff Representation at Parent Council
The Headteacher and the school
senior leadership team has a right and a duty to attend Parent Council
meetings. The Headteacher will have an advisory role and not take part in
decision-making, unless invited to do so.
Other teachers are welcome to attend meetings, as deemed appropriate by
the headteacher, and at least one teacher will be a member of the Parent
Council chosen by whatever method the school chooses. The majority of attendees at a Parent Council
meeting should be members of the Parent Forum.
Membership and attendance
Parent Council aims to meet
regularly, four-six times per year.
Dates should be provisionally set at the last meeting of the academic
year and agreed at the AGM.
The Parent Forum should receive
their invitations to attend Parent Council (including agenda and previous
minutes) at least two weeks in advance.
Invitations are sent from the school office to the Parent Forum and are
advertised on the Facebook Broughton Primary Parent Forum Group and the
noticeboards.
Each member of the Parent Forum
is welcome to attend one, some or all Parent Council meeting without invitation
or notice.
Apart from office bearers and
staff, membership of the Parent Council will be fluid and will consist of those
parents who choose to attend the meetings.
If meetings become too large to be manageable or
productive, the Parent Council may decide upon a method to limit the size of
the membership and will formalise a selection process if necessary.
Non-Parent Forum members of the community (such as a
secondary school Head Teacher or an Active School Coordinator) can be invited
to speak at the Parent Council meetings by invitation or agreement, and they may
also address the meetings by invitation or agreement. However, they do not have any voting rights
or be involved in decision making.
Non-Parent Forum members of the community can volunteer
to help at FAB social and fund raising events, by invitation or agreement. They do not have voting rights or be involved
in any decision making.
Friends at Broughton membership consists of the Parent
Forum that being parents and carers of the nursery and school of Broughton
Primary.
Communication
The formal communication channel from the Parent Council
to the Parent Forum is email via the school office. Other form of communication
methods to the Parent Forum is via Facebook private group, to wider public are
Facebook public page, Instagram, blogpost and school twitter page.
Changes to the constitution
Changes to the constitution can
be made at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) or at an Extraordinary General
Meeting (EGM).
Dissolution
If no Chair or Vice-Chairs are voted in at an AGM then
the Parent Council ceases to exist, and any funds should be distributed by the school
senior leadership team for the benefit of the children.
Dates of AGM
The AGM should be held annually, online or in person, no
later than two weeks after the start of the academic year. This ties in with the start of the new
financial year of the Broughton Primary School Trust.
END
Reviewer/Editor: R. Pollock Co-chair Parent Council 2022/23
Agreed by: [tbc Parent
Forum 2023/24]
Agreed on: [Date of the AGM when this is agreed]
Next Review date: [September 2024?]
No comments:
Post a Comment