Laurencekirk Primary Parent Council

We are here to represent the Parent Forum and hope you will find this page useful.
All comments /queries welcome!

Welcome to the Laurencekirk Primary Parent Council page! We hope you'll find some useful information here and that it'll also provide an additional means of communicating with us. We are here to represent the entire Parent Forum and very much welcome your input.
This page has a high security setting and all posts will be strictly monitored, any inappropriate posts will be removed.

Please feel free to read our Constitution 2015.

Laurencekirk Primary Parent Council Constitution 1. Objectives
1. 1 To work in partnership with the school to create a welcoming school which is inclusive for all parents.
1. 2 To promote partnership between the school, its pupils and all its parents and the wider community.
1. 3 To develop and engage in activities which support the education and welfare of the pupils.
1. 4 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.
1. 5 To constitute sub-groups as required to support the school in appropriate activities.
2. Membership
2. 1 The membership will be a minimum of 8 parents of children attending the school, ideally consisting of parents from Nursery, Infant, Middle and Upper stages.
2. 2 No maximum number is set.
3. Appointments and Periods of Service
3. 1 The Parent Council members will be appointed for a minimum period of one year, after which they may put themselves forward for re-appointment if they wish.
3. 2 Any parents of a child at the school can volunteer to be a member of the Parent Council.
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3. 3 Anyone not selected to be a member of the Parent Council may be offered the opportunity to be part of any sub-group set up by the Council.
3. 4 At least one member of school management will represent the school on the Parent Council.
4. Co-opting Members
4. 1 The Parent Council may co-opt members to assist it with carrying out its
functions.
4. 2 Two additional places will be reserved for Representatives from Laurencekirk School Pupil Council, who will be invited to attend relevant meetings, or parts thereof.
4. 3 The number of parent members on the Parent Council must always be greater than the number of co-opted members.
5. Appointment of Office Bearers
5. 1 A Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer will be appointed by the Parent Council members at the first meeting of the Council, following the annual Parent Forum Report meeting.
5. 2 A Vice-Chair should also be appointed on the same terms as those defining the appointment of an office bearer.
5. 3 The Council may appoint a Treasurer and Secretary from within the Council membership, or appoint a clerk to transact the Council's administrative requirements.
5. 4 Such a decision will be made by the Parent Council as defined above.
5. 5 Office bearers will be re-selected by the Parent Council on an annual basis.
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5. 6 The period of office, for any of the office bearers, may be terminated if two thirds of the Parent Council requests that person to stand down.
6. Operating Guidelines
6. 1 The Parent Council will meet at least once in every school term.
6. 2 Decisions can only be taken at meetings attended by two thirds of Parent Council members.
6. 3 Should a vote be necessary to make a decision, each parent member at the meeting will have one vote, with the Chairperson having a casting vote in the event of a tie. New members must attend two meetings before being eligible to vote.
6. 4 The Parent Council can request a decision be opened to the entire Parent Forum if 50% of the Parent Council members agree.
6. 5 Half the members of the Parent Council can request that an additional meeting be held and all members will be given at least one week's notice of date, time and place of the meeting.
6. 6 Meetings of the Parent Council shall be open to the Parent Forum unless a confidential item is to be discussed at which time they would be asked to step out of the meeting.
6. 7 Copies of the minutes of all meetings will be made available to all parents of children at Laurencekirk Primary and to all teachers at the school. Copies will be available through the link on the school website or from the Secretary of the Parent Council. A summary of what has been discussed will be included in the School Newsletter.
6. 8 The Parent Council may change its constitution unless there are objections from one third of the Parent Forum.
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6. 9 Members of the Parent Forum will be sent a copy of any proposed amendment and given reasonable time to respond to the proposal.
6. 10 Members must attend at least one meeting per year to remain on the Parent Council.
7. Reporting
7. 1 The Parent Council is accountable to the Parent Forum for Laurencekirk Primary and will make a report to it at least once each year on its activities on behalf of all the parents.
7. 2 The Annual Meeting will be held at the start of each new school year. A notice of the meeting including date, time and venue 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 Parent Council and its committee(s)
selection of the new Parent Council
discussion of issues that members of the Parent Council / Forum may
wish to discuss at subsequent meetings
approval of the accounts
7. 3 If 10% of 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.
8. Social Media
8. 1 The LPPC Facebook page will be used to disseminate both Parent Council and School information to the Parent Forum.
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8. 2 Two Parent Council office bearers and two managerial school staff must be administrators of the LPPC Facebook page.
8. 3 No photos of children will be posted on the LPPC Facebook page.
8. 4 Only LPPC and School fund raising activities will advertised on the LPPC Facebook page.
9. Conduct
8. 1 If a Parent Council member acts in a way that is considered by other members to undermine the objectives of the Parent Council, their membership shall be terminated if at least 70% of members agree. Termination of membership will be confirmed in writing to the member.
10. Financial Matters
10. 1 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 designated Parent Council member.
10. 2 The Treasurer will keep an accurate record of all income and expenditure and will provide a summary of this for each Parent Council meeting and a full account for the Annual Meeting. The Parent Council accounts will be audited.
10. 3 The Parent Council shall be responsible for ensuring that all monies are used in accordance with the objectives of the Parent Council.
10. 4 Should the Parent Council cease to exist, any remaining funds will be passed to Laurencekirk Primary for the benefit of the pupils.
10. 5 The Parent Council is accountable to the Parent Forum for Laurencekirk Primary and will make a financial report to it at least once each year on its activities on behalf of all the parents.
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This constitution was formed, after taking the views and suggestions of the Parent Forum into account, by the Laurencekirk Primary parents who attended the meeting held on 9th Sept 2015.