Parent Council

Our Parent Council meets approximately every eight weeks online via Google Meet. Information on meetings will be shared via the Head Teacher's Weekly Newsletter and on social media. 

The role of the Parent Council is to: 


Shona Blakeley is the Chair of our Parent Council, and her message is below:

“The most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive involvement of parents” Jane D Hull 

The parent council – why and why me?

My name is Shona, I’m the current chair (as of 2024) of the Musselburgh Grammar School Parent Council, I’d like to take 5 minutes of your time to share why it’s important and more personally why I’m involved.

Our Parent Council (PC) is a conduit between the school and the families of pupils.  The PC functions as a way to influence school culture, policies, programmes, and other initiatives at the school.  It is an important way to keep up to date with developments, educational trends, and the ambitions of the entire staff team as they encourage ambition and attainment amongst pupils at the school.  

The PC provides a voice and influence for all parents, carers, and families of pupils at the school. Participating ensures you can advocate for the needs of all students in the school community. You can collaborate and network with others, including educational specialists.  Everyone has the common goal of improving the educational experience and creating positive change. 

Feedback is an important role of the PC – members are always consulted on ideas, policies, and developments within Musselburgh Grammar. The leadership team at the school are interested and eager to have our feedback.

As PC members we think it is important to contribute to a school environment that is positive, inclusive and supports student well-being, academic achievement, and growth.  We recognise that academic achievement is only part of school life – every student deserves the right to do the best they can at levels that suit and challenge them.  Getting it right for every child really does matter. It’s important to us to do whatever we can to support this.

Finally, being involved in the PC is an ideal way to demonstrate commitment to your child’s education.  When parents, carers and families are engaged and actively involved in what happens at school it sets a positive example for our learners, showing them that education is a priority. Increased parental involvement has been linked to better student outcomes. 

I’m involved in the PC because education and teachers have always been important to me.  There are many special teachers who saw me through difficult times at primary and secondary.  This is my way of giving something back and trying to make sure that education is right for all. 

I also value the information that is shared at the PC meetings by staff, visitors, and pupils too.  Please do think about joining or visiting often.  There is a lot to learn and many ways we can support.  Just as education is for all, so is our PC.  

We can be better by including more from all of you.

Thanks for reading – I hope I have inspired you, if I haven’t then perhaps the words of Kofi Annan will: “Knowledge is power, information is liberating.  Education is the premise of progress, in every society in every family”. 


School staff in attendance are:

Jodie Hannan, Headteacher

Maeve McCrorie, Curriculum Leader of Humanities

Margaret Stewart, Senior Business Support Assistant and member of Musselburgh Community Council. 

The school’s Head Pupils also attend each meeting.  


For further information about the Musselburgh Grammar School Parent Council go to:

X (AKA Twitter): https://x.com/MGSParents

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MGSParentsPage

Email: mgs.parentcouncil@gmail.com