Tynewater Parent Council Constitution

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, guardians and carers of children attending Tynewater Primary School.

  • To promote partnership between the school, its pupils and all its parents.

  • 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.


  1. Parent Members

Membership will consist of a minimum of five up to a maximum of twenty parent members plus up to three co-opted members (see section 2)

Initial membership of the Parent Council will be for two years, after which time members can put themselves forward for re-selection if they wish.

Any member of the Parent Forum 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 a ballot of all Parent Forum members (all parents). 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.

2. Co-opted Members

Two-thirds of the Parent Council will be made up of Parent Forum members and one-third of the membership will be reserved for other co-opted members, including one elected member of the teaching and support staff in the school.

The number of parent members on the Parent Council must always be greater than that of co-opted members.

Co-opted members will be invited to serve for a period of one year, after which time the Parent Council will review and consider the requirements for co-opted membership.

3. Office Bearers

The Chair, Secretary and Treasurer of the Council will be agreed by the Parent Council members at the Annual General Meeting. The Head Teacher is not an Office Bearer; he/she is an adviser to the Parent Council.

The Parent Council may decide to appoint a Clerk instead of a Secretary. The Clerk is not a member of the Parent Council and therefore may be paid for attending meetings.

Office bearers will be re-selected by the Parent Council on an annual basis, at the annual meeting of the Parent Forum.

The Parent Council will be chaired by a member of the Parent Forum.

If the Chair ceases to be a member of the Parent Council before the end of their term of office, the role of the Chair will be rotated around the Parent Forum members of the Parent Council until a new Chair is appointed at the annual meeting.

4. Sub-groups

Each member of the Parent Council will be encouraged to lead at least one Sub-group. Sub-groups will be identified and reviewed by the Parent Council.

5. Accountability

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

6 Special General Meetings

If at least one third of members of the Parent Forum request a special general meeting to discuss issues falling within the remit of the Parent Council, the Parent Council shall arrange this. The Parent Council shall give all members of the Parent Forum at least two weeks' notice of the meeting and, at the same time, circulate notice of the matter, or matters, to be discussed at the meeting.

7. Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting(AGM) will be held once each 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 Parent Council and its subgroups

  • selection of new Parent Council members, if required

  • discussion of issues that members of the Parent Forum may wish to raise

  • approval of the accounts and appointment of the auditor.

8. Regular Meetings

The Parent Council will meet at least once in every school term on school premises and the quorum for every meeting will be one third of the Parent Council. Should a vote be necessary to make a decision, each Parent Council member at the meeting will have one vote, with the Chair having a casting vote in the event of a tie. Any two members 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.

9. Members’ Conduct

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 of the Parent Council shall be terminated if the majority of Parent Forum members agree. Termination of membership would be confirmed in writing to the member.

10. Minutes of Parent Council Meetings

Copies of the minutes of all meetings will be available to all members of the Parent Forum and to all staff at the school. Copies will be available from the Secretary/Clerk of the Parent Council and from the school office.

11. Who can attend meetings?

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.

12. Finance

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

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 by the auditor appointed at the previous Annual Meeting.

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

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.


13. The Constitution

The Parent 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.