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Frequently Asked Questions: Roseburn School Parent PartnershipThe essentials: RSPP in a pageWhat is the RSPP?The RSPP is our Parent Council. It is run by parents of children at Roseburn Primary. The definition of “parent” is very wide and includes everyone with a parenting role for a pupil. Its role is to be a link between parents and the school, to share information and discuss issues that are of interest to the parent-body. Issues relating to individual parents/children should not be the subject of the RSPP but it is a way to identify and explore issues in a more general way. Who can come to meetings? Every parent of a child in Roseburn School is welcome to RSPP meetings. Who is the RSPP rep for my child’s class?The school office holds a current list of class representatives. Another way to find this out can often be a quick message round the class WhatsApp group if you are a member of one.How do I become a member of the RSPP?Each class has a representative. These representatives are agreed by the parents of that class. In practice, this frequently happens through WhatsApp discussions and individuals volunteering.When and where are meetings held? Four or five meetings are held each school year. Dates are posted on the Roseburn School Website. Or you can contact RoseburnSchoolParentPartnership@How can I put something on the RSPP agenda?You can either ask your class rep to put it on to the agenda, or you can email RoseburnSchoolParentPartnership@How do I find what has been discussed at previous meetings?Someone is always identified to take a record of the meeting. With the support of the school, we are getting better at posting minutes of meetings on the school website. Many class reps send WhatsApp messages round after the meeting that focus on issues relevant to their class.More detail and background….The 2006 Parental Involvement Act states that every school in Scotland has a Parent Forum which consists of all the parents/carers who have a child at the school. They are automatically members, whether they like it or not! From the Act….In RoseburnThe Parent Forum can expect to: ? receive information about the school Weekly newsletter from HeadTeacher; frequent information via parent-pay; invitations to participate in school activities? decide on the format of the Parent Council and how it operates RSPP Constitution (dating from 2007) was consulted upon in Autumn 2019 and approved via vote in February 2020? identify issues for the Parent Council Via class reps; all parents invited to attend meetings? be consulted by the Parent Council Via class reps; on occasion via direct parentpay? express views through the Parent Council. Via class reps; all parents invited to attend meetingsWhat is the Parent Council? The Parent Council is the committee appointed by the Parent Forum to run matters on its behalf. A Parent Council is not run by the school or the local authority but by the parents in the school. The local authority should support a Parent Council both financially and with advice/support. Should we have a constitution? It is good practice to have a constitution as this gives a framework to your group and should contain a description of your Parent Council and how it will carry out its objectives. Do we have to be called a Parent Council? No, you can call your group anything you want. Our parent council is called Roseburn School Parent Partnership. What do Parent Councils do? The main aim of the Parent Council/RSPP is to help the school operate as a successful school and to try to represent all parents/carers. General rolesIn Roseburn· There is an important role in improving links between all parents and the school; the Parent Council should report to parents at least once a year (at the AGM) but it is good practice to do this on a regular basis. All parents invited to every RSPP; agenda circulated via Parent Pay and includes minutes of previous meeting· Try to make sure that parents get the information they need in an accessible way and that the school staff gets feedback on parents’ views. Class reps raise issues; many class reps provide updates to their WhatsApp groups; some initial tests using video as alternative to lots of text · Discuss any issue of interest to parents, including school policies on such things as bullying, sexual health and relationships education, homework and school uniform. Class reps invite agenda items· A PC may set up extra-curricular activities and after-school/breakfast or homework clubs in cooperation with the school. A separate parent committee runs Roseburn School afterschool/holiday club. They commission OSCARs to run the service.· As part of Curriculum for Excellence, parental involvement in their children’s learning is recognised as very important: the PC has a role to play in helping this happen. Frequent topic of discussion in RSPP with reference to home learning, pupil demonstrations of learning· Represent parents’ views to the education authority and others on those issues that are of concern to parents, pupils and staff with an awareness of equality and fairness. Although issues from individual parents should not be pursued, it might be an opportunity to address concerns in a more general way. Chair of RSPP is a member of the Locality Group for Parent Councils which is attended by education authority staff. This is a route to raise issues.· The Parent Council should be involved in the recruitment of new Headteachers and/or senior staff.This has happened in recent recruitments.· The Parent Council has an important role during and after a school inspection. · The PC may take on those social and fundraising activities previously run by the PTA. PTA run these as a sub-committee of the RSPPWho should be on the RSPP?Although the number of members is not specified in the legislation, there are certain things that are fixed: · The majority of Parent Council members must be parents of children at the school. The definition of “parent” is very wide and includes everyone with a parenting role for a pupil; this could include foster parents, family members who have care of a child and divorced/separated couples. RSPP comprises a rep for each class in the school and the possibility for a representative of children with additional needs.· The Chairperson must be a parent with a child at the school. · The Parent Council should promote equality and fairness in their activities and recognise the diversity in the school community. · The Headteacher (or his/her representative) has a right and a duty to attend all Parent Council meetings. May we include other people on our RSPP? Yes, but this must be decided by the Parent Forum. And Parents should remain in the majority.There are two sorts of non-parent members in our RSPP: staff and up to 3 community members.The Headteacher (or representative) and senior staff are members and regular attenders.Our regular community members are local councillors and the Families Worker at Murrayfield Parish Church. Both these connections are long-standing to the school and have brought tangible benefits to the school community. It can be difficult to identify and retain consistent engagement with community partners; however it is always possible to invite other people to come along for discussions on specific issues. The Chair of the RSPP has a role to ensure that diversity of views can be expressed and debated.Can we have a PTA alongside our RSPP? There are currently four main models in Scotland. The model in Roseburn is the PTA is a sub-committee of the Parent Council. The sub-committee should submit reports on all their activities and finances to the Parent Council and should abide by any general policies decided by the PC.Finding out moreYou can find lots of information about family engagement on are probably about 300 members of our Parent Forum. If you would like to engage with the parental community please get in touch with RoseburnSchoolParentPartnership@Sources for this informationConnect Records of RSPP meetingsInput from RSPP members and members of the Parent Forum ................
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