Parent Councils act to support the school, to represent your views and to forge links with the wider community.

Parent councils are the formal parent group belonging to your child's school. They aim to make the views and wishes of all parents known to the school and to Educational Services.

The role of the Parent Council is to:

  • support the school in its work with pupils
  • represent the views of parents and carers
  • encourage links between the school, parents and carers, pupils, pre-school groups and the wider community.

Your Parent Council will be unique to your child's school. Each Parent Council will decide what is most important to their school. They provide the opportunity for you to get involved in a way that suits you, and to support your school in getting the best education for all pupils.

Please contact your child's school directly for more information on your Parent Council.

Training

Parent Councils are offered training sessions by the Connect (formerly Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC)). These sessions aim to improve the relationship between schools and their parents. All Parent Councils are invited to send members to this training.

They cover various areas, including:

  • Parent Council essentials
  • Office bearers and committee meetings
  • organising social and fundraising events
  • protection of vulnerable groups (PVG).

You can contact Connect on info@connect.scot or find out more information on the Connect website.

Parents Strategy Group

Parents and staff from schools and Educational Services form the West Dunbartonshire Parents Strategy Group. This group keeps your Parent Council up to date on information related to their school and the local authority.

National Parent Forum of Scotland

The National Parent Forum of Scotland aims to represent the views of parent councils nationally. The forum is parent led and independent of government. 

More information 

Parentzone gives you more information on Parent councils and what they do. On the resources for parents section you can access, for example: 

  • what it means to be a parent council member 
  • a newsletter to keep you and your parent council up to date with events nationally.