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Ways to be involved

Parents have many opportunities at KPS to be involved in school life and they play an important role. There are a number of ways to be involved: member of the School Council, attendance at working bees, helping in the classroom, committee membership, offering expertise/knowledge, participating in Clubs programs, fundraising, social events, gardening and more. Keep your eye on the newsletter for opportunities to become involved and think about being involved in the following subcommittees.

School Council  

What is a school council and what does it do?

All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally formed bodies that are given powers to set the key directions of a school within centrally provided guidelines. In doing this, a school council is able to directly influence the quality of education that the school provides for its students.

Who is on the school council?

There are three possible categories of membership:

·              A mandated elected Parent category. More than one third of the total members must be from this category. Department of Education (DoE) employees can be Parent members at their child’s school.

·              A mandated elected DoE employee category. Members of this category may make up no more than one third of the total membership of school council. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members.

·              An optional Community member category. Its members are co-opted by a decision of the council because of their special skills, interests or experiences. DoE employees are not eligible to be Community members.

The term of office for members is two years. Half the members must retire each year, creating vacancies for the annual school council elections.

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Why is Parent membership so important?

Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the school.

Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying in itself and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.

We have three parent school councillors up for election this time round. Thanks to parent members Peter, Julia  and Maria for their very valuable contributions to Council over the last 2 years. Teachers up for election are Julie and Kay. If you would like to become a school councillor just pick up a nomination form from the office. Nominations close on Thursday the 22nd of February. Ballots are only held if more people nominate as candidates than there are positions vacant. If you decide to stand for election, you will need to arrange for someone to nominate and second you as a candidate in the parent category. Or you might encourage another person to stand for election and nominate them. Forms can be picked up at the office. Once the nomination form is completed, return it to the school prior to the closing day.

Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and bring lots of expertise. It is an important role and we have had very effective School Councils over the years who have brought about significant improvement to the school.

If you are unsure of anything to do with council’s role please ask myself or some of the current councillors to assist you.  

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Sub Committee Meetings

We will be having some meetings for various School Council subcommittees pretty soon. These committees are vital to the running of the school. Please consider coming along, everybody is MORE than welcome. 

Finance and Facilities committee
We will be having a Finance and Facilities meeting (which looks at the physical needs of the school, spends money on school improvement projects and oversees the finances of the school) See the office or Mark or Julie for meeting times.

Parent Teacher Action Group
This committee organises school functions for community and fundraising purposes.  Most recently this committee organised the sausage sizzle on the election day and the whole school end of year picnic.  See the office or Mark or Julie for meeting times.

Education committee
Education Committee meeting (looks at educational programs throughout the school and policy development and review;a good way to find out about the many programs that the school operates) See the office or Mark or Julie for meeting times.

Care Program committee
Care Program (oversees the running of the Aftercare program it’s compliance and finances) See the office or Mark or Julie for meeting times.

Promotions Committee
Promotions Committee (transition programs, welcoming people to the school and promoting the school to the community; an ideas generator) 

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Other ways to get involved

Home Reading/Classroom Help
Parental participation in this program is invaluable.  Parents can support this reading program or other classroom programs on a regular or occasional basis.  To become involved, speak to your classroom teacher about your availability.  Typically homereading duties at school would be to listening to children read and assist them in selecting new books. This normally takes an hour to do.  Other roles such as helping with maths or literacy games, spelling tests, craft projects, science experiments etc. can be organised with your classroom teacher. 

In 2006 in the 2/3 class two different parents were guest speakers during our 'ships ahoy' topic about rowing, yachting.  Several other parents assisted with the spelling and homereading programs.  A couple of parents assisted with maths games and some provided books and dvds that were relevant to our 'What's the matter' science topic. Think about what you might have to offer.

Book Covering
This job can be done at home or at school.  Many new books are purchased throughout the year.  To keep them nice for many years to come we like to cover them in contact.  Understandably this is a time consuming job and unfortunately this delays the books getting to the children and classrooms.  Assistance with this job is much appreciated. For more information please see Chris.

Working in the Library
Kensington Primary School does not have a librarian. Classroom teachers run the library sessions with students and everyone puts in a little effort to keep it looking great.  In 2006 the library was open for students to borrow and read on a Monday morning courtesy of a couple of dedicated parents.  What we are really in need of is some parents to commit on a regular basis (perhaps 1 hour per fortnight) to re-shelve and keep the displays nice. Please see Chris or Amelia for more information.

Excursions
Kensington Primary School generally schedule at least one excursion per class per term.  Teachers greatly appreciate assistance in keeping students together, accompanying students to the toilets and explaining exhibits etc.  Usually one or two parents per class are taken and there is generally no extra cost.  Unfortunately, we ask that toddlers or babies do not attend school excursions. Speak to your classroom teacher when excursions are announced if you wish to assist.

Working Bees
Working bees are a great way to contribute to the school for the parent not available during the working week hours.  To keep our school grounds nice, we often have gardening days.  Handyman type work and mowing (when we are allowed to water the oval) are also appreciated. See Mark for more information.

Book Club
Book club is a great program that provides books at a good price to families.  Issues are twice a term.  Parents check all classroom orders and process the orders via the internet.  Once the books arrive, parents check the orders and distribute the books to the classrooms. If you are interested in helping out, please see Jenny or Rachel.

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