Our Role

The role of the Parent Council

The role of the Firrhill Parent Council is to support the school in delivering the best possible educational experience for all pupils at Firrhill. Being a member of the Parent Council is a great way to contribute to the school – and, by getting involved, parents or carers can help shape how the school deals with a range of issues ranging from pupil welfare and well-being, the curriculum and engagement with the wider community.

Any parent or carer of a child at Firrhill can apply to join the Parent Council and we would be very happy to hear from any parents or carers who want to find out more. All our Parent Council meetings are open to all so feel free to come along to find out more about what we do.

It’s a great way to get your voice heard – we look forward to hearing from you!

Who we are and how we operate

We are enthusiastic volunteers, committed to supporting our school. Our regular meetings provide the opportunity for updates on school activity and for lively discussion on how we can best assist our school.

The current list of Parent Council members can be found on the Parent Council Members page.

We have a formal structure and we have set up a number of Working Groups to focus on key issues such as Communications, Health & Well-Being and the Environment, etc.

The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is a permanent Working Group which focuses on fund raising activities for the school.

You can find more on the formal background on Parents Councils as described in the ‘Parental Involvement Act 2006’ and view our constitution by following this link: Parent Council Constitution.

Some of our recent successes

We’re delighted to have been able to achieve much to support our school; recent successes include:

Monthly Firrhill News

Information evenings on a variety of topics, such as Parenting Teenagers

Annual Job Fair where pupils meet parents to find out more about their careers.

Eco and Green initiatives including planting a meadow, introducing measures to improve cycle safety.

Fundraising to support projects such as provision of school benches.

When we meet

The Parent Council meet around 4 / 5 times every academic year, usually on Monday nights and based in the School Library. Meetings run around 2 hours and start at 7pm and all parents are welcome to attend.

The Working Groups meet regularly and provide formal updates to the Parent Council meetings.

Once a year we hold our Annual General Meeting (AGM). The AGM provides a summary of what your Parent Council has focused on over the last year and it’s an opportunity to ask Council members on their work. It’s also a formal opportunity for the Parent Council to bring on new members and appoint formal office bearer positions, such as Chairman, Secretary, etc.

Our meeting dates for 2017/18 can be found here.