The School Council President - tips to increase your effectiveness

The School Council President- tips to increase your effectiveness

What is the role of school council? • Establish the broad direction and vision of the school within the school's community • Develop and monitor the school strategic plan • Develop, review and update school policies • Develop, review and monitor the Student Code of Conduct and the School Dress Code • Raise funds for school-related purposes • Approve the annual budget and monitor expenditure • Maintain the school’s grounds and facilities • Enter into contracts (e.g. cleaning, construction work) • Report annually to the school community and to DEECD • Stimulate interest in the school generally

Role of the president • Chairperson of all school council meetings • Signatory for school accounts, cheques and contracts as required • Uphold all council decisions and work in partnership with the principal • Ensure council stays focused on improving student learning outcomes • Cast the deciding vote in the event of a tied vote

Role of the principal • The principal is the overall educational leader and manager of the school • Executive officer of school council • Accountable for the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the school's strategic plan • The senior DEECD representative for the school

Role of school council members • All councillors need to respect other member's opinions AND support and uphold all council decisions • Parent members bring expertise and views to council on behalf of the whole school community • DEECD members bring educational expertise and views to council on behalf of the whole school community • Community representatives tend to bring individual expertise to assist council in specific decisions

Specific skills needed by school council presidents • Leadership • Relationship management • Meeting skills • Team development • Conflict management

Leadership • Model behaviours expected of councillors • Clarify roles and responsibilities • Set agenda • Ensure there are no conflicts of interest • Welcome new councillors • Ensure all councillors have an opportunity to participate • Manage the annual evaluation of the council

Relationship Management • Principal and school council president • President and sub-committee convenors • Between council members • Staff and parents and school council • School council and DEECD

Chairing school council meetings • Conduct business efficiently • on track • on time • Ensure meeting protocols are followed • Enable full and open discussion • Ensure decisions are understood and correctly recorded • Made by a quorum of members

Example meeting protocols #1 • Everyone is listened to - this does not mean agreement but it does mean trying to understand • Keep to the issues under discussion • Keep the focus on improving learning outcomes for all students • Discussion should focus on issues, not people or their personalities

Example meeting protocols #2 • One conversation at a time • Present information, opinions or feelings clearly and succinctly – don’t hog the meeting time • No question is too trivial • Avoid jargon • Represent the entire community

Quorum • A quorum is the number of people required before decisions can be made • A quorum requires not less than one half of school council members currently holding office to be present at the meeting with a majority of members present who are not DEECD employees. • Any parent members on school council who also work for the Department are counted as DEECD employees for the purpose of a quorum. • A member of the school council may be present in person or by video conferencing or teleconferencing. • A quorum must be maintained throughout the meeting

Conducting the meeting • Open the meeting • Welcome everyone • Ensure people have received their papers • Table correspondence – in and out • Conduct the discussion • See next slide • Summarise the meeting • Point out main discussions and any decisions made • Close the meeting • Thank people for coming

Structure of a discussion • State the issue or topic of discussion • Hear the facts • Listen to people’s arguments, experiences, opinions • Reach a conclusion on what’s wanted • Make a decision • Record the decision

Team development • School council meets to make decisions • It mainly does this collectively but it does not meet often • This makes team development a challenge • Groups operate in two distinct streams – task and emotional

STAGE 4 MATURE CLOSENESS Resourceful, Open Flexible, Supportive Effective, Close STAGE 1 TESTING Polite Impersonal Watchful Guarded STAGE 3 GETTING ORGANISED Developing skills Confronting issues STAGE 2 INFIGHTING Controlling conflicts Confronting people Opting out Difficulties Feeling Stuck The Team Development Wheel

What is conflict? • A normal part of decision-making • Individuals / groups of people may differ in their opinions without anyone being wrong • Conflict does not go away by itself • Conflict can and should be dealt with

Managing Conflict • Recognise there is a conflict • Hear all views, with a view to understanding • Seek common ground • Avoid inflammatory language • Focus on the problem, not the person • Break it into smaller parts • Ensure clear agreement forward

A few more thoughts on managing conflict… • Get rid of General Business • Have an agreed Code of Conduct • Use tools to surface differences in opinion • Follow up with individuals as needed • Remember task AND emotion

A final thought… “The perfect human being is all human beings put together, it is a collective, it is all of us together that make perfection.” Socrates

For more information • http://www.education.vic.gov.au/management/governance/schoolcouncils/role.htm (What is a school council and what does it do?) http://www.ssa.vic.gov.au (Welcome to the Board, State Services Authority) • http://www.asciv.org.au Association of School Councils in Victoria (ASCIV) • http://www.viccso.org.au Victorian Council of School Organisations (VICCSO)

The School Council President - tips to increase your effectiveness