School Council
The School Council
- Develops and adopts policies;
- Ensures compliance;
- Approves budget;
- Checks and reviews budget.
It’s the Principal role to manage the school – the Council reviews the principal’s performance.
The Council is an elected body that is elected at the school AGM, there are a number of general members and office holders. If we don’t get enough people volunteering to be elected on to the Council then the Council can ask people to join, these people are not voted in. The current members of the Council are:
- Richard Bate: Chairperson
- Lauren Beetson: Vice Chairperson
- Marcel Reuben: Treasurer
- Christine Harrison: Secretary
- Liz Johnson, Michelle Sheridan, Melanie Powell: General Members
- Caroline Bannister: P&F Representative
- Gail Cresswell: Principal
The Principal is a non voting member of the Council.
One of the functions that the Council is involved in, is the Grievance process at the school, but the Council doesn’t deal with all grievances.
Grievance Process
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If you are not happy about something at the school there is a process to follow, the Council does have a role in this.
In the grievance process the Council deals with non educational matters, raised by a formal communication to the Council. This is done through a written letter to the Council and delivered to the pigeon hole labeled Council in the front office.
Another area that the Council can be involved in is when the grievance is with the principal. Again this can be raised through a formal communication to the Council. Also if an educational matter is unresolved by the principal then this can also be escalated to the Council via a written communication.
If at any time you feel that you can’t resolve a school matter, the Council can be involved, but this needs to be done in a formal, written manner to enable the best outcome for everyone.
School Finances
A major area that the Council is involved in is the finances of the school. As a small,
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independent school we face a number of challenges when it comes to financing our school.
Independent schools receive their funding from a number of sources, but the main ones are fees and government funding. Even though we all think our school fees are high, less than half our funding comes from fees, government funding is a more significant source of income for the school.
As a school with a junior primary and having lots of small children at the school it makes a big difference to our government funding.
Government Funding
Primary age (6 yrs+) $7.214
Pre Primary (5 yrs) $2,802
Pre-Pre (3 & 4 yrs) $0
This means the 3 and 4 year olds at the school are paid for by the rest of the students. They only earn the school income from fees, but still cost the same! This puts the school under financial pressure.
