Ways to get involved with your child's school

Parent clubs are valuable to the whole school community. They build relationships with community members and organisations for the benefit of students.

Parent clubs may:

• create links between parents and teachers
• organise welcome events for new students and parents
• help with events like the second-hand book and uniform schemes, or Father’s and Mother’s Day celebrations
• run fundraising
• advocate for parent views on school policies
• promote cultural and social diversity.

Parent clubs do not run to make a profit and do not benefit any individual member. They are not part of the school council and do not have formal responsibilities or powers.

Individual members of a parent club may be elected to the school council or join a subcommittee.

Parent clubs work closely with the principal. They must:

• give regular updates on their activities
• have approval from the school council for any fundraising activities.

Where possible, the principal or a nominee will:

• attend meetings and discuss relevant information
• meet with the club president to talk about proposed activities and timelines.

You can ask to start a parent club if:

• there isn't already one at the school
• you have enough interest from other parents.

The initial steps:

1. Speak to the principal first about starting a club. Another parent should also be in this meeting.
2. Submit a written request to the school. The request must be signed by at least 6 parents of children at the school.
3. The principal will organise a meeting to discuss the request. They must also give the school community at least 14 days' notice that the meeting is happening.
4. During this meeting, it will be decided whether to start the club. Anyone from the school community can attend the meeting.

If the outcome of the meeting is to start a parent club:

1. The people at the meeting must appoint an interim committee.
2. The interim committee must adopt and fill out the model parents club constitution (DOC, 70.5KB). You can use the Instruction Sheet (DOCX, 2.19MB) to assist you.
3. The committee must get its constitution approved by the Minister of Education.
4. Email the draft constitution to community.stakeholders@education.vic.gov.au or mail to:
   Manager, School Operations and Governance Unit
   Group Planning, Coordination and Operations Division
   Department of Education and Training
   GPO Box 4367, MELBOURNE 3001
5. If the minister approves the constitution, the first parent club meeting is held. Interested parents should complete the Registration Form at Schedule 1 of the Constitution which will make them a member of the club until the next Annual General Meeting of the club. In this first meeting, the office bearers are elected. Use the office-bearer nomination form (DOCX, 48.01KB) to help with the elections. The election is run by an independent person, like the principal, a teacher or a staff member from the Department.

The process to start a club is set by legislation. You cannot start a club any other way.

After the club has been formally set up, it must be run according to the approved constitution. We recommend clubs review their constitution every year.

Parent clubs run as a subprogram in the school's main bank account and are audited the same as the school.

You cannot run any fundraising until the Minister of Education has approved the club constitution.

After the constitution is approved, the school council needs to approve any fundraising. The principal can help you with this.

If the fundraising isn't for a specific purpose, the school council will decide how the money is spent.

If you're planning on running bingo or minor gambling, make sure to get the regulation permission(opens in a new window).

Closing a club is sometimes called 'dissolution'.

To close a club, you need to:

1. Give the school community 14 days' notice that you will be running a meeting to close the club.
2. Run the meeting and take a vote.
3. Have two-thirds of people at the meeting vote to close the club.

You can give notice to the school community through the school newsletter, bulletin boards or report to the school council.

If the meeting agrees to close the club:

• the school council takes control of all club property and assets
• everyone at the meeting must report in writing to the school council that the club will close
• the school council must report in writing to the Minister of Education.

Parent clubs automatically close if the school closes, merges or splits. The process to open a club starts again for the new school.

Being a school council member means taking part in shaping the future of the school. You will need to attend meetings and may need to develop new skills.

In most cases, you need to be elected to become a council member. Elections happen by March each year and all parents and guardians from the school can vote.

If you're elected, you're a council member for 2 years.

The process:

1. The principal will announce an election in late February or early March. They will provide a form or other way to nominate.
2. Complete the form or reply to the principal by the deadline.
3. If there are more nominations than vacant positions, a vote will happen.
4. The principal will run the vote and announce the outcome.

You can also read the guidelines given to schools on council elections(opens in a new window).

Some school councils have subcommittees. They are groups that help with the council's work and give advice.

Subcommittees are for a specific purpose, like finance, IT or community relations.

You do not have to be a school council member to sit on a subcommittee. Contact your school for opportunities.