Scottish Parent Teacher Council

SPTC Regional Meeting for Parent Councils

Read Fiona Alderson's report from the meeting at Fyvie Primary School, Aberdeenshire.

Wednesday 7th November 2007

Judith Gillespie of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC) opened the meeting by advising that the evening had been arranged at the request of the Fyvie School Parent Council. Judith thanked everyone for coming and noted that people had travelled from across Aberdeenshire and, in some cases, from Moray to be there. Judith advised that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss any issues about Parent Councils that may be of concern to those present.

Judith also advised that Aberdeenshire Council had taken out membership of the SPTC membership/insurance scheme for all of the Parent Councils in Aberdeenshire and she was delighted to learn that the local authority had already informed Parent Councils of this.

Judith checked that everyone was aware of the regulations governing the sale of raffle tickets. If a large raffle was being held with big prizes, (eg., a bicycle, prize money, etc) and tickets were being sold over a period of time and outwith the event, then a licence had to be applied for from the local authority. The raffle tickets should have printed on them the name and address of the licence holder. With regards to smaller raffles, (using cloakroom tickets) the tickets should be sold at the venue on the day the raffle is drawn.

In open discussion at the start of the evening, it was apparent that whilst some schools had merged PTAs with Parent Councils, other schools had PTAs and Parent Councils operating as two separate entities and some schools had still to decide what course to take. Judith then explained what having the PTA and Parent Council operating independently entailed in terms of insurance and Disclosure Scotland, (of which more later).

Judith then asked those present what stage they were at in forming their Parent Councils. This varied widely and included:-
1. Schools who had drawn up their constitution, had it approved by the local authority’s legal department and had passed it around the wider parent body, (the Parent Forum) for approval.
2. Schools who were about to, or had just had their initial Parent Council meeting.
3. Schools who had a Parent Council in place and already had set up sub-groups to look at various aspects within the role and remit of the Parent Council.

From item 3 above, some schools had set up sub-groups to look at such things as fundraising, hospitality, communication and education. In respect of the last two this was in order to promote and encourage a free-flow of information between the school and the Parent Council and to minimise “education speak”, thus enabling parents to have a greater understanding of the changes within the education system, for example the Curriculum for Excellence.

Discussion took place around these issues and the general feeling was that, in her presentation, Judith had helped to clarify a lot of the “grey areas” and gaps in knowledge. Additionally, sharing this information enabled those present to feel that they were going about things in the right way for their respective schools.

There then followed a brief question and answer session – brief only because Judith had answered so many questions during her presentation.

Question: Can the Parent Council and PTA co-exist as separate entities and share one insurance policy or are two policies required?
Answer:No. In the event that parents wish to keep the PTA as a separate entity, there is a legal requirement to have two sets of insurance and Judith explained the reasons behind this.
Judith also advised that if a PTA were to disband and become a sub-group of a Parent Council, it would be advisable to write a remit for this group. The remit should clearly state who had the authority to decide how the funds raised would be spent. An example was given of a school with a “PTA-Style”sub-group at loggerheads with their Parent Council on this matter. The sub-group felt that they should have a say, whilst the Parent Council believed that the “spending role” belonged with them.
There are concerns that without a clear remit those involved may withdraw their support for the process. The necessity for a clear remit applies to any and all sub-groups.
It was also noted that sub-groups have a requirement to produce an annual report and an “examined” (rather than audited) financial statement – where applicable – to be presented to the Parent Council at the time of their AGM.

Question: We are in the process of winding up our PTA; what happens to any funds or assets they may have?
Answer:You should check the constitution of the PTA. It may state that in the event that it is wound up or disbanded any funds or assets are transferred to a replacement parent body. If it states that funds should go to the school, local authority or elsewhere and parents wish this to be changed to allow transfer to the Parent Council, then the PTA constitution should be changed before disbandment. This should be done at the AGM or EGM. As long as all the members have been notified in advance of the meeting, then it is acceptable to base a decision on the votes of those in attendance.

Question: What about applying for charitable status?
Answer:Under the new legislation, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, (OSCR – not to be confused with the award dished out by Hollywood!), applies the new charities law very strictly. The benefits of charitable status are few would seem to be outweighed by the hoops that groups and organisations have to jump through.
Please note that if Parent Councils or PTAs wish to apply for any funding where there is a requirement for them to hold charitable status then, if they are members of the SPTC they can apply using the SPTC’s charitable status. The funds would then go into the SPTC account and once there would be transferred (at no cost) to the relevant Parent Council or PTA.

Question: What about Disclosure?
Answer: Not everyone needs to be disclosure checked; it only applies to those persons whose normal duties constitute childcare. For clarification, and poaching the following from the SPTC website!

… a childcare position (as defined in Schedule 2 of the Protection of Children (Scotland)Act) means those specifically asked or expected to help at pre-planned event to supervise children, e.g. in running crèches, on rotas for walking buses, those taking an after-school class or club; those supervising children waiting to go to such classes/clubs; those organised to help at planned school discos.”

An example for PTAs/Parent Councils (again thanks to the SPTC website) would be in the running of school discos:-

”The … Committee members will have planned the disco at the beginning of the school year and there would be an expectation that some or all of them will be at the disco with responsibilities for running it on the day. They would therefore need to be checked as their normal duties would be considered to bring them within a childcare position as defined in the Act.
However, anyone asked to help out at a specific disco, on an ad hoc basis, with no pre-planning and no on-going expectation of involvement in future PTA/PA activities, would not be regarded as having been appointed to a childcare position within the meaning of the Act and so cannot be checked under existing legislation.”

In fact, it is illegal to have a disclosure check done on someone if it is not necessary.

The meeting closed at about 9pm and Judith thanked her hosts at Fyvie School.

Congratulations all round … the parents in Aberdeenshire seem to be going the right way about getting Parent Councils and Forums up and running.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HOST A REGIONAL MEETING, PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE EITHER BY EMAIL: sptc@sptc.info or phone: 0131 226 4378
All you need to do is host the meeting at your school, arrange the let and provide the refreshments, (SPTC would cover expenses). We would then write to all the schools in your area and let you know how many people to expect.

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