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What is school council? Should you join?

07 February 2025

In this post, when we use the word ‘parent’, we are referring to any caregiver or guardian of a student attending Ballarat Specialist School, as recorded in our system.

School council is a committee made up of school staff and parents who come together twice a term to oversee the governance of the school. “Governance” means the direction the school is going, or the “big picture stuff”. The other term you might hear when we talk about running a school is “operations”, which means the day-to-day work that a principal does.

School council exists to support the school and guide it in the best interests of its students. Our members are enthusiastic and considerate of our diverse community. We’re always looking for more members to have their say and help make our school the best it can be!

The three critical roles of school councils are:

  • Developing the Strategic Plan
  • Approving the annual budget
  • Setting and reviewing policies

Developing the Strategic Plan

Every four years, Ballarat Specialist School undertakes a school review, where we make sure we’re following Department of Education policies, look back at the last four years and make new plans for the next four years. We get input from staff, students and parents on what’s going well and what we can do better. The School Strategic Plan (SSP) has new goals (what we want to do), targets (how we’ll know we’ve done it) and key improvement strategies (how we’ll do it) for where we want to be in four years time.

To make sure we reach our new goals, every year we make an Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) that chooses some goals and targets to focus on and decides on real actions we will take to get there. School council approves both the SSP and the AIP.

Ballarat Specialist School’s most recent school review was in 2024, and thanks to the feedback from parents, students and staff, we’ve been able to make some great plans for the next four years, focusing on what’s important to our specific school community.

Approving the annual budget

Ballarat Specialist School is a government funded school. We receive money from the government based on how many students we have, and as a specialist school we also receive more funding through the Disability Inclusion (DI) program, which gives the school extra money to support students with disabilities. As our students need to have an intellectual disability to attend, all of our students are able to get funding through DI. The amount they get depends on what we need to help them learn and grow.

The school uses this money to pay for staff, buildings and grounds, classroom supplies, therapy equipment, and lots more. School council reviews all the school’s spending and makes sure that we keep our students at the centre of everything we do.

Setting and reviewing policies

School policies are a set of rules that explain how we do things at Ballarat Specialist School. As a government school, we have to follow the policies that the Department of Education sets, but we have some local policies that we tailor to suit our school.

Some of our policies are related to the day-to-day operations of the school, so they are made and approved by the principal and other staff. Some are related to the big-picture governance, so they go to school council for approval. School council also has a policies subcommittee made up of parents and staff who have input into making the policies. All our policies are informed by the Department of Education’s guidance.

What else do they do?

School council also connects with the community and organises things like fundraisers. In 2023 and 2024, we had a great success with a Bunnings BBQ which were each able to raise several thousand dollars to support our Bike Education program and represent the school in a positive way in the local community. Our new bike track is perfectly even and has the same line markings students would see when riding their bikes in the community. It’s one of the ways BSS can help prepare students with real life skills that will allow them independence in the future

We hope to continue to make a difference through events like this!

Who is on school council?

School council is made up of 12 members—8 parents and 4 Department of Education employees (school staff). Within those members, we have a:

  • President
  • Vice president
  • Treasurer
  • Secretary

The president, vice president and treasurer have to be parent representatives. The secretary doesn’t have to be a voting member of school council. A meeting has to have quorum, which is the minimum number of members present at the meeting. Our quorum is half of the overall members (6) and more than half of those members have to be parents.

If I was to join, what would I have to do?

You would have to attend school council meetings twice a term. We also expect school council members to reply to emails within a reasonable amount of time when needed. School council discusses school business, and we’d like you to have a say. You should listen to what other community members have to say and pass it on to the principal.

You don’t need to have any special qualifications or skills, you just need to care about the school.

We encourage parents who have diversity in bodies, neurotypes, culture and identity to become a part of school council, so that we can use your insight into making the school as accessible as possible. If you think that the school needs to hear your voice, we would love to support that.

Code of conduct for school councillors

School councils in Victoria are public entities as defined by the Public Administration Act 2004.

School councillors must comply with the Code of Conduct for Directors of Victorian Public Entities issued by the Victorian Public Sector Commission. The Code of Conduct is based on the Victorian public sector values and requires councillors to:

  • act with honesty and integrity – be truthful, open and clear about their motives and declare any real, potential or perceived conflict of interest and duty
  • act in good faith in the best interests of the school – work cooperatively with other councillors and the school community, be reasonable, and make all decisions with the best interests of students foremost in their minds
  • act fairly and impartially – consider all relevant facts of an issue before making a decision, seek to have a balanced view, never give special treatment to a person or group and never act from self-interest
  • use information appropriately – respect confidentiality and use information for the purpose for which it was made available
  • exercise due care, diligence and skill – accept responsibility for decisions and do what is best for the school
  • use the position appropriately – not use the position as a councillor to gain an advantage
  • act in a financially responsible manner – observe all the above principles when making financial decisions
  • comply with relevant legislation and policies – know what legislation and policies are relevant for which decisions and obey the law
  • demonstrate leadership and stewardship – set a good example, encourage a culture of accountability, manage risks effectively, exercise care and responsibility to keep the school strong and sustainable.

How do I join?

School council members are elected for 2 years, which means every year half of the positions are opened up again.

Our 2025 election is open for nominations on Monday the 10th of February. Nomination forms will be sent out via the newsletter, Compass and will be available in the reception at both campuses. Nominations close on Monday the 24th of February.

If you have any questions about school council, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the principal, Sam Sheppard. You can do this by calling or emailing the school, who will forward you on to Sam.