How Can I Get Myself More Involved in my Child’s School?

Offer to volunteer.

Schools often have many programs where you can get involved. This could be helping with the school canteen, school excursions, events, committees and cultural groups, and more.

Many schools also have a club or association where you can have an active role in the school. Parent clubs help run events, organise social gatherings, and run fundraising for the school.

Your child’s teacher may also request volunteers to help within the classroom for things such as reading groups or school excursions. Or, they may just need help with laminating or sharpening pencils (these are jobs you can do from home!)

You may need to apply for a ‘Working with Children Check’. Contact your school to find out what volunteering opportunities they have and if you need to get a check.

Join the P & C.

Most schools have a parent representative body, which is commonly called the Parents and Citizens (P&C) Association in state schools or a Parents and Friends (P&F) Association in non-government schools. The parent committee is the voice of the parents. It's at these meetings that decisions affecting your child at school are made.

The P & C often meet about once a month and will advertise meetings in the school newsletter. All parents and carers are welcome.

Offer to be the ‘Class Parent’.

At the beginning of each school year, the class teacher may ask if anyone would like to be the “class parent”. The class parent is essentially the middle man between the teacher and other parents of the class. Their job entails:

· Being the liaison between the teacher and the parents of the class Sharing information between the teacher and the parents in your class

· Facilitating social events for your class and helping families get to know each other

· Recruiting parents to help in the classroom (with reading, maths, etc.) Recruiting parents to accompany the class on excursions

· Coordinating parents to assist in events/functions hosted by your year or stage Calling or emailing parents to obtain donations of supplies for the classroom and/or events (e.g. boxes of tissues for the classroom or cupcakes for class parties)

· Collecting donations and purchasing end of year gifts for the teacher Sending out reminders via the chosen method for your class.

Communication methods for class families will differ from school to school and class to class. Mostly, it will depend on the method chosen by the class parent as the most effective for their needs. This may be email, Whatsapp, Facebook groups, or even texting.

Should you wish to volunteer as class parent, you will need to meet with the teacher to discuss the role he or she would like you to play. Some schools may provide information regarding parent names and phone numbers to set up communication methods. Others will require you send home a letter with all the children in order to collect this information. Most class parents will create a ‘group chat’ where they can communicate quickly and easy with other parents.