School Councils play a vital role in Victorian government schools and are established and operate under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic), the Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic) and a constituting Order.

The School Council is consisted of the School Council President, Executive Director (Principal), Parent Members, Department Employee Members, and Community Members. Parents are encouraged to run for positions on the School Council and/or its Sub-Committees (see below).

The Abbotsford Primary School Council meets 8-10 times a year. Meetings are always open to the public (except for occasional closed agenda items), but only School Council members have the right to vote in motions.

The 2021 School Council meeting schedule can be found in the Calendar of our website and on Sentral. Meetings typically run from 6:30pm-8:30pm in the Staff Room or on Webex. Please note that occassionally meeting dates may change at short notice, in which case only School Council members will be advised.

Please refer to the 2021 School Council Members page for detailed bios and each member.

The School Council welcomes feedback and suggestions from parents, carers and community members. The School Council can be reached via email, which is monitored by the Vice President.

Sub-Committees

Finance

• Chaired by the Treasurer of School Council;
• Reviews and recommends the budget timeline and the budget to School Council;
• Reviews budget submissions and program priority list;
• Monitors the revenue and expenditure against the budget;
• Recommends actions to address issues arising from financial reports;
• Reviews proposed finance-related policies and recommends these to School Council.

Education

• Chaired by a non-School Employee member of School Council;
• Evaluate the educational benefits and practical considerations of potential educational initiatives;
• Actively seek out opportunities to broaden the educational offerings of the school;
• On behalf of the school, lead the application of funding, liaison with external suppliers and design of implementation at a conceptual level;
• Pass on initiatives to the school for administrative support and implementation.

Community and Fundraising

• Chaired by a non-School Employee member of School Council;
• Organises, monitors and manages school fundraising events and activities;
• Where appropriate, incorporate fundraising or community engagement opportunities as part of school events;
• Engage with parents and the wider community to seek feedback on the community engagement related issues.

If you are interested in getting involved in the Community and Fundraising Sub-Committee, please contact Lisa Muston.

Volunteer Management (New for 2021!)

• Chaired by a non-School Employee member of School Council;
• Design a process of volunteer recruitment, selection and ongoing support;
• Maintain the volunteer recruitment, selection and ongoing support system as the scale of volunteering grows;
• Liaise with the school to determine suitable matching with classroom or administration needs.

Marketing (New for 2021!)

• Chaired by a non-School Employee member of School Council;
• Develop a marketing strategy for building greater school presence among:
• Feeder school communities;
• Aspirational families that value bilingual education;
• Ethnic Chinese communities;
• Lead a calendar of marketing activities and events for promoting the school.

Please refer to the 2021 Sub-Committee Members page for a list of members in each sub-committee.