Parents
All parents and guardians are part of the social fabric of the school community. We’re the volunteers behind BBQs, festivals, working bees and talking about parenting issues. New volunteers are always welcomed!
Most Preshil people work, study or have ageing parents as well as children filling their lives so we try to evolve a parents’ system that’s flexible and supportive enough to let people come and go as they are able.
The Preshil Parents’ Group
All parents are automatically members. The Preshil Parents’ Group is NOT the Preshil Association, although many often misname one for the other.
Parents’ group meetings can be initiated by any interested parent who wishes to arrange a get together of parents, be it for social reasons, discussing ideas for activities or events that may be of interest to the parent body or organising fund raising events for specific school projects. Some of the activities initiated and continued with parent input include Doo Dahs, working bees, the Winter Solstice, cartooning days, puppet shows and adolescent health talks. Meetings can be advertised by posters, the NewsDiary, the Yahoo site, word of mouth, class reps and the school email system. If you are interested in organising an event or have ideas for contributing to the school, please contact the Communications Office: Bronte and Jenny on (o3) 9817 6135, or email communications@preshil.vic.edu.au
The Parents’ Group has a bank account into which any funds raised can be deposited and from which funds may be available to assist with event planning. For information about using the bank account please contact Pam in the office on (03) 9817 6135
(Preamble from the old Parents’ Group Constitution)
Over many years, the Preshil Parents’ Group has contributed significantly to the welfare of the school. Preshil’s founder, Miss Margaret Lyttle, knew that it was through the attitudes and relationships of parents, children and teachers that much of the success came and that where there was mutual trust and respect and acceptance in child-teacher relationships, the results were far reaching. She often said that the worth of a good syllabus, buildings and equipment was dependent on the human relationships in the school community. It was this, and Preshil’s strong sense of destiny for itself and its children, that parents and friends wished to keep.
The Preshil Parents’ Yahoo Group
This is another way to immediately connect with many of the parent community. You can email the entire group (Everyone, come to the working bee!) or individuals; (Mary, did Peter leave his school bag at your house last night?)
It has features such as a calendar, photo albums, a chat site and an archive of all previous messages. The group is ‘moderated’ which means messages are approved by a moderator (one of fifteen volunteer class reps) before the rest of the group (over a hundred parents and staff so far) receives them.
Join at: http://au.groups.yahoo.com/groups/preshilparents
Or: e-mail Judy Routt and she will send you an e-mail invitation which should simplify the joining process: judy@routt.net
Parent Class Representatives
Each class has up to 3 parents who volunteer at the start of each year to act as class representatives. Some of the task undertaken by class reps have included the development of up to date class lists containing the contact details of each child in the class, the organisation of social events for children and parents in the class and assistance with the organisation of parent initiated activities within the school such as working bees and Doo Dahs as well as assisting with school open days. They can also act as a communication channel between teachers and parents as necessary.