Role description

Class parent(s) liaise with teachers and other parents/carers to provide a welcoming environment for all in the school community, to support class teachers as required and to provide a helping hand to the P&C for various school activities. It is a great way to get involved and know what is happening in the school. 

Roles and responsibilities

1. Provide the main point of contact for teachers & parents and distribute P&C and school information 

The Class Parent is responsible for the sharing of information – email is the easiest and most commonly used form of communication, it is therefore important to check your emails regularly and ensure you forward information to all parents within your class. As Class Parents we are there to assist parents with information but we need to encourage them to access via the existing means available. Note, while social media communications such as Facebook/WhatsApp groups may contain school related information, they are not a formal means of communication nor are they controlled/administered by the school or the P&C. 

2. Circulate class contact list and ensure privacy and confidentiality of information 

The Class Parents are responsible for assisting the Class Parent Coordinator(s) in finalising the Class Contact List and circulating to all parents on the list. Please remember that it is voluntary for parents and carers to be on the class list. It is also the responsibility of the Class Parent to advise the Class Parent Coordinator(s) of any amendments to the list. Please note that all contact information is ONLY to be distributed to your class and should any parent not wish to have certain details, e.g. phone number included in the contact list, their privacy is to be respected and the information omitted from the contact list. A parent/carer may also choose to opt out (by emailing their Class Parent) of having their email being visible in email communications and prefer to be bcc’d. If new students join your class, please provide them with the QR code or link https://bit.ly/tps-class-contact  if they wish to be added to the class list. Any edits or additions to the Class Contact List are only to be made by the Class Parent Coordinator and a new list will be issued to the Class Parent for distribution. Please note that class lists are for school and P&C related communication and are not to be used for political issues or marketing promotion. Please remind parents and carers not to circulate the class list outside their child’s class. Also note that if parents/carers later decide that they want to be removed from the class list, they must indicate this in writing by emailing the Class Parent Coordinator: coordinator@tps-pandc.org.au 

3. Welcome new parents and farewell leaving parents. 

We encourage Class Parents to welcome new families to the school and offer any help they can. 

The Class Parents therefore need to ask the teacher to notify them of any new students, so the families can be contacted. They should also be told of any students leaving the school and arrange a farewell if possible. Class Parents are to advise the Class Parent Coordinator(s) so the class contact list can be updated and reissued. 

4. Organise class social events including the end of year class party

Being a friendly school, we like to socialise and therefore organising social events is a nice way of getting to know the parents in our class a little better. Class Parents tend to be the organisers of such get togethers – dinners, morning teas, picnics, play dates in the park etc. We encourage Class Parents to plan at least 1 family or parent catch up in Term 1 but what you do and how often you do it is totally up to the the Class Parent and their class. 

At the end of each year a Class Party will be held.  The date and time for the Class Parties is set by the school (usually during the last week of Term 4), however some classes alter their day and time due to other events.   Please confirm times with your classroom teacher and communicate this with your families so they can plan accordingly.  Discuss with your teacher whether they have any specific plans or needs for the party, such as a theme, food, etc.  You should also organise a collection to purchase a gift for your class teacher.  

5. Organise end of year gift/birthday surprise 

Some Class Parents like to acknowledge a teacher’s birthday with a small gift, cake or flowers etc. Our experience has been that it is preferred to do a small surprise for the teacher’s birthday and a bigger gift for the End of Year/Christmas. Some teachers however do not like to acknowledge their birthday so this is optional. With the End of Year/Christmas gift for the teachers, the Class Parent would request contributions from the class for the gift, make the arrangements to collect these contributions (usually an online collection through a site such as ‘Group Together’), purchase and present the gifts and report back to the class via email on how much was raised collectively and what was purchased. Hampers or vouchers are a great idea, but it depends on your teacher. Note that group gifts which exceed $50 are acceptable to TPS as suitable and in accordance with Department of Education Policy. 

6. Provide support to the P&C Community & Events committee 

There are a number of social and fundraising events that take place throughout the year. Each event is generally assigned to a Year Group to coordinate and manage. Class Parents are essential in ensuring that the relevant Year Group is organised with volunteers to deliver the event and provide support to the P&C Community & Events Team . The Class Parent Coordinator(s) will advise the Class Parents accordingly. 

Reimbursements

Why be a class parent?