NAFWC42/06 - Guidance for Governing Bodies on the Establishment and Operation of School Councils

Summary

The School Councils (Wales) Regulations 2005 came into effect on 31 December 20051. The regulations require maintained primary (excluding nursery and infant schools), secondary, and special schools in Wales to establish a school council from registered pupils and to hold the first meeting of that council by 1 November 2006 2. Section 176
of the Education Act 2002 requires governing bodies of maintained schools to have regard to this guidance in complying with the regulations. Specifically, this guidance provides information about:

• the purpose of school councils;
• the legislative requirements upon governing bodies and headteachers of maintained schools;
• suggestions for establishing and running school councils effectively;
• arrangements for associate pupil governors for secondary schools; and
• the expectations for schools where there is no statutory requirement to establish a school council.

In addition to this statutory guidance, the Welsh Assembly Government has set up a school councils’ website3 which hosts training materials, practice guidance and sample case studies to provide additional on-going support to schools and pupils.