Parents and community members are encouraged to play an active role in the education of their children. Queensland state schools value the partnership of parents in helping to enrich learning opportunities for students.
Keeping informed
The department provides many formal and informal opportunities for parents to find out about their children's progress at school.
Some of these include the following.
Reports on student performance
Schools provide reports to parents to inform them of their children's progress. All schools are required to provide parents with a written report on their child's performance at least twice a year.
Use of images and recordings
Parents and carers may be requested for their
permission for images and recordings of their children to be used on departmental websites. The department may also request
permission for early childhood images and recordings to be used in promotional materials supplied to approved early childhood services in Queensland.
School annual reports
All schools must publish a minimum set of information for parents and the community to read.
This publication must be accessible on the school's website. The information includes:
- distinctive curriculum offerings
- extracurricular activities
- staff development priorities
- social climate of the school, including pastoral care programs
- strategies used for involving parents in their child's education
- reading, writing, and numeracy results for Years 3, 5 and 7 must be published, including the average score for the school
- a range of information about the performance of Year 12 students from the previous year.
Newsletters
Many schools produce regular newsletters to inform parents, caregivers and community members about school activities, developments and initiatives.
Letters
Schools often communicate information about specific issues relating to a student by way of a personal letter, usually sent home with the student. Personal appointments – Parents are encouraged to meet with any staff member at a mutually convenient time at their child's school to discuss relevant issues and concerns. Every school must offer parent-teacher interviews each semester.
Parent–teacher nights
Schools may hold these nights at the start of the year to discuss class or year programs with parents. There are also other opportunities, such as parent-teacher interviews, to talk about issues or concerns and to ask how children are performing and progressing at school.
schools + parents magazine
The department's
Facebook,
Twitter and
YouTube accounts promote departmental initiatives and events and provide a range of information to schools and the general public.
schools + parents online
schools + parents online is a free monthly e-newsletter focusing on current and upcoming news, events, education programs and policies for parents of Queensland state school students.
Becoming involved
School activities
Parents can be involved in a range of school activities such as assisting in the classroom, helping with excursions and camps or offering their expertise to help organise extracurricular activities such as sports carnivals and musicals.
School councils
Some schools have a school council that plays a more formal role in setting the future direction of the school. Parents are represented on every school council and are elected every 2 years. See
School Council Handbook for details.
Community participation officers
Community participation officers based in district offices, and school-based workers such as parent liaison officers, focus on increasing parent and community participation in schools.
Parents and Citizens' Associations
State schools offer opportunities for parents to join a Parents and Citizens' (P&C) Association. These associations are involved in a variety of school activities from policy to financial planning as well as tuckshops, fundraising, school functions and out-of-school-hours care.
Tuckshops
Most state schools have a canteen or tuckshop staffed by parent volunteers. The Queensland Association of School Tuckshops (QAST) is a non-profit, community-based organisation developed to assist tuckshop workers and school communities to provide great-tasting and healthy foods.
The service to members includes regular magazines, special events specifically for tuckshop workers, support for the Smart Choices strategy and advice on tuckshop management issues including volunteer workforce strategies, menu development, pricing, healthy food ideas and marketing. For more information, visit
the QAST website or phone (07) 3324 1511.
P&Cs Qld
P&Cs Qld is a statewide organisation representing P&C Associations. Members can help shape P&Cs Qld policy and have their views represented at state and local levels. P&Cs Qld is represented on a number of key education bodies, including the Queensland Studies Authority Board and the Queensland College of Teachers.
Making a complaint
During the course of your child's school years, you may have cause to make a complaint about an issue you feel is adversely affecting your child's education.
Education Queensland is committed to ensuring that all complaints—whether they relate to a school staff member or a school's operations—are dealt with in a fair and equitable manner.
For more information, visit our
compliments and complaints page.
A role for parents and citizens' associations
Parents and guardians may sometimes feel overwhelmed when approaching a school or the department with a complaint. While P&Cs Qld does not advocate on behalf of individual parents or caregivers, individuals can request their own P&C Association to provide support in these circumstances.
Complaints about services that are run or managed by the P&C at your school, for example, after-school care or tuckshop, should be directed to the P&C in the first instance.