School Council

The governing body of the school

The School Council is the governing body of the school. The main areas of responsibility are educational policy, management of the school’s resources (including buildings and grounds), and selection and employment of certain designated staff.

The team is made up of parents and teachers. As a general rule, the School Council determines policy and the teaching staff implement the policy by developing appropriate programs. Through the School Council and its project teams, parents and other members of the school community perform a significant role in the decision-making process. The School Council usually meets at 7.00 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of the month.

The Eltham North Primary School Council operates the following portfolios with project teams who work on specific briefs or assignments. Marketing Policy, OSHC, PFA, Facilities, Uniform, JSC. Members of Council include:

2023 School Council Members

Kristina Chaston
President
Greg Mitchell
Parent Member
Cassie May
Parent Member
Angela Bove
Parent member
Tim Bourke
Parent Member
Daniela Lupeski
Parent Member
Jessica Thomas
Parent Member
Liz O'Keeffe
Community Member
Nicole Ford
Community Member
David Foley
School Principal
Stephen Hayes
Assistant Principal
Tandy Johnson
Assistant Principal
Cara Grant
Staff member

Introducing Kristina Chaston

Adrian Higgins Profile Image

I am mum of Mitchy in Grade 4 and Josh who started Preps this year. I was raised in Eltham and moved back to the area when it was time for the boys to start school. I loved the community and the greenery growing up and wanted my kids to have similar experiences.
I work for a global tech company and I am a Board member for Girls in Tech Australia but I can't fix all your tech problems :)These roles keep me pretty busy so my way to give back is via the School Council. I am keen to support the school and community that has been, and will continue to educate my children.
I would love to hear from parents any time as I'm always happy for a chat, better yet a coffee, and I want to ensure I can represent you all well.



Sub Committees

Ongoing Projects

Executive
A special council sub team that makes decisions on urgent matters that cannot be raised to full council in a timely manner
OSHC
This team oversee the operation of Out Of Hours School Care Program.
Finance
Oversee and controls the finances of the School Council.

Public Relations

Marketing
Association oversee the scheduling of events that actively involve  the  school community with a focus on effective communication to parents and students
Parents & Friends
Organises and implements a number of social and fundraising events each team. Sub groups leaders assist and organise one particular event, ie. the Healthy Fruit initiative

Resources

Facilities
Develops and implements a strategy to maintain the school building and grounds in excellent condition.
Uniform
Oversee the operation of the School Council Uniform Shop.

Education

Strategic Plan
This team oversee the development of the new School Strategic Plan and the production of annual and 4 year report

Standing orders of School Council

More information about School Council can be found on the the Department of Education website.

School Council overview + School Council roles

Finance & School Budgets

Setting up our school budget plan

As we enter our Budget planning cycle for each year ie 2024, I thought you might like to know how we go about this task? Funds are derived from three broad sources:
  • Standard government grants, allocated on a per-student basis
  • Special government grants for defined purposes
  • Revenues we raise ourselves, from voluntary levies and various fundraising activities.

Government provided funds are known as the school global budget. The global budget is used to fund everything you see at the school, with the exception of teacher salaries, which are looked after by the Department. We need to set a budget to cater for classroom materials, library materials, education support, teacher professional development, sports equipment, building and grounds maintenance, telecommunications, utilities, computers, relief teachers,  cleaning, administration support and so on.

The global budget does not include ‘user pays’ activities such as camps,  excursions, services of educational consultants (Speech Pathologist, Occupational Therapists), OHSC . These are funded on an at cost basis from the monies received. As an example, grants received and spent are costed outside our School Budget as a Special Purpose grant based on a successful submission to Federal Government. So this year we hope to install shade sails for playgrounds

Different schools have different approaches to managing the global budget. At Eltham North, it is a collaborative activity between School Council,  staff and Principal, and three broad process as follows:

During September and October, nominated teachers provide estimates of requirements for the various educational programs. The Principal and Assistant Principal provide estimates of other requirements. During September, the Principal prepares a broad appraisal of the indicative budget and corrects anomalies and adds any new inclusions, in consultation with other staff. In October, the School Council Finance Project team review projected revenue and expenditure, proposed adjustments and discuss requirements for family contributions. At this point, the project team is reviewing the current year budget and expenditure. The project team then present a first draft budget to School Council. In November, the project team finalise the budget, which is then presented to School Council for ratification at the November meeting. At this point, School Council approves any deficits or surplus funds.

We use Accrual Accounting procedures. Basically we have to have the $ upfront to be able to fund all programs in the schools. We require clear targets and lock in items to be funded upfront. As in previous years, we aim to achieve a modest surplus which will be transferred to a contingency reserve. In terms of completing the year to year cycle we ensure we demonstrate that Eltham North has really added quality to resource provision for all students. Examples this year include the purchase of $ 5000 worth of new reading books, $10,000 for Interactive projectors in classrooms, $ 40,000 for new Macbook ipads.  The key to our continuing success and achievement is commitment to providing quality resources for the students in our school and I thank the School Council Finance team (including Madison Quinsee (School Bursar), Kristina Chaston School Council President, Tandy Johnson (Co-Principal) Stephen Hayes (Assistant Principal) for their efforts so far this year.

David Foley
Co-Principal