STUDENT COUNCIL CONSTITUTION 2023-2024
ARTICLE 1
Name: Student Representative Council, Loreto College, Crumlin. (The use of the term ‘Council’ in parts of this document refers to ‘Student Representative Council’)
Aims and Objectives
Purpose of the Student Representative Council:
• To give students a voice in matters which affect them.
• To provide a channel of communication between the student body, the management, staff and Parents’ Association of the school.
• To work in partnership with the Board of Management, Principal, Deputy Principal and staff in developing school policies.
• To take an active role in the development of Loreto College, Crumlin for the benefit of the whole school community.
• To obtain knowledge of how policy is made and how organisations work
• To establish links with the wider community.
• To learn skills such as teamwork, negotiation, problem solving, engaging with adults as partners.
• To plan a programme of activities to support the educational environment within the school.
ARTICLE 2
Membership
• The Student Representative Council will consist of twelve members.
• Two representatives will be elected from each of the six year groups within the school.
• A Student Representative Council liaison teacher will guide and assist the Council in its work and will liaise with staff.
ARTICLE 3
Election Procedures
• Election of Council members will be held in September each year and those elected will serve a term of two years.
• 1st Year representatives will be elected to the Student Representative Council in October of their first year in the school.
• Each student in the school will have the right to be nominated.
• Each nominee will be proposed and seconded by two students from her year group, names recorded by the current student council representative of the year group.
• Lists of the candidates will be displayed on TEAMS in advance of the election.
• The election will be conducted by secret ballot via Microsoft Forms on TEAMS
• Students will vote for two nominees from within their respective year groups.
• Candidates with the highest number of votes will be elected.
• Term of office will be two academic years.
ARTICLE 4
Structure Officers
• Student representatives will be nominated and elected to the following offices: President, Vice-President, Chairperson, Vice-chairperson, Secretary (2), PRO (3), Treasurer (2) and Announcer (1).
• Powers and duties attaching to each office will be outlined in the Student Representative Council Guide. [See Article 5: Duties of Officers].
• A member of the teaching staff will act in a liaising role between the Student Representative Council and the Principal and staff and will report back to staff at staff meetings. The liaising teacher will offer advice and support and will facilitate training for the members of the Student Representative Council. The liaising teacher will also assist the Council in the organisation of elections to the Council.
• All Council members will be elected representatives and will have the responsibility to use their voice for the good of the school.
• The Principal shall be the final arbiter in all decisions relating to the Student Representative Council.
Removal from Office
• A member may be removed from office by a majority vote of the Council members. Reasons for this may be poor attendance at Council meetings, failure to perform required duties or failure to follow school rules.
• When a representative fails to attend three meetings having offered no apology or reasonable excuse, she will be given a minimum of one week’s notice of the proposal to remove her from office and she will be allowed to address the Council. The removal of a member from the Council must be voted upon by at least two thirds of the Council membership.
Committees
• The Student Representative Council reserves the right to form committees and sub committees as required.
Meetings
• All Council members are expected to attend all meetings.
• The Liaison Teacher must check in during meetings fortnightly.
• Meetings will take place fortnightly at lunchtime.
• An agenda will be posted on TEAMS in advance of each meeting by the announcer. The meeting date and time will also be posted on TEAMS by the announcer.
• Items may be added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting by a majority vote of members.
• An attendance record will be kept and minutes taken by the secretary and saved on Teams
• All discussions must take place through the chairperson and all members will get an equal say.
• All decisions must be voted on.
• A vote on any issue can only take place when a quorum (half of Council membership plus one – 7) is present.
• The representatives are encouraged to discuss the agenda before each Council meeting and to provide feedback to the year group after the meeting has been held.
• All issues raised at Council meetings must be treated with respect and confidentiality. No individual student or member of staff may be discussed at meetings by members of the Council.
Amendments
• This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds majority vote of the Student Representative Council members. Amendments are subject to approval by the Board of Management
ARTICLE 5
Duties of Officers
Roles and Responsibilities of all members:
• Represent your year group on the council.
• Attend all council meetings – if you miss more than three meetings
without a valid excuse, you may lose your student council position.
• Communicate information from meetings to your year group.
• Bring issues affecting your year group to the attention of the council.
• Inform the chairperson via Teams if you are unable to attend meetings and why.
• Help run student council activities.
• Have the Teams app on your phone and notifications for the Student Council Team turned on. Check Teams regularly for information on meetings.
• If an election is needed in your year group, you take a list of the names of those who would like to be on student council and give it to the president.
Specific Roles
President:
• In charge of the student council.
• Calls weekly meetings and post information about same on Teams.
• Ensures as best they can that everyone does their jobs/roles.
• Informs the liaison teacher (Ms Murphy) of the work of the council.
• Brings issues (if any) in relation to the council to the liaison teacher.
• Organises student council elections via Microsoft Forms.
Vice-President:
• Helps the president with their duties.
• Assumes the role of president whenever the president is unavailable.
• Runs student council elections – getting classes to vote via Forms by asking the class teacher to post the Forms link on the class Teams page.
Chairperson:
• Chairing meetings – this means ensuring everyone has a chance to speak and share their opinions, ensuring that one or two people don’t dominate the meeting, inviting people to speak if they have not had the opportunity to speak.
• Taking the roll at meetings.
• Receiving and noting messages on Teams of who cannot attend meetings.
• Informing the rest of the council of the reasons why members can’t attend if this occurs.
Vice-Chairperson:
• Helping the chairperson with their duties.
• Assuming the role of chairperson whenever the chairperson is unavailable.
Secretary:
• Taking the minutes of every meeting – this involves typing up the names of those who attended the meeting, a summary of what happened at the meeting or what was discussed, what jobs people were assigned and what the council intend to do at the next meeting.
• Writing the date on the minutes and uploading them to the minutes folder on the Student Council Teams.
• Reading the last meeting minutes aloud at the start of the next meeting to remind members what was discussed.
Vice-Secretary:
• Helping the secretary with their duties.
• Assuming the role of secretary whenever the secretary is unavailable.
Treasurer:
• In charge of fundraising.
• In charge of student council funds – raising funds, counting funds, keeping a record of funds and handing the funds to Liz Brady in the office to put in the safe. Do not bring any funds home and always hand all funds over to Liz.
• Ensuring the council has enough funds to pay for things they want in the school, and ensure the budget is followed and nothing is purchased if the council doesn’t have enough money.
Vice-Treasurer:
• Helping the treasurer with their duties.
• Assuming the role of treasurer whenever the treasurer is unavailable.
PR – Public Relations
• Three students do this role.
• Making posters informing the school of student council activities.
• Taking photographs of student council events and sharing them with Ms Murphy for social media.
• Writing blurbs (summaries) of student council events for social media and the student council notice board.
• Maintaining and decorating the student council notice board.
Announcer:
• Keeps an eye on Teams and notes when the president calls meetings.
• Announces reminders about student council meetings on the intercom or asks Ms Dillon to make the reminder announcements.
• Goes on the intercom to inform the school of student a council activities when needed.
Liaison Teacher
• Assigning the different roles (eg. President / Chairperson etc) to members. Members hold the role for a year.
• Checking in with the student council. The student council is a student-led initiative, designed to give students more responsibility and to develop their leadership skills. It is a student-led initiative, the liaison teacher acts only as a guide.
• Contacting agencies outside school on behalf of the student council.
• Making purchases on behalf of the council.
• Reporting student council activities to staff.
• Bringing issues from staff to the attention of the student council.
• Bringing issues from the student council to the attention of staff.
• Bringing school policies to the student council for review.
• Advising and guiding the student council if needed.
• Linking in with the Student Council president and aiding them with any issues if needed.
Sample structure for how a meeting does:
1. Chairperson welcomes all members and takes attendance and reads out the reasons certain members, if any, can’t attend.
2. Secretary notes the attendance in the minutes.
3. Secretary reads the minutes from the previous meeting to remind everyone what was discussed.
4. Members discuss new issues, if any, brought to them since the lastmeeting.
5. Members discuss/work on/create a plan for student council activities/initiatives.
6. President assigns work to be done by the next meeting by different members.
7. Members note what work needs to be done in the next meeting/things that need to be discussed at the next meeting.
8. Secretary summarises all that was discussed in the minutes and uploads them to the minutes folder on Teams.
Structure of the meeting minutes:
Student Council Meeting Minutes
Date:
Members present:
Members absent and their reasons for absence:
Summary of things discussed at the meeting (in bullet points):
• Example
• Example
• Example
Work to be done before next meeting, what jobs were assigned and who they are assigned to (in bullet points):
• Example
• Example
• Example
Things to be discussed or worked on at the next meeting (in bullet points):
• Example
• Example
• Example
