County Durham residents are being given the opportunity to help shape education services for the county’s children and young people.
Three Parent Governor Representatives (PGRs) are needed for Durham County Council’s Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
The committee considers a wide range of issues affecting children and young people, including: their mental health and emotional wellbeing; special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in mainstream schools; elective home education; child neglect; providing the best start in life; child poverty and educational outcomes.
There are also opportunities for applicants to get involved in additional focused pieces of work undertaken by the committee should they wish to do so.
Joanne Norman, who has previously served as a PGR, said: “It has been an extremely rewarding experience for me and has allowed me to see the bigger picture, not just in terms of education but physical and mental health, youth and family services and the local economy.
“It helps put many of the challenges my school faces into a local and national context and highlights the breadth of responsibility the local authority has towards our young people. I would encourage more parent governors to get involved and help provide different perspectives to the committee.”
Anyone applying must have been elected by parents to represent them on a school governing body and must be the parent of a child currently attending a council-maintained school or being educated outside of school with funding from the local authority.
Councillors, anyone employed by the council or at a school maintained by the authority as either teaching or non-teaching staff, and anyone already serving as a PGR for another authority cannot apply for the role.
Cllr Chris Hood, who chairs the committee, said: “Parent Governor Representatives play a key role on the committee and we very much value their input.
“Using their own expertise, knowledge and influence, they are able to influence how the council and our partners can best develop and deliver our services, improving the experiences of our children and young people here in County Durham.”
The committee has six scheduled meetings per year which start at 9.30am and usually finish around 11.30am.
Although meetings are now being held at County Hall again, the successful applicants would need to have access to IT and the internet in case meetings need to be held virtually for any reason.
