Northland School Board of Trustees

Community Consultation Policy

Rationale:

The Board of Trustees has an obligation to consult with the wider school community to obtain information, to listen intently, to provide feedback and to act in a way that is consistent with the vision and values of Northland School.

Objective:

To ensure the Northland School community is well informed and is given the opportunity to participate in important decisions, as they relate to the school.

Guidelines:

• The school will have an “open door” consultation process, where both the Board and the Principal can be approached by members of the community at any time to discuss any issue;
• There is an expectation that the wider community will be able to respond and take up the opportunity for input into issues. However, the Board will need to meet its governance obligations and final decisions to issues be made by weighing up the feedback received within the context of the Board’s governance processes;
• To ensure that the school community is well informed and is encouraged to participate in decision making as they relate to issues of the day, the Board will (as appropriate) communicate by:

• Adopting an open door process;
• Inserting notices in the weekly newsletter;
• Providing Board news bulletins following each Board meeting;
• Holding discussion meetings as appropriate; and
• Regularly posting information on the school’s website;

• Where the Board is seeking feedback on issues, which require significant change or such issues are deemed to have a wider impact, the Board will from time to time consult the wider school community;
• Feedback will be sought from the school community as policies come up for review. This will be notified in the monthly Board newsletter. Policies will be available from the school’s website.
• Every two years, the Board will survey the school community on key issues, summarise the feedback and report in a timely manner to the community. Such feedback will prove invaluable to the community with some assurance that they have been listened to and provides the Board the opportunity to set its strategic and annual planning priorities.

Approved: 7 March 2011

Review Date: