Our School Board

Village School is overseen by the school board, which is responsible for managing the business affairs of the school.

The school board

The Village School Board is an elected representative group of parents and teachers.

It is an advisory body for the school community.

The Board’s main function is to advise on school policies about whole school matters and to be involved in the management of school finances, facilities and future directions for the school.

The board is responsible for ensuring that Village School:

• Continues to operate in a financially sound manner
• Complies with the requirements for independent schools as set out by the federal government, which includes following:
  • the Rule of Law,
  • being inclusive, and
  • reporting back to parents with reference to benchmarks in the Victorian curriculum or A.C.A.R.A.

For practical reasons, the day-to-day operations of the school are delegated to the Principal and Business Manager while the strategic decisions are overseen by the Board.

The Principal, together with the teaching staff, is responsible to the Board for:

• Setting and implementing the curriculum
• Writing educational policies
• Implementing the policies set by the Board
• Managing the school on a daily basis

Meetings of the school board

The school board meets monthly to discuss current school performance and make decisions on strategic matters.

All parents are most welcome to attend and participate.

Bringing a matter to the board

If you have an item you wish to present or have discussed at the Committee of Management (CoM) meeting, please send an email to the Village School Office on admin@villageschool.vic.edu.au seven days prior to the meeting for inclusion in the agenda.

The Annual General Meeting

The school’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held in the middle of the year.

This is the time when elections are held to fill vacancies on the Board and the previous year’s activities are reviewed.

All parents are encouraged to attend the AGM, to understand the school’s future plans and vote on their preferred representative group.

Parent participation in the Board

Parents are welcome to attend all board meetings and participate in the discussions and decision-making process.

Parents are also encouraged to consider whether they have the skills to participate as a Member of the Board and to nominate to be part of the Board.

The Board includes a parent representative, along with a number of roles that parents may be able to step into.

If you’re interested in participating in the school board, or even just attending meetings regularly, we’d love to hear from you.

Upcoming board meetings

Please feel free to attend our board meetings on any of the dates listed below.

You can also see any updates from the board on our news page.

Our current board members

Village School is fortunate to have a highly skilled group of board members who have all held relevant positions of authority in their other lives. The expertise they bring to the school is a welcome support for the principal and the teachers. The board is comprised of the principal, a staff representative and the following members.

Chairperson

Ray Yates was a School Principal at Monbulk Primary School for over 28 years and in that role his special interests included instigating and running workshops on the formative assessment model, setting up a Stephanie Alexander garden and working with Richard Gill on music education. Ray has also had a high profile in the outer eastern community, having also been a Shire Councillor for 21 years and Shire President twice. His understanding of both education and local government is invaluable to the school.

Vice Chairperson

Pamela Taylor-Barnett first practiced as a lawyer and a community development worker with her expertise being in social justice, professional legal ethics and values and online learning. She currently teaches in a practical post-graduate law program where she is involved in learning design, assessment, teaching and research. Pamela served as a treasurer at her children’s Kindergarten for two and a half years before becoming a current parent at Village School. She is a strong advocate of the Village School Philosophy.

Treasurer

Keith James comes to the board with experience in both accounting and law. Although retired, he continues to sit on boards and work for the law firm Hall and Wilcox, whose specialty is “Workplace biometric scanning: Emerging issues in employment law.” Keith also has a personal interest in the school and its philosophy as his two grandsons have been students at the school.

Bursar

Trish Lamb is currently the Village School Bursar and is responsible for the financial management of the school. Prior to July 2019 she was the Accountant at Queen’s College, University for 10 years and prior to that was self-employed. Being already familiar with educational institutions Trish brings some very sound skills for managing the finances.

Co-opted Member

Ian Bentley brings a wealth of educational experience to the board. He started as a science teacher and an educational administrator in state, Catholic and Independent Schools. He became Vice Principal of Kingswood College and then spent 15 years as a Lecturer in Education in both La Trobe and Deakin Universities. He was also vice president of the Science Teachers Association of Victoria and has held several roles with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Ian also has a personal interest in the school as his grandchildren are Village School students.

Parent Rep

Amy Buchanan has been a parent at Village School since 2012 when her oldest was supposed to start Part Time Prep but loved it so much that he transitioned to full time prep two weeks into the term. Outside of school she splits her time between bringing up her three boys and working as a data analyst. Amy was attracted to Village School for its philosophy that each child learns at their own pace, as well as its focus on growth and learning within as well as outside of the classroom. She has come to appreciate the included access to the rain, puddles and even the subsequent mud! Being in her eighth year as a parent and with one son now in high school, Amy is a very good choice for parent rep.

OH&S Rep

This role is currently vacant. If you are interested in the role, or would like more information, please contact the office on 03 9726 4766

More about our school

To learn more about our vision for our school, please see:

About Village School We choose to be an independent, secular and non-denominational, co-educational primary school, providing an empowering alternative to mainstream education. Read more »

Our Vision and Mission We aim to create a school where children are valued and heard, that balances academics with real life experiences, in order to prepare children for life. Read more »

Strategic Plan Through our strategic and school improvement plans, we continue to fulfil our mission to inspire our students to become resourceful, independent learners. Read more »