Each site's council has to hold meetings. Meetings are central to working on a council. How they are run and how often they are held can be different for each site (preschool/school).

Types of meetings

There are four types of meetings for councils:

1. ordinary meeting 
2. annual general meeting (AGM)
3. general meeting
4. extraordinary meeting.

To run each of these meetings you will need the site governance guidelines (PDF 353KB).

Ordinary meeting

This is the usual meeting of a council. It’s where the core business happens. You’ll have a chance to talk about any issues on the agenda and also talk about the site improvement plan and the site budget.

• who comes – all council members
• when – at least twice a term, but can be different for each site
• let people know – 7 days before, in writing
• what happens – normal business discussion and formal decision-making.

Annual general meeting (AGM)

• who comes – people from your site’s community and all council members
• when – once a year, only after the annual report and financial statements are released
• let people know – 14 days before, in writing
• what happens – hold the council election or announce the results, and a chance to talk about how well the council is doing.

See the annual general meeting page for more information.

General meeting

• who comes – people from your site’s community and all council members
• when – irregular and in response to a specific and unusual issue
• let people know – 14 days before, in writing
• what happens – a chance to talk about a specific problem and how to deal with it.

Extraordinary meeting

• who comes – all council members
• when – rare, irregular, and often in response to a special resolution
• let people know – 21 days for special resolutions, otherwise just reasonable notice (in writing)
• what happens – talking about and voting on the special resolution.

School councils – the difference

The key differences between school council and governing council meetings are:

• who must call and chair general meetings:
  • school council – the site leader (principal/director)
  • governing council – the council chairperson
• only governing councils can hold general meetings by teleconference (or online).