The Parents’ Representative Council

The DSJ PRC for 2023
Gillian Schmid, Jizelle Fischer, Susan Bavier, Melanee Bloch von Blottnitz, Ashleigh Francois, Jennifer Gooch, Louise Haggis, Adel MaQuarrie, Ntshebo Nazo, Neelufer Seedat, Andrew Horne (New) and Teresa Schützeichel (New).

What is the PRC?
The PRC is the Parents’ Representative Council. It is the voice of parents within the school, an important link between the parents and the school. The PRC is elected by the class representatives who are in turn elected by the parents of each class on Elternabend (Parents’ Evening) at the beginning of each year.

What does the PRC do?
The motto of the PRC of 2020 is Encourage – Engage – Support, which effectively sums up what we do.

Encourage – we encourage communication, community spirit, and positive growth and development within the school. An example of this is the PRC-run Family Day, a fun, social event which brings the school together to celebrate our community.

Engage – we enable and encourage communication between the various branches of the school (parents, teachers, board, school management). While issues within the classrooms should be addressed directly with teachers, following the procedures explained at the Elternabend (first subject teacher, then subject head, then class teacher, then the phase coordinator, and only as a last resort school management), there are many issues that teachers cannot assist with, such as discussions about school uniforms, school facilities, extra murals, or access to information. Queries like these can be addressed to the PRC on prc@dsjmail.co.za, or submitted to the PRC via your class representative. We will either address the query, or forward it to the relevant staff member to be addressed. We will also represent parents when issues or concerns are raised, especially if these issues are voiced by a number of parents.

Support – the PRC does fund-raising throughout the year (for example through the MySchool Card program) and then uses these funds for the betterment of the school as a whole, for projects that are not covered in the school’s budget. Examples of past and current projects include the learning Centre’s DVD library and magazine subscriptions, sun hats for the incoming grade ones to wear during sport and break times, and sponsoring basar stall prizes. The PRC also supports events like the Open Day by serving teas, coffees, and pastries.

What the PRC cannot do:
While the PRC acts in an advisory capacity to the school on matters of general importance, we do not have the authority to make decisions on behalf of the school. We can facilitate communication, but we cannot enforce any action to be taken. We also cannot pursue every complaint or suggestion made by individual parents. We evaluate every comment or query we receive, and if there is sufficient support within the parent body, we will pursue the issue.

What can you do for the PRC?
The PRC is an elected body, which means that every year parents can have a say on who represents their interests. This is why it is so important that parents attend parents’ evenings. Often, class representatives are elected because they are the only people willing to put their hands up. If you feel strongly about who represents you, then you need to show up, vote, volunteer. If you can, offer to help with school book sales, with Family Day, volunteer as a class rep, or get involved in the school basar. Your involvement benefits not only the school, but your children too!

We welcome all the involvement and assistance we can get. If you have any concerns, suggestions or ideas for improvements that will benefit the school, please let us know via the prc@dsjmail.co.za email address, or by contacting your class rep. The more involved we all are in our school, and the more openly we communicate, the better this school will be!

More information:
More detailed information on the PRC, as well as the role of the class representatives, is contained in the attached guidelines.

Constitution of PRC – Parents Representative Council 2023.03.01
Rules for Class Parent Representatives 2023.06.01

MySchool Information
Application Form