HIS :: Parents

The Parent Organization
The Parent Organization is a group of parents who meet with the school administration—the Director and school principals—once a month to initiate and support, financially and otherwise, activities, projects and programs within the school of an educational, social and sporting nature. It also discusses possible ways in which to support the goals and objectives of the School Board. The Parent Organization holds Newcomers’ Coffee mornings every semester to welcome new parents to the Parent Organization and introduce them to the community and help build a sense of community. It also assists the school community and the community beyond through its outreach program. It provides a valuable forum for parents to become more involved in the school community and foster closer ties between the home and the school. The Parent Organization also encourages parents to share their time, skills and talents with the students, and provides a forum and support for teachers to make this happen.

Who can join the Parent Organization?
Every parent is a member of the Parent Organization. All HIS parents are invited to attend the meetings, which are announced in the fortnightly school newsletter. This is a great way to meet other parents and become more involved with the school community.

How is it structured?
The positions of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer are elected at the commencement of each school year, and they remain in office for the duration of that year. Committees responsible for various projects are also formed within the organization, the representatives of which hold meetings, as and when required, to fulfill their objectives.

Elected officers can hold office for a period of one year, and are elected by ballot at the Parent Organization AGM in May every year. While the new officers are appointed in May, they assume their duties only at the beginning of the new school year in August until the following June. They cannot serve in any one position for more than two years. If anyone resigns during the year, a temporary person is elected to continue till the end of the year.

The Parent Organization meets on a monthly basis, with meetings generally held at 7.30 a.m. on a Wednesday.

Objectives of the Parent Organization:

Facilitate communication between the parents and the faculty of the school.
To enhance parental involvement and, therefore, improve the school community spirit.
To regularly assess the needs of the school community as to where and how the organization can be of assistance through meetings held with the administration and appropriate staff.
To assist in the planning and implementation of special school events (athletic, cultural and musical) through the Events Committee.
To welcome and support new students and their families through the New Parents’ Orientation Committee.
To enhance the school's commitment to Zimbabwe, whether through community service projects initiated by the Parent Organization, or by supporting students involved in such projects through the Community Outreach Committe.

Some recent accomplishments of the Parent Organization include hosting the Newcomers’ Coffee Mornings, water and juice tables at the Fun Runs, Quiz Nights, Scholastics Book Fairs, Flea Markets and Craft Sales, Staff Appreciation Lunches, the Food Fair at the U.N. Day Celebrations, the Mural Painting outside the Nursery Classroom, and supporting visiting teams during the International Volleyball Tournament in 2002.

What the Parent Organization does beyond HIS?
The outreach committee of the Parent Organization works towards supporting local schools and organizations. Recent accomplishments include:

Creating and selling Art Kits that were then supplied to rural schools in cooperation with Colgate
Building a Habitat for Humanity House
Sending advisors to the Batsiranai Project to help mothers with disabled children establish a sustainable embroidered card business.
Supplying Zambuko School in Hatcliffe 2, a squatter’s camp, with textbooks purchased with PO funds.

Who are Class Parent Representatives?
Classroom representatives are a group of parents who have volunteered to be room parents for individual classrooms. They facilitate parent get-togethers to encourage them to get to know each other better and foster a community spirit. They serve as a liaison between the teachers and parents within a class and assist the teachers of individual classes with class events at the request of the teachers or the school. They may also be members of the Parent Organization.

Class representatives serve the all-important role of enriching students' lives inside and outside the class by soliciting parental support for class events and larger school events.

Typically there are two class representatives for each grade level, allowing for a sharing of the responsibility.

The Parent Handbook
The Parent Organization has drafted and made available to incoming families a Welcome to Harare Handbook that is designed to make adjustment to life in Harare a little easier. The book, which is updated on an annual basis, is given to registering parents and is available to the entire community on line.

In addition, the New Parents’ Orientation Committee is working on a Community Resource File detailing specialist services and activities for the whole family in and around Harare. This, along with the minutes of the Parent Organization meetings, will be available for the perusal of all parents in the school library.