Community involvement

Our school values strong partnerships with our families and community. Parents and carers can get involved through our Parents and Citizens Association (P&C) or by volunteering at our school. Your time and support help make our school a better place for everyone.

Parents and Citizens Association (P&C)

Our P&C is a group of parents, carers and school community members. They assist with school planning, fundraising, events and volunteering. Our P&C works in partnership with our school to promote the interests of our school community.

Joining the P&C a great way to meet other families, get involved and contribute to our school's future. We would love to have you on board!

Our P&C

2025 P&C Committee

President - Suzie Stanford

Treasurer - Steve Guy

Secretary - Alison Guy

Contact Email - pandc@narrabeenhs.com

The education and school experiences our children have are important to us all. But it’s often difficult to understand how we can best help or play a part in this.

The Narrabeen Sports High School P&C Association is both a voice and source of information for parents and the wider school community. Our children go through huge changes in their high school years. And, our school will also be going through significant changes over the next few years.

The P&C can be a useful point of contact or way for you to get involved as these changes take place.

P&C Meetings

P&C meetings are a great opportunity to learn about what is happening in the school and have a say on issues and opportunities for our school and students. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month during term time.

We meet in the staff common room in the administration block, starting at 7pm. In addition to agenda issues raised by parents and community members, a member of the school executive gives an update on school matters, plans and developments.

Funding requests from the school and discussions on fundraising opportunities may also be discussed. Please email pandc@narrabeenhs.com if you have any queries or would like any questions, concerns or ideas added to the agenda, for discussion at a meeting.

Funding

You’ll know from your time as parents and carers of Primary School children, that the government funds only very specific things within all schools. Through the continued support of parents and community members, the P&C enhances and supports the quality education and school experiences of our high school students through a number of activities and initiatives.

Some recent examples are funds donated to install classroom air conditioning units to avoid our children being distracted away from learning by the heat in summer and cold in winter; the provision of sports bags for Year 7 students to keep soiled sportsclothes/shoes and school books separate; purchase of experiment materials and equipment to enhance the level of engagement of students in science; sponsorship of drug and alcohol awareness and education workshops for students, parents and teachers; and the improvement of canteen equipment.

Car Boot Sale

Our main fund-raising activity is the quarterly car-boot sale, held on school grounds, on the last Sunday in February, May, August and November each year.

Car Boot Sale Information.

These have been held for many years with great success. Money is raised primarily from stall holders’ fees as well as food and drinks sold on the day. We have also introduced a cake stall at each Car Boot Sale and would appreciate your baked goods! Please click here to sign up with your donation details.

To ensure stallholders and the public experience a well-run market we rely on volunteers to make the day a success. We require helpers for 1-2 hours early in the morning to help direct stallholders to parking areas and set up the grounds.

Emails are sent out to parents and carers in the lead-up to the event with more details. Without parents’ help, these fund-raising activities would not be possible, so please circle these event dates in your diary and plan to help out, at least once during the year.

Facebook

The P&C has a Facebook page it is where we publish meeting dates and information and we have a dedicated email address pandc@narrabeenhs.com if you have any questions or feedback you would like to provide.

In 2025 we would like to grow our P&C membership base (from the current 12 members) so that we can continue to run the P&C effectively and raise money for the school community. We have lots of great ideas but need more hands and bodies to see them come to light.

Emails are sent out once per term and for any other special events.

Volunteer at our school

Helping out at school is a great way to get involved in your school community.

Volunteer opportunities include:

helping in the canteen
getting involved in the P&C
assisting at our Car Boot Sales
gardening at one of our NarraBee's

Get in touch to find out how you can help!

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Parent-teacher interviews

Parent-teacher interviews provide an important opportunity to discuss your child’s progress with their teachers.

Here are some tips to get the best out of your time with the teacher.

Arrange for an interpreter if needed

If you need an interpreter, let us know before the interview. Call 131 450 and ask for an interpreter in your language. The operator will get an interpreter on the line to help you. This service is free.

Do your homework

Take a few minutes before the meeting to jot down any questions or comments you have. Common questions may include:

How is my child fitting in with other children?
What are the children working on now?
Is there anything about my child’s needs that I should know?
Does my child ask questions, participate in class discussions and other activities?
Is my child’s progress satisfactory?
What activities does my child seem to enjoy the most at school?
What kinds of things will the class be doing over the next few weeks?
How is my child progressing in comparison to others in the year?
Is there anything I can be doing to help my child at home?
Do you have any concerns about my child?
What is the best time and way to contact you if I have a concern?

Also, list anything that might be happening at home that may be helpful for your child’s teacher to know. If your child has seen a specialist for example, there may be some information that is important for the teacher or the school counsellor to know.

Go with a positive attitude

Approach the interview with a positive and relaxed attitude. Remember you and the teacher are partners in your child’s learning. Be clear and confident in raising any concerns and allow the teacher to answer or clarify your questions and worries.

Teachers want to help students achieve their best – you’re on the same team.

Walk away with an agreed plan

If the teacher raises issues about your child’s learning, development or behaviour, your goal will be to understand the plan to manage that during the school day and how you can help at home.

For example, if your child is struggling to pay attention in class, a behaviour diary which travels between class and home every day may be a good suggestion. The idea is the teacher updates you with a short, written account of your child’s day, so you can discuss it with your child each evening.

Ask the teacher what sort of strategies they have in mind and how you can help.

Plan to communicate

The parent-teacher interview is not the only time you can discuss your child with the teacher, but many parents and carers find it’s their only opportunity to visit the school. Ask the teacher how you can best communicate with each other in the future. Many teachers make appointments to see or call you outside of school hours. Others find email works well.

Between 8:30am and 3:30pm is non-stop for teachers, and their primary responsibility each day is to teach their students. Teachers can’t leave their class unattended to talk with you so it’s best to come up with a plan to stay in touch.

After the interview

It’s important to discuss the meeting with your child and really congratulate them on their strengths. If the teacher made suggestions of things you could do at home, discuss these with your child and commit to following through with them.

It can be easier to approach the teacher or the principal when you feel part of the school community. Volunteer if you can, or stay connected on social media or online.

Don’t let issues brew

Stay in touch with the teacher and the school. Make contact if a concern arises before or after the parent-teacher interviews. Let the teacher know what your concern is so they can prepare for your conversation. For example if you’re worried your child isn’t making friends, the teacher may want to observe them in the playground before you talk. Or if you’re concerned your child isn’t performing as well as expected, the teacher may want to check last year’s notes, talk to colleagues or review assessment results.

If there’s something happening at home with your child or another family member, it can affect your child’s learning and behaviour at school, so please let the school know.

Get to know child’s year adviser

Once your child is in high school, the year adviser is a great point of contact when you have a question or problem that’s not specific to one subject area. For example if your child doesn’t seem to be on top of their homework (or says they’re not getting any homework) the year adviser would be the person to call. They can have a chat with the teachers involved and get back to you.

The same goes with social problems your child may be having. Year advisers try to get to know all ‘their’ kids on a more personal level and can keep an eye on how your child is progressing.

Seeking more help

If you’ve talked to the teacher and still aren’t satisfied with the outcome, you can always make an appointment to discuss your concerns with the head teacher, year adviser, assistant principal, deputy or principal. You can bring a support person with you to any meeting at the school. If you need the help of an interpreter, let them know when you make the appointment, so they can arrange to have someone on the phone or at the meeting to help you.