Margaret is the chair of the National Parent Forum of Scotland, appointed to the role in September 2020.
Margaret has been the NPFS representative for the Falkirk Council area for the last 10 years, and has also served as a Vice-Chair of the NPFS 2019/20. In her considerable time with the NPFS Margaret has represented parents’ at the Curriculum and Assessment Board, the First Minister’s Reading Challenge, the Education Leadership Forum, and workstreams on the Covid-19 Education Recovery Group.
Margaret has also made a considerable contribution in her role as Chair of the Falkirk Area Parent Forum. Margaret hosted a successful online Q&A, posing parents’ questions about the return to school to Officers of Falkirk Council. Margaret was also instrumental in representing parents during critical budgetary changes within her Local Authority. This in turn encouraged other Local Authorities to ensure that the views and experiences of children, young people, and their families are at the forefront of their minds when making policy and budgetary decisions. Margaret’s championing of the Voice of Parents in the Falkirk Area was acknowledged in 2018 with an invitation to the Queen’s Garden Party in Holyrood.
As a mother to three children of both primary and secondary age, Margaret is well placed to understand the rewards and challenges of parenting, and her family are kept busy with lots of out of school activities.
Margaret is supported by a strong Leadership Team made up of four Vice-Chairs – Cheryl Burnett (South Lanarkshire), Fiona Nicholson (Shetland), Susan Bell (South Ayrshire), and Barrie Sheppard (North Lanarkshire). Between them the leadership team have over 30 years of experience as representatives for the NPFS, and throughout this time they have both witnessed and been involved with an exceptionally wide range of changes and challenges to Scottish Education.