Sahel EDU

How to prepare and run a class council: documents, running order and everyone’s role

The class council meets at the end of each term. It analyses the class results, looks at each student’s situation and decides on distinctions, work sanctions and, at the end of the year, on promotion. It works well when the figures are ready before the meeting, everyone knows their role and the decisions are written down. This guide gives the documents to gather, a running order in seven steps and the points to watch.

What the class council is for and when it meets

The yearly order provides for a class council at the end of each term, chaired by the head of school or a senior colleague. It examines indicators: coverage of teaching hours, coverage of the syllabus in each subject, student attendance, pass rate in each subject, the class general average and recurring teaching problems. Reports and follow-up sheets go to the regional delegation within eight days.

In primary school, the class or level council is chaired by the head teacher and examines the same indicators. The class council is not the disciplinary council: it judges the work, and serious misconduct belongs to the disciplinary council.

Before the meeting: the documents to gather

A meeting where the figures arrive during the discussion takes a long time and decides badly. Gather the documents a few days earlier, and hand them to the members with the invitation and the agenda.

The marks of every subject, entered and validated, with the teachers’ summary sheets.
The averages and ranks of each student, calculated once for the whole class.
The class figures: average, highest and lowest average, pass rate, breakdown by bands.
The pass rate in each subject; below 40%, remediation is compulsory under the 2026-2027 order.
Attendance: hours of absence, excused and unexcused, late arrivals, attendance rate (alert threshold: 75%).
Coverage of hours (threshold: 80%) and of the syllabus (threshold: 70%).
Individual situations: at-risk students, discipline files, requests from families, proposed distinctions and work sanctions based on the school’s thresholds.

How a meeting runs, in seven steps

Allow the same time for every class, and keep to the agenda. The form teacher is the rapporteur: they present the class, and the teachers add to it.

Opening: check who is present, appoint a secretary for the meeting, remind everyone that discussions about students stay confidential.
Overview: class average, pass rate, attendance, working atmosphere.
Subject by subject: each teacher comments on the results and the difficulties, and proposes remediation where needed.
Students to examine: the best, those whose results are falling, those in difficulty, with the views of teachers and student representatives.
Distinctions and work sanctions: the council confirms or corrects the proposals drawn from the thresholds.
Measures: remediation, summoning parents, the disciplinary council if the facts warrant it, orientation at the end of the year.
Conclusion: reading of the decisions and of the minutes, then signatures.

Everyone’s role

The exact make-up of the class council is set by a 2001 decree that we were not able to read in full. The practices described below should be confirmed against your school’s rules.

The head of school or the deputy head chairs, gives the floor and decides if there is disagreement.
The form teacher reports on the class, writes the general comment and hands over the endorsed correspondence book.
The teachers of the class comment on their subject and propose measures.
The senior supervisor brings attendance, late arrivals and conduct.
The guidance counsellor informs the orientation proposals, above all at the end of the year.
The student representatives and the parent representatives (PTA) express the views of their groups, according to the rules.

Term decisions and year-end decisions

At the end of a term, the council settles the distinctions (honour roll, encouragement, congratulations), the work sanctions (warning, blame) and the remediation measures. Its decisions are entered on the report card and in the minutes.

At the end of the year, it decides on promotion: admitted, admitted on condition, repeats, oriented, excluded. It does not decide on the average alone: a Form 4 student admitted but without the BEPC does not move up to the next cycle, and a sanction for serious misconduct belongs to the disciplinary council.

A decision is reasoned, especially when it departs from the proposal drawn from the average.
It applies in the same way to all students in the same situation.
It is written before the end of the meeting, not reconstructed afterwards.
The family finds it on the report card: it must therefore be legible there.

What Sahel EDU prepares for the council

The “Term council” screen of Sahel EDU shows the class for one period, with students listed by rank and the average brought back to a mark out of 20. It proposes the distinctions and work sanctions from the school’s thresholds, never proposing a distinction after a blame or an exclusion for conduct in the period. The council confirms or corrects, its decisions are recorded and printed, and closing the council freezes the averages and ranks of the period. A head of school can reopen a closed council to correct a mistake; the reopening is entered in the log.

The “Official indicators” screen shows, for each class and each term, the four thresholds of the order (hours covered, syllabus covered, attendance, pass rate by subject) in red, orange or green, and prepares a summary to copy into the official form: Sahel EDU sends nothing to the delegation. At the end of the year, the council cannot be closed while a student remains without a decision. Sahel EDU does not convene anyone and does not write up the discussions.

Frequently asked questions

Who chairs the class council?

The head of school or a senior colleague, under the yearly order; in primary school, the head teacher.

Who attends the class council?

According to the practices described: the head of school or the deputy head, the form teacher, the teachers of the class, the senior supervisor, the guidance counsellor, student representatives and parent representatives. The exact make-up depends on the rules; the reference decree could not be read in full.

Can the class council change a mark?

No: it analyses the results and decides on distinctions, work sanctions and promotion. A data entry error is corrected before closing, following the school’s procedure.

When does the class council meet?

At the end of each term, and a last time at the end of the year for the promotion decision.

Can I try this council preparation on my own classes?

Yes. The free trial lasts 30 days, with no commitment. The price is then negotiated with each school and can be read on the Pricing page.

Try Sahel EDU for free

Try Sahel EDU free for 30 days, no commitment. Afterwards, the price is negotiated with your school and confirmed in writing.

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