Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
This information has been compiled by our PTA especially for you, as a new family joining our school community. We realise it can be strange and a little nerve-wracking starting at a new school and there always seems to be so many questions to ask. This newsletter aims to provide you with information about our PTA, which forms a major part of school life.
Sophie Hadfield-Richards (Chair)
Jo Goodman (Vice-Chair)
We are fortunate at our school to have a PTA that has been an integral part of the school community for a number of years, and continues to be so. In its time the PTA has raised thousands of pounds, which has been spent on equipment and resources to enhance our children’s education experience and the school’s facilities.
Our PTA is about much more than simply fundraising though. The PTA exists to provide closer links between home and school and it is an excellent way to bring staff, parents and friends together socially in support of the school, working towards a common goal. It is fun too – just ask any of our Committee members or PTA helpers!
Our PTA committee consists of five Officers: Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, and Deputy Secretary, and around 30 committee members.
The Committee meets on a regular basis usually once a month. We realise that it is not always possible to attend regular meetings due to family life and childcare arrangements therefore minutes of all our meetings are distributed so you can still keep up with what has been discussed.
Like most PTAs, the majority of our funds are raised through the events that we run. Some of our most popular events are our Summer and Christmas fairs, but during the year the children look forward to our Autumn and Spring discos. The freshly-made popcorn goes down a treat, not only with the children, but with the adult helpers too!
The fun doesn’t just stop at the kids. We hold two adults-only quiz nights each year, which are always a giggle!
In addition we hold a gift sale for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, giving the children a chance to buy a choice of wrapped gifts.
As you can see, there is always something going on. We always try and respond to the children’s requests; it is great to see them having fun at the events or enjoying using a piece of new equipment that the PTA has donated.
We raise money in other ways too. Donations from parents are extremely important. Donations of time, raffle prizes and offers of services and skills are always gratefully received.
This year we are looking forward to the biggest tombola ever at our Sports Themed Summer Fair. The prize donations we received as a result of the non school uniform day were fantastic.
The money raised from our fundraising events is banked in a dedicated bank account solely for the use of the PTA.
At the PTA Committee meetings, decisions are made on how to spend this money.
We usually have a “wish list” of items from the school. This is generally for resources to improve a particular area of the curriculum or school environment. The PTA funds are spent on the ‘extras’ that the school’s budget does not allow for, thus making our children’s learning experiences so much more fulfilling and exciting.
In the school year 2014/15, the PTA donated the coaches for the Infants’ pantomime trip and Juniors’ cinema trip, and we organised and paid for the Year 5 French workshop, which included a gift of a French dictionary to each child.
Our BIG project for 2016 is to help fund the outdoor/playground area project to make learning more fun.
We are always looking for new members! Why not come along to one of our regular meetings and see what we do? Meeting dates can be found on the PTA notice board by the school office and we usually meet in the upstairs classroom at 7.30pm.
If you are unable to attend the meetings there are still lots of ways you can help and support your child through the PTA.
Helping out at fundraising events or at other times during the year is so valuable. It doesn’t matter if you can’t commit on a regular basis, or even if you cannot come into school to help, there are always jobs that can be done from home if you have half an hour to spare, e.g. wrapping gifts, preparing raffle tickets etc. We couldn’t achieve what we do without our behind-the-scenes helpers.
If you would like to become more involved you can volunteer to be a Committee Member. Or you can simply support the AGM with ideas for fundraising events. If you think that you have any particular skills that can be useful, or any outside contacts who you think would be interested in helping out or donating goods, then please let us know.
Thank you for taking the time to find out more about our PTA. We very much hope to see you at one of our meetings.