Supporting your school |
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Any decisions made away from a meeting( such as via WhatsApp) must be unanimous – so if you make any ad hoc spending decisions, the whole committee must agree. If you’ re not in agreement, it ' ll need to be taken to a face-to-face meeting. |
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Last-minute requests can be frustrating, especially if you had other plans for the money, but to maintain a good relationship and for the benefit of the pupils, you may very well decide to do it. The only time that you cannot is if you raised money for a specific purpose and your supporters were told their contributions were going towards it – in this case, the funds become‘ restricted’ and can only be used as advertised. |
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How do we speak to our members, do we have to go through the school? |
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You can communicate with your members any way you choose. That could be via Facebook, WhatsApp, Classlist, mailing lists – or all of these, just make sure you’ re GDPR compliant. If the school are willing to share PTA activities through their own communication channels, it can really help to get the word out, so it’ s worth asking them.
The school have bought something already and are now asking us to pay for it. Can we do that?
All PTA spending has to be agreed on by the elected committee and has to fit the objectives of
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the association, as stated in the constitution. You are under no obligation to fund something the school has already bought without the knowledge of the committee. If you want to avoid awkwardness and it fits with your objectives, you could agree to this one purchase. However, you then need to make it very clear how spending decisions work, the committee members’ legal responsibility, and that in future anything they would like the PTA to fund does need to be presented in time for the committee to hold a discussion and vote on it.
School staff never help out at events. What can we do?
School staff don’ t need to help out at events if they don’ t want to. You can ask, and perhaps speaking to them directly about it rather than
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waiting for them to step forward will inspire a few new volunteers, but if they say no, don’ t press it. Instead, keep building on your relationships with staff and let them see the value of your PTA. Speaking to the headteacher could also help.
Our Community Advisers are here to help you with all questions about your PTA and your relationship with the school – big or small. Call them on 0300 123 5460, email at info @ parentking. org or book a chat at a time that is convenient for you on our website: go. parentkind. org / bookdedicatedsupport
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Illustration: shutterstock. om / s1mple life. Photography: iStock. com / SolStock |
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PARENTKIND. ORG AUTUMN / WINTER 2025 |