Supporting your school
common is our children go to the same school , so we try to show how fun it is for parents to participate – all whilst trying to communicate how the funds we raise enrich their children ' s school journey .
“ It is a longstanding tradition that some of our funding is used to support families in need ”
We then discuss how the rest of our funds could support our children ' s experience at school . We have found allocating money in wider categories rather than listing specific items works best – such as ‘ library upgrade ’ or ‘ sports equipment ’ – as things can and do change during the year .
For example , last summer the school was rather unexpectedly in need of a new ecology shed . We would have hated to be unable to support this just because it was not part of our initial conversations .
“ There is only so much we can do as we ' re all working parents ”
Our team lost two key members over the summer . We ’ re organising fewer activities but have put a lot of thought into how they can be improved . We ’ re combining our bake sales with our book bazaars , for instance , making it easier for families ( fewer dates to remember ) and class reps ( fewer events to recruit volunteers for ) and hopefully it ’ s more exciting for the children too .
You can ’ t underestimate the importance of continuity in a PTA , especially if you ’ re the one taking over . We found this out the hard way . We were all appointed post- Covid . With 18 months of virtually zero events , a new headteacher after 19 years and getting caught in the middle of changing banks , we had to start from scratch on nearly everything . As we were all new to
this , it took a long time and effort to get our heads around how everything works .
“ I ' ve got to know some incredible people ”
Many of whom I am now lucky to call my friends . And although our events don ' t ' just happen ' and there is often a lot of work behind them , as parents we all want our children to have the best possible school experience .
Seeing so many smiles when one of our activities takes place – and knowing how much children look forward to it – makes it all worth it .”
“ I ' m grateful for every penny we raise for our school ”
PARENTKIND . ORG SPRING 2024 23