Supporting your school are beneficial . We got lots of advice from organisations like Cymdeithas yr Iaith , a Welsh language charity , because our school is a Welsh language primary school and the council wanted us to merge with a dual stream school . Cymdeithas yr Iaith explained how that can be detrimental to the children whose parents want them to learn Welsh . We weren ' t expecting to get anywhere with it , but we thought this was our opportunity to do something , so let ' s just try our best .
“ Parents ’ support was needed in the school ”
We decided to form a PTA . It was a way of putting all the ideas we ' d had for the business plan into action . We wanted to be able to say this is what the school needs , so let ’ s do it .
When it came to the day of the council ’ s decision meeting , we fully expected to close , but they said they ’ d read our proposals and the hundreds of letters people had sent them . They said they had decided to modernise the education plan instead of closing the school ! We were shocked . This is what can be achieved if parents get together and fight .
“ What I enjoy most about being part of a PTA is feeling I ' m making a difference ”
This year we ' ve tried concentrating more on the cost-of-living crisis and have been aware that people haven ' t got as much money . As a PTA , we ’ ve covered a lot of the costs for school trips . I know the school would cover it , but that money needs to be used for other things . So some people pay , and if some people can ’ t , we don ' t make a fuss about it . We ' re not going to leave any child out .
Our big plan at the moment is to make changes to our outdoor space . The yard of the school is quite large , but there are not a lot of outdoor resources . We received £ 150 from the Co-op to do an outdoor reading library , but we would really like to build an outdoor classroom , that ' s the big aim . The outside area is what sells the school to people .
As we ' ve won awards in the last two Parentkind award ceremonies , the council can see how successful we ’ ve been . Getting that recognition is really important for us . It shows we ’ re doing something right and we deserve to stay open !”
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