Running your PTA

When running a PTA , you ’ re bound to encounter challenges – and that ’ s where we can help . At Parentkind , we have a dedicated team of advisers , headed up by our PTA Community Manager , Clare . With 23 years of experience and a wealth of knowledge to share , she offers her straight-talking advice on your issues

Can we use a WhatsApp group for making committee decisions ?

Please don ’ t ! Your constitution will state that decisions are made at a meeting by a majority vote of the committee members . If you have to resort to an ‘ in writing ’ decision , this would have to be a unanimous vote , not a majority vote , as you are taking away the opportunity for debate at a meeting . WhatsApp groups can be a murky place at times , with people taking offence when none is intended .

How do our members get in touch with us ? We ’ re a big secondary school so don ’ t see each other in the playground . We don ’ t really want to give out personal email addresses .

The best thing to do is set up a PTA email address that your committee members can access and monitor . That way there ’ s one easy point of contact for your members , plus you can use it for your Charity Commission account and other associations you work with . If you set one up , please let us know using the contact details on the next page so we can add it to your records for newsletters and renewal documents .

16 PARENTKIND . ORG SPRING 2025