Top tips from Friends of St . Mary ’ s
Supporting your school
Tickets for the laser show sold out in just three and a half hours . It was almost a negative thing in a way . We really panicked because there were so many people still wanting tickets . We were running out of time to get different licenses , so we had to make the decision to either stick to having 500 people and have a disco , or scrap the disco and increase the number of tickets . In the end , we chose to up the tickets .
On the night we felt it lacked something , we needed some form of entertainment . It would have been perfect if we ’ d managed to get a disco in , but we ' ve learned a lot from the 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 .
“ Tickets for the laser show sold out in just three and a half hours ”
We ’ re very lucky with our PTA because the school is fantastic and so supportive . The parents are also really nice . If they can ' t volunteer for any reason , they ' re still encouraging . There are no negative feelings and there doesn ' t seem to be any politics . People are grateful for what we do .
I think of our PTA as a bit of an add-on rather than an essential . The school could run without us . They might not have as much time or money to create great experiences for the children , but the school would still function . Our role as a PTA is to make lovely memories for the children and their parents ."
Is your PTA doing extraordinary things ? Let us know by emailing editorial @ parentkind . org
Top tips from Friends of St . Mary ’ s
1Struggling with volunteers ? Shake up the format We ' ve changed our events so that we need fewer volunteers . There are so many parents who work . I ' m guessing the makeup of PTAs has changed over time and people aren ’ t as available as they used to be – that ’ s why we try to make our events align with working life .
2
Stay in a positive frame of mind You ' re meant to enjoy your children ' s school life , right ? For me , staying positive is really important . I want to have a good relationship with my children ' s school . The minute you start getting into a negative frame of mind , the enjoyment stops .
3
Only take on as much as you can handle It ' s important to have the strength to say no to things . And if there ' s not enough enthusiasm for something , don ' t do it . That ’ s something I think our PTA does quite well . 24 PARENTKIND . ORG SUMMER 2024