Why do you hate the PTA?

I'd have much preferred an opt-out fee. I'll pay £100 a year and then I don't have to volunteer or donate to the individual fundraisers.

I have no idea of the circumstances, but I know that there couldn't possibly have anything accessible "by the community". If it was, then it would have nothing to do with the school, because it couldn't be on school ground or property.
It's not the job of the PTA to raise money for the community (why they want a defib in the first place, I wouldn't know 😂)

At my school we struggled for volunteers so the pta closed down for 2 years. This meant no Easter disco, year 6 pizza party, yr 6 sleep over, summer fayre, Santas grotto and Christmas party. I’ve been on the pta but it was run by a very toxic lady. She wanted me to be flexible and more available than I could be, my husband worked shifts and I had 2 young children. She couldn’t accept some help for some events. She wanted all or nothing from volunteers. I ended up leaving then it folded the year later. It was back up and running a few years later and seemed to be managed by a lovely group of mums and dads.

Exactly, and they can't even sell it for what it's worth.

So you spend £5 on a Baylis and Harding set which was the only thing you could find in the nearest supermarket at 9:30pm, the school sells it to your child for £3, Tesco Express gets £5, the PTA gets £3 and you get to smell like Candy Apple Kisses and Peppermint Wishes. I could have just given £5 to the PTA. But then, my daughter would not have the joy of proudly presenting me with her inexpertly wrapped gift that she lovingly selected from all the other Baylis and Harding toiletry sets because she knows I like Toffee Apples. So I do appreciate them, most of the time.

This was my experience too!

I don’t hate our PTA, they raise money to help with an under funded primary school.

What I do struggle with is that it’s basically just non-uniform day in one guise or another…normally themed which means spending more money!

They also won’t collect cash so a lot of people forget to pay their pound on ParentPay.

I am hoping to be more involved this year though so I’m hoping to put some ideas forward

YABU- our PSA are lovely, they organise the winning house’s end of year treat and various raffles and competitions which make school more fun for the children. It is kind of them to give up their time.

As a parent governor, I am also grateful for the money they raise. This money benefits the children in many ways. It can be used to offset trip costs, buy new books, etc. Our school serves a disadvantaged community, so likewise the second hand uniform sales the PSA organises directly benefits families struggling to pay for new branded uniform items.

This has been my experience of PTA members as well. I was more than happy to volunteer and help out, but the woman on the PTA are so rude and unfriendly, I won't be volunteering again. They also send out emails about lack of volunteers etc - not surprised if they treat everyone the same way. I can usually get along with most people and can make small talk quite comfortably

I had a terrible experience of a PTA. They wanted to raise money to buy a defib, I told them I could get them one for free provided it was accessible by the community, would have cost £500 to run the relevant electric cable. They decided they wanted their own defib, not for public use. This was 2 years ago, I left the PTA, they still don't have a defib. Ridiculous.
I also suggested that we just ask parents, absolutely no pressure, if they would like to set up a DD for £10 a month to the PTA (it's a reasonably well off area). They were horrified at that. I then realised they just wanted busy work, to make themselves important.
It was an absolute farce and I just don't have time for that shit.

My child was often left out of PTA events because she has allergies. Donut sale - all were may contain nuts, cake sale every half term, Easter eggs, even when seeing Santa at the Christmas fair she was given a chocolate Santa that said may contain nuts. Yes I did tell them and yes I did start providing things she could eat, but tbh it pissed me off that she'd been excluded in the first place. What makes me laugh is that every year the school wins and proudly displays a Healthy Schools Award, yet most of the fundraising is based on selling copious amounts of sugar.

This .100%

I don't hate our PTA, but generally ignore them. I don't join because I'm always on the fringes and get the crap jobs, and no one listens to me. It's too hard.

We have a relatively new group, who do irritating fund raisers like colour runs, where the kids get prizes for how much they raise, so pressure you to contribute more or annoy everyone you know to contribute.

Not sure what they do with the money. A few kids out together a cause for a water fountain in the hall and PTA said yes. It's been two years & still waiting.....

lol yes, I had an idea and rather than being a dick and moaning I joined the PTA so I could do it.

It’s also about trying to build a sense of community around the school, and yes it’s mostly for the children and not the parents. My older kids remember their primary school fair very fondly.

I’ve dipped in and out of the PTA over the years and have seen the massive benefit it provides. We’ve raised thousands for electronic whiteboards, iPads, outdoor play equipment, bike racks etc. all of which improve the school experience for the children.

I know people are busy and it’s another thing to remember, and that occasionally there will be over zealous people joining, but mostly the intent is good.

I'm really grateful for our PTA, it's a lot of hard work for little reward. I think they're a little out of touch with the pressures of working parents though as they held all of the events in the last two weeks of term which has been really overwhelming for taking time off etc.

Our pta was fine, put in a lot of time and effort to raise funds to benefit our kids. They would send out a newsletter detailing how the money was spent and engaged with parents and the school for future suggestions.

I didn’t join as I had other commitments but always volunteered and they were perfectly pleasant to all of us making sure there was a rota for all of the jobs.

Not specific to our pta but what did piss me off was the over reliance on parents to fund extras, fine if you are in an affluent area but not so great for those who aren’t, creating a real them and us.

I don’t hate the PTA at all. They did a great job at my DD’s primary school and I’m grateful to the parents who volunteered to do what can often be a thankless task. I’m more annoyed about the limited government funding for schools that necessitates fundraising.

Guilt

People feel guilty that someone else takes on the work, time and commitment to try to improve all the kids environment, so it's easier to hate them than to recognise they can't be bothered. Most people in PTA have full time jobs.

There's also the fake-naive "they ignore me when I gave ideas and suggestions, they are so cliquey!" If you did give ideas AND your time AND a plan to manage said idea, I am sure they wouldn't reject you. Giving ideas and expecting others to do the work is rather silly 😂

Add the "but I give the PTA MY money, they should be bloody grateful!"
Except the money goes to.. YOUR child, the PTA has spent a lot more money and time than you have but carry on.

But we aren't going to buy stuff the school don't need or want?
We do make suggestions to the head and we do sometimes veto requests but it is a partnership and we trust that the teaching staff know what the school needs.

All parents are invited to committee meetings. Very few ever come.
All parents have our email address and could message with suggestions. Very few ever do.

It's a bit nonsensical. The only people they are raising money from really are parents. They have to jump through various loops to raise this money. Normally requires the parents to buy something, donate it, then buy tickets to try and win what they donated.

It would be so much easier and less stressful if you could make cash donations. Which I have donated heavily to with fundraisers. But there's still the passive aggressive disappointment when you can't help with events (even if you physically can't be there). That said, they do raise vital funds and an active PTA generally does indicate that there's some nice things happening.

My DS is only in reception so haven’t had much experience but our PTA seem very nice. They struggle for volunteers because it’s only an infant school (not infant and juniors) so obviously everyone has very young kids.

For school fairs etc they have a really good system where you can sign up online for specific tasks with time slots. E.g. 2.30pm - 3pm set up stalls. 3-3.30pm cake stall etc.
So you can genuinely just sign up for one manageable task, rather than all or nothing.

Our PTA organises a Christmas dinner and has an Amazon wish list for decorations etc so parents can buy from it if they want to. I don’t want to be on the committee but am happy to buy something useful at a price that suits me. I think the neighbouring school do a lot more - trips to Alton towers, discos etc. I’m sure the funding is only as good as the PTA staff.

Yes. This is how ours works.
Charity accounts - shared with everyone who comes to the AGM /subscribes to our email list (very few people do)

Requests come from teachers and are vetted by the Head before coming to us.

Invitation to the committee meetings are open and we always publicise them. Only a few people come but anyone who does is welcome to contribute and vote on what grant requests we fund

We probably should share more info about how we spend the money but we are all working full time and raising children plus battling health issues/volunteering for other things/caring for elderly relatives etc so we limp along doing the best we can with the hours we have and constantly encouraging others to join us. Noone judges those who only come occasionally - we totally get it. But of course those who volunteer regularly get to know each other well

So stop giving the school a say! The school don't own the PTA. The PTA are perfectly entited to spend money as the parents see fit and too many dont listen to the parents and alienate them.

I have huge respect for anyone who volunteers their time to help their kids' school. Organising events and trying to get people to donate is really hard work, and often it's all off the back of the unpaid labour of women.

Yes, sometimes things aren't perfect but I would never begrudge someone else's efforts that ultimate benefit my child, and find it odd that anyone would