PTA chair advice...how hard is it?

[QueefMoon]

They’ve asked me to be chair of the PTA and I’m a bit worried about it, can anyone tell me a bit more about it? Is it awful? It’s a mid sized primary.

If you're very good at getting others to help and have a good network amongst the parents it might be ok. I found it difficult to get people to help and if it hadn't been for a core group of volunteers it would have been awful.

I also found it had been run using methods from the dark ages so I had to start Facebook groups etc The banking was all done by going to the bank so I wanted that moved online. It was frustrating because there was loads of stuff that could have been done to improve both the running and the fundraising but you have to draw a line somewhere because ultimately its not your job.

The day I decided to resign as chair was good and felt like a weight off my shoulders! I didn't feel too guilty as I had organised volunteers to run all regular events for the coming year.

I'm chair of ours for the first time this year although I've been a member for 3 years.
The hardest thing is that the previous chair was in for a long time and she doesn't want to let go. I have lots of things I want to change. You need a good committee and also a wider circle of 'friends of' the pta.

I will he cutting my cloth accordingly as we have very few members. I want to make ours more communal and if that means doing different/fewer events then so be it

I am learning the hard way that it's a rather thankless, undervalued role.

Honestly, from a former chair run a mile. You'll have constant criticism, never a thank you and lots of people telling you what you should do, having never bothered to attend a meeting or help at any events.

Run a mile. It's a thankless job. Year after year its difficult to get members to help and join and events are often stressful and include lots of running around with little or no support. I thi k many parents in school take the pta for granted and always moan and criticise when they actually don't help at all.

Can you do a shared chair? It is a lot of work and chasing people to help at events is often a nightmare.

How many people are in the committee who are active?

A good treasurer and a good committee secretary alongside you will help.

It varies a lot, ime.
do you know the people currently involved, are they stable & nice folk?
Wildly nicer job than being chair of preschool committee, mind. I had a baptism of fire there so PTA is a doddle in comparison.

I'm chairman of our PTA in a school of around 200. It's has its peaks and troughs.
Yes you do get dicks stating what you could do differently though they've never attended a meeting or so much as helped pick up a bit of litter after an event.
Ours I wouldn't say is thankless, our headteacher is very grateful for the work we do.
I have an excellent team behind me, this is now my second year and even though it can be hard work I do enjoy it; I get to meet other parents I wouldn't usually talk to and the social aspect of it is pretty good. If you do take over as chair make sure you get a subscription to ParentKind because it's really good for ideas and posters.

I do this for our PTA. I think if it more as coordinating than chairing. Top tips are be realistic in what can be achieved, ignore the moaning - for some people nothing is ever good enough!, don't commit more time or energy than you can manage, try to enjoy it! Our previous PTA collapsed as it became so cliquey it put people off from helping.

Honestly, from a former chair run a mile. You'll have constant criticism, never a thank you and lots of people telling you what you should do, having never bothered to attend a meeting or help at any events.

This. Just this.

Well balls. I thought as much.

Honestly. Hang in there - it'll be fine. Gather a small team you can trust and rely on. Yeah it's hard at times but you'll get a lot out of it.

You know what? There is a good chance that it will be absolutely fine.

It’s important to bear in mind that you (and those around you) are volunteers. Decide how much you are willing to put into the role. If you can, scope out what the PTA is and isn’t responsible for. Running simple events and doing cake sales is actually okay.

What's the rest of the committee like? That's the make or break for Chair being a nightmare or not.

Yes, one thing it might be worth saying is that you don’t need people who talk a lot at the meetings but then never volunteer to help out. If you can make this point in a way that doesn’t put people’s backs up, that would be great.

You need 2 or 3 other committee members who can be relied on to do stuff too.
You need to not over commit to events.

You need to keep a strong eye on costs and pricing. It is very easy for people to over spend and under charge. It is a difficult balance especially in less affluent areas as you need to try to keep this accessible but still money making. e.g. If a disco is going to cost £120 just for the disco person, and you charge £3 a head then you need to be confident you are going to get at least 40 attending just to break even.
We once had a couple on our committee trying to say out summer fair should have all games for free! My view was I wasn't going to put in hours of my time to not make any money / make a loss.

Not all decisions can be made by a committee of 8. You need to have some sort of agreement as to what goes to committee (general direction, what events, spending decisions) and what doesn't (whether to run hook a duck, where to buy glow sticks).

Delegate but expect people to keep you informed. e.g. if Mary says she will buy the 80 glow sticks for the disco, she should text you when bought. And she shouldn't unilaterally buy 300.

Is it wooden or padded?!

I did 12 years
Preferred secondary school.

On year 4 as PTA chair. Accept everyone will say they will help at meetings, accept chances are it will be just you and a couple of others!! I now have it so that we run about 5 events during the year plus school discos and all have now been done so many times that they are almost 'cookie cutter' and can be done with minimum effort. Only delegate unimportant jobs until you know for a fact people will actually do the jobs you ask them too bitter memories of ticketing up a tombola on day of fete that should have been done the week before!!

I do this for our PTA. I think if it more as coordinating than chairing. Top tips are be realistic in what can be achieved, ignore the moaning - for some people nothing is ever good enough!, don't commit more time or energy than you can manage

This. I did it when no one else would volunteer. I was pretty clear:

I would do it with a co-chair who could do more of the active volunteer-getting stuff, but I was happy to chair meetings, do admin-type official name on the newsletter stuff, and no more than 3 evening meetings and 3 afternoon meetings a year.

Year groups organised events amongst themselves. If there were not enough helpers for events they would be cancelled. The responsibility was shared in that sense. Lots of people are really happy to help but do not want their name down 'officially', so if you can utilise that it works. An events committee that reports to you is another way of doing it.

The school is extremely supportive and keen for the PTA to succeed so provide support to pretty much everything suggested.

The secretary and treasurer ran the banking, so never needed to do that.

I think if you are really clear what you can give - and stick to it, don't get guilted into more - then it is possible. I'd ask for a co-chair, though.

re Tombola prizes.

It is amazing how many people just bung tombola prizes randomly on a table rather than in rough ticket order. You'd think it was common sense, but apparently not.

I think it's a totally thankless task to be honest. And everyone will assume you're that parent.

But honestly, I think the absolute key thing to consider is, how good are you at saying 'no'?

I give no fucks at all about being in a meeting and someone saying "oh what a shame, we really need to run X, Y, Z because the children love it' and replying "OK, I cannot spare the time to organise that so will you volunteer to run the event?" If they say no, then I will say the event does not run.

No suggestions without concrete action. If someone says they're running it, they're running it.

Limit expectations of you as chair. Ie you are chair, that means you lead the meetings it does not mean you are personally responsible for every single thing.

I’m co-chair with someone who I think is very well suited to it and happy to do it too, so I think I’ll be be a follower. Treasurer and secretary are there, along with core volunteers who take over lots of the events stuff. I’m no stranger to volunteering and don’t mind it at all.

Perfect - stick as co-chair, then. Honestly, just agree between you what you are each best suited to and then give what you can, but don't get sucked into more that that.