What kind of person becomes head of PTA

[Ohwerewatchingfrozenagainarewe]

Would you say, in general?

I was surprised about someone I loosely know, when they told me they were, I really wouldn’t have them down as being that type, but maybe I being far too judgemental!

The head of ours is bloody awful. Bossy, a real busy body, wants to know everyone's business then gossips it to anyone who'll listen, virtue signals all over social media, but is well known for being a complete bully. I and lots of others left the PTA because of her and the poor school is constantly trying to recruit, only for new take ups to leave swiftly. She's been head for years and has single handedly managed to destroy what used to be a wonderful, supportive and productive group.

Our PTA head is exactly like the movies; very intense and I try to give her a wide birth. She’s less bitchy (from what I have seen so far) but I also wouldn’t put it past her. Definitely not someone I would be friends with

Ha ha - me! Very funny to read what I'm allegedly like.

I did it as I had taken time out of work to have the kids, wanted to help out at school and also, from a selfish point of view, was great to get my confidence back before finding a job.

It was hard work but very satisfying and I loved it. Made some great friends.

@ImInACage can't you vote her out?

I'm chair of the PTA because no-one else wanted to be. I have a FT corporate job as do the rest of the tiny committee. Most of the stereotypes are awful although will admit to being a bit bossy. My DC is in the school for a few more years still and I just wanted to help organise some fun things.

If anyone's to be wary, I'd say they need to be wary of you.

You seem to have a weird perception of people who are kind enough to give up their time, to benefit others.

My child’s school pta are a mixed bunch some don’t work some are nans with extra time some have kids at the school and want them to have a good experience. In my opinion they are really good they raise a lot of money for the school and do lots of events discos , fairs, fates. I work in a school who don’t have a pta and you see the difference they don’t have extra funds to do anything , no discos no events, pta money can help with paying for school equipment all sorts to improve the school.

I was the PTA Chair at my DS’s school when he was in primary. I worked full time, but did school pick up on a Friday, so caught up with people quickly then.

I was asked by the Head teacher to get involved. She knew that I was very organised, had a can do attitude, was good at networking and could always talk people (politely) into doing stuff. Whilst I was very efficient, I was always mindful that everyone had busy lives, some people struggled to get organised, some had no money and some (tiny few) thought being on the PTA made them VIP’s. You have to be good at managing different types of people and personalities and not get drawn into bitching.

I really enjoyed it, but then my DS went to senior school and I got involved there with careers advice and events. That is part of my day job in HR, so wasn’t difficult.

In my case, someone who can’t say no when their friend asks them to take over from her.

I think you're rather goady and were looking for a bitch-fest at the usual lazy stereotype. It's a thankless task with very little reward, usually served by an amazing parent prepared to help plug the gap in government funding whilst dealing with often petty gripes from parents who'd never volunteer themselves. HTH.

It's a post nobody wants so I would say somebody who can't say no effectively. Someone who feels someone has to do it and can see nobody else is going to. I've ended up reluctantly saddled with many similar posts, giving up so much free time to do something I didn't want to do so I would bloody hope nobody is 'judging' me for it. I resent the loss of time with my family enough as it is.

Our PTA in secondary school are an amazing bunch of people. Our chair is a lovely man who truly cares about the school community.
I joined in Y7 and am a very much involved person of the team. I help to recruit new parents and my selling point is, you will get to know the teachers. Nothing gets past me about my Son, Good or bad. The teachers will just pull me aside with feedback!

Head of PTA at my children's school completely fits the negative stereotype- authoritarian, cliquey, rules by fear... BUT- she is an amazing fundraiser and has done a lot for the school! I can't help but respect that even if she has alienated a lot of people.

Where I work, for many years it was a woman who many people found annoying. She was quite outspoken, never hesitated to point out where the school might be in the wrong but she was a formidable organiser and always managed to get lots of parents to turn up to help out. She really did most of it by herself and when she gave it up, after her youngest child moved on, it fell apart really. We've struggled to get anyone interested since and kind of miss her now.

At my kids' primary, at the time I was most involved, it was someone fairly friendly and unassuming but she was well-organised and worked tirelessly to organise events and get the rest of us involved.

In our case very sociable and confident. Really keen to raise money to help the kids in the school. Religious and helps out in the community generally.

I've known two (2 different schools). Both did lots of work.

One was outgoing, gregarious, enthusiastic, well-organised, friendly, a pleasant person with lots of energy who achieved a lot for the school.

One was quite unpleasant, on some kind of power trip where she was the star of every show and became increasingly demanding and authoritarian. She started stepping way outside the boundaries of her role, trying to set compulsory tasks for every child in the school (trying to get the headteacher to set a PTA craft competition - with an entry fee! - as compulsory homework) etc. She was widely disliked by most of the other parents at the school, and the PTA became very cliquey because most people were put off joining unless they were her personal friendship group.

In our school we have Co-chairs and it's whoever's arm can be twisted to do it 🤣

Bypassing some of the faux naive "Oh, whatever do you mean? A type?"...I know exactly what you mean OP. We all know exactly what you mean.

I can say through 23yrs of (combined years) DC school, both state and public, I have yet to meet a head of PTA who wasn't a complete self congratulating dickhead. And yes, they are very proud, and you'll never wonder who they are, they tell you immediately, even if it's not even your DC school's PTA. Genuinely they think they're a better parent because look how involved they are with their little darlings school, and of course other parents admire them and are in awe. Think Amanda from Motherland. Tedious. Most parents humour them, but don't socialise with them. Unless they are on the PTA too.

There must be normal ones that exist, but in my sample size of 10+ schools, my experience of those is zero.

My sister ended up doing it because the events for the kids were quite lacklustre, she‘s self-employed and has fairly flexible hours in comparison to the other parents and she was sick of the drama.

I'm still holding a grudge against the head of the PTA from back when I was a teenager! Our teachers had organised an amazing trip to Morocco, the school had okayed it, our parents had all given their permission, and then the PTA nixed it as being too dangerous. Ridiculous, I don't see why it had anything to do with them at all. So yeah, sometimes you get the interfering, busy-body types running these sorts of groups.

A PTA doesn't have anything to do with school operational matters.

@DuckDuck1234 "the PTA nixed it as being too dangerous."

It didn't, you know. There was obviously a misunderstanding, or a rumour or something. PTAs just don't have that sort of influence. It's remotely possible that the PTA was going to part fund the trip and then for some reason it couldn't. But apart from that-nope!

@WillYouPutYourCoatOn "I can say through 23yrs of (combined years) DC school, both state and public, I have yet to meet a head of PTA who wasn't a complete self congratulating dickhead."

Hmm. Have you considered the other common factor in all these interactions? 🤣🤣

I'm on the PTA (very reluctant treasurer), because I thought they were doing a great job to make the school a lovely place for the children. So I joined up. I'm a "if not me, who?" person. The chair works super hard and is lovely. As a group, we genuinely do a lot for the children.

I am proud of it. We all try very hard and want nothing but the children to be happy.

On the basis I said it was the general consensus of other parents too, the common factor is the head of the PTA...