PTA and registering a private school for charity status

[CatMarwood]

I have just volunteered to become chair for the PTFA at my sons school. This is a tiny privately owned school with only 45 children aged 2 - 16. It seems they have very little money for the PTFA with the main problem that parents aren't taking an active part. The head teacher is currently secretary but he is also a full time teaching head so very stretched!

The first main areas that I see need addressing are as follows.

1. Only one school sign which is out of date, has no contact details and is hidden by a hedge so walking past you wouldn't know they were there.

1. The children have asked for a climbing frame for the play area as they don't have one - this could be expensive, there isn't the money so lots of fundraising needed and the schools insurance policy to go through. Possibly we need to purchase from a specific schools equipment provider?

1. I have also found out that they haven't registered for charity status which I feel they are missing out on.

I'm working on these as a starting point but am confused as to how to proceed with the charity status. Is it the PTFA that can do this for the school? Do we need governors as well as trustees? I can't find a list of what is needed for this online so if anyone has experience of doing this please can you advise me.

There’s a lot online about charity status. Does this help?www.isc.co.uk/about-isc/schools-partnerships-and-charities/

Thank you Cauliflowercheede. I will read through this. At first glance I wonder if this is something the school needs to join and if there are any costs. I feel like I have opened a can of worms! As soon as I look into one area a whole lot more opens up that needs doing!!

There is a lot on the ISC site but someone with more experience may come along and tell you more in a bit!

I hope so. Being dyslexic I find it very difficult to work things out from lots of text!!

HI OP

I don’t know about registering as a charity but our school is registered with Easyfundraising - whenever people shop online, the retailer makes a small contribution to the school fund.

If this is privately owned (by an individual and if so, is this what they want - in which case the school would be transferred into a charitable trust)? I wouldn't have thought the school itself can be a charity. Are you referring to the PTA? Bear in mind there is a lot of administration - audited accounts and compliance which goes with being a charity

45 children aged 2-16?
Wow that is tiny, how on earth can it be financially viable?

Also why would you chose such a tiny school?
Is it a specialist SEN school?

Sorry off topic, just amazed.

The Pta must be a charity if it raises more than £5000 a year.
www.pta.co.uk/running-a-pta/managing-your-pta/faqs-charity-registration-and-governance.aspx

Tiny school. are they financially solvent? be very wary of paying any fees in advance.

From what the OP says, I will be amazed if the PTA makes more than £5k a year.

A school can be a charity. Many independent schools are charities. However, they have to apply themselves. The PTA can't apply on the school's behalf. They can help with the application but it must come from the school.

If the school is owned by the head or some other individual they would have to transfer ownership to a charitable trust if the school is to become a charity.

It is entirely up to the school how it organises itself. It doesn't have to have governors. The trustees can do everything. Equally, the school can have both trustees and governors, in which case the trustees would define what the governors can and cannot do.

Thank you very much for all your replies and advice. I will first try and answer some of the questions that have come up.
Firstly it is a privately owned school with the proprietor having just retired as the head. The new head is keen to look into charity status but as a full time teaching head doesn't have time to look into what's involved. I do wonder if this is going to be too complicated given the way the school is run and maybe looking at other ways of fundraising.

It is a very small school and given the age of last head (in her 70's) has got very behind the times. The reason we have chosen it for our son is that while it is not a specialist school it is well known for supporting children with difference in learning. He is autistic, dyspraxic and dyslexic and this is the first school where he has felt fully supported and understood. If the school were to close we would be stuck as would several other parents. I am therefore determind to do the best I can to help them.

I went to a PTFA (parent, teachers, friends association) meeting for the first time a couple of weeks ago and came away feeling very sad for the school and wanting to help. They are a very caring group of teachers. My daughter attends a larger and more expensive school in the area which suits her and parents do a lot of work in fundraising and supporting the teachers at her school which just doesn't seem to be happening at my sons school.

If becoming a charity is not the best way forward for the school I wonder if it is possible to set up a seperate charity whose aim is to support the school?

I think you can set the PTFA up as a charity if you wish. It is the rule that you must if it makes over £5000. You possibly won’t raise that much anyway so you can just carry on if the admin is too much. Or decide to do the admin properly and be a charity. Even if you are not a Charity you must have terms of reference, elected officers, minutes meetings, financial regulations etc. so it is run properly and will stand up to scrutiny.

Whether the school is a charity is up to the school and the PTFA is entirely separate. I cannot see how a second fund raising body would help.

There is good advice available from NPTA and I would join them.

I too would worry about the viability of the school. Recruitment of pupils might be a priority for a fundraising drive!

see if a parent is able to trim up the hedge for free. same thing with the signage see if a local company would be willing to do it for advertising in the school newspaper.
recently a local school had a new playground through this initiative

www.aviva.co.uk/good-thinking/community-fund/

alternatively you can see how far away the nearest play park is and petition the LA to place one on the school grounds.

OldWitch, that is a really good idea regarding a local company. Something I'm going to look into.

I have found in the last few days just by sharing a few positive comments on my face book and other groups I belong to three parents who are very interested in the school but didn't know about it. One is contacting then next week! Maybe more social advertising is what's currently needed!

However, getting the school to update their signs ect. is something I am still keen on. I also seems from comments on facebook that there are a lot of parents out there who didn't know it existed but would be interested.

I think you need to be clear about what the funds you raise should be used for. Many PTAs like to raise money to help with the education of the children and this is often enshrined in the terms of reference. New signs are really up to the school as is advertising and recruitment of children. Try suggesting an open day!

Yes I am aware that I may be working on areas outside of the PTFA's normal range, but still trying to work through what I should be doing as new to this and would rather do too much that too little!

There is a summer fair planned which will double as an open day. I am looking into the possibility of also having one in early spring as we haven't organised on for Christmas. The feeling was that there wasn't sufficient parent support to make this work. Another reason why I want to try to turn things around!
Regarding signs, I am more hoping to prompt the school into this with the PTFA helping to raise the funds as I know the school doesn't have these.

Would they consider converting to a free school specialising in dyslexia like www.davincischool.org.uk/?

I have wondered about the possibility of a free school to. Just not sure where that would leave the proprietor?

If the school converts to a free school it will have to be owned and operated by an academy trust, which is a charity. The proprietor would have to give up ownership.

Whether or not the proprietor will agree to any change in the school's status may depend on whether they are getting any income from it.