I have some ideas for the PTFA...want to run them past you first :)

[alasia]

Hi, I recently got involved with my childrens' primary school PTFA. While I was helping out with some of the prep for the Xmas Fayre, I suggested setting up a quiz night next year sometime to a few of the more established members, and they made all the right noises and one even said if I was willing to organise it myself then it should be fine...but then nothing more was mentioned, apart from one ptfa member telling me to mention it in a meeting.

Not sure when the next meeting will be, but it's apparently in January sometime; I have a few ideas (poached from other school ptfa websites I found courtesy of google, lol) and wanted to run them past you all before I mention them in the next meeting in case they're silly/unworkable etc.

My ideas are:

A creche for Parents' Evening - Our Parents' Evenings only have 10 minute slots though, so would a creche be necessary?
They do serve refreshments in the hall (which is where all the meetings are held; tables set out a few feet apart - one for each teacher, and refreshments served from the kitchen, kids running around at the end of the hall).
If we set up a creche, would it be best to suggest it be set up in a classroom, or in the hall - and then the parent's meetings be held in the classrooms...or would there be no chance of the Head agreeing to change things THAT much?
Are fellow parents ok to be watching the kids in the creche, or would we need the staff to do it?

Parent's Only Quiz Night/Dinner Dance/'School Disco' (retro sweets, 80s music etc) - which of these would go down best, you reckon? The Quiz Night has been done in the past apparently, with fish & chips served too. The Dinner Dance I was imagining would be a more formal thing, maybe in a local hotel or something where the parents and staff can dress up, have a 3 course meal and a dance or something.

Again; if you think one of these may work, how much would you charge/any tips on organising?

PTFA Facebook Page and/or page on the school website.
Currently no Facebook page or page on the school website, the website is actually being updated at the moment but wasn't sure if I could suggest a PTFA page without passing it in a meeting first?

Trying to extend the Parents' Evening slots to 20 minutes? Would this be feasible or not? They currently hold the Parents' Evening over 2 consecutive days, from 4.30-6.30pm. It's a small school, with one class to each year group and only about 200 children in total, I think.

Blackboard (either an A-Frame type thing or one attached to the wall), positioning I was thinking of outside the main doors, this would be specifically for PTFA members to write about upcoming events and requests for help. Letters would still go in the pupils' bookbags too.

PTFA postbox? Again, I was thinking it could be set up just inside the main doors? For parents/pupils to post ideas/queries/complaints etc about PTFA events.

Maybe sending a letter out to each teacher at the start of the new term (or shortly after) reminding them that the 'T' in PTFA stands for teacher, and the more they can get involved, the better the PTFA would be. Only suggesting this, as there have been a few staff changes last year and will be a few this coming year (two teachers leaving in Jan, two more taking their place and then another teacher is leaving towards the summer), and there are a few 'under 30' teachers that joined last year so was thinking they might be more amenable to helping out 'properly' with the PTFA (coming along to meetings, etc)>

Also - never been to a PTFA meeting before or even been involved with a PTFA.
As a new member, how many ideas can I turn up with at the first meeting, without looking like...well an idiot basically :) Don't want everyone to get the wrong impression of me or tread on any toes.

I also have no idea how the PTFA thing works - if I have an idea about an event or a change (such as blackboard/noticeboards etc), can I go to the Head to suggest it myself, to a fellow PTFA member (I'm quite friendly with the Treasurer) or do I need to wait for a meeting and put it across there?

Sorry this is a bit of an epic post, but any advice is gratefully appreciated :)

Trying to extend the Parents' Evening slots to 20 minutes? Would this be feasible or not? They currently hold the Parents' Evening over 2 consecutive days, from 4.30-6.30pm. It's a small school, with one class to each year group and only about 200 children in total, I think.

One teacher x 30 pupils/sets of parents x 10 mins = 5 hours after school meaning the teacher has been in school 12hours+ then add travelling time, which is why schools split it over 2 nights ...doubling the time per pupil/sets of parents means they will be spending 2 12hour plus days in school ...

creche - would need CRB checks and depending upon the age of the children may need qualifications

Facebook - very iffy

basically anything needs to be raised at a meeting

My dc's school run a crèche during school productions etc in one of the classrooms, it's run by parents so I'm sure it's doable.

Quiz nights are popular with raffle and booze to raise more money, discos are not for everyone and I've found the quiz to be better.

PTA section on the school website is a good idea.

Other things that have been done (I've had four primary schools) are a guide to school life written by parents and sold to reception parents for £1. It includes info on things like, uniform, end of school day protocol etc once it's been written there's just an annual update.

One hundred club and organic fruit/veg deliveries and fashion shows are all popular. As is the present room where children bring I. £1.50 to buy their parents a Christmas present, presents are all wrapped up (except one so they can see what it is) with a choice of a few different types. We used to get these throughout the year, so items like mugs, cheapo necklaces, key rings etc can be bought for 50p.

Ok, re parents events, quizzes are a safe bet as the outlay is small, dinner dances less so as you have to sell a lot if tickets to make a profit. School disco somewhere in between but NOTHING ON EARTH would make me go to it personally.

Creche at parents evening maybe. Our similar sized school has all the meetings in classrooms and pre school ate siblings can go in with you, school age ones hang out in the hall and library, all classrooms are off these areas, various staff members keep an eye on them informally as do other waiting parents, everyone knows everyone, but the children are still officially under parental supervision. I think 20 min slots would fet a flat no from teaching staff.

FB page - no. Page on school website ok subject to school and committee agreement, might need some parts private. Great care needed over privacy.

All suggestions need to go through meetings. Suggestion box might be a good idea. I would not suggest writing to all teachers encouraging involvement unless you want to get their backs up, especially if you haven't been to any meetings yet and presumably don't know to what extent they are already involved.

Bear in mind that PTAs are fund-raisers. I can't imagine volunteers giving up an evening for non-fund raisers like the creche. (Going by our members anyway!)
How about paid-for refreshments at concerts/assemblies? Quiz nights are good with fish and chips included in the price and BYO drinks. (maybe £8/£10 a ticket?) Definetely a postbox - how do you manage without one? You could also suggest the Amazon/shopping sites thingy where the PTA get money every time someone clicks on the website - not sure how easy they are to set up but once it's done it generates funds for no extra work.
Also I wouldn't have thought the 20 mins slots idea was something the PTFA should suggest. Besides, if there is something to say that lasts 20 minutes then I would think that a separate meeting would be more suitable.

A word of warning - anything you suggest may be taken as read that you are quite happy to take the lead role yourself. Suss out the members first before coming up with good ideas! Good luck, you sound great.

Oh and I wouldn't push the teacher involvement to attend meetings. We always help out at the Christmas and Summer Fayres and help with the things that need doing in the classroom (tea towels, calendars, christmas cards) but attending meetings is a bit too much!

Oh, one last thing - don't do anything without the chair knowing and okaying it. The HT and PTA need to channel through one person otherwise chaos will ensue!

Thanks, I thought you had to go through meetings but just wanted to check. As it stands at the moment, apart from the Treasurer who is lovely - and very supportive of my ideas - I'm not sure who is who. Got a text after the Xmas Fayre thanking me for my help from someone (not sure who) and said they'd let me know when there is a date for the next meeting. Seems frustratingly casual at the moment - but maybe that's just how PTFA's are...they ARE only voluntary fundraising things, after all.

The 10 minute parents evening thing...well I only suggested 20 minutes as I was very underwhelmed with the feedback from my son's teacher at his parent evening back in October; I sat down (I was the last slot of the night), he asked if my child was happy, gave me a list of questions to ask while reading and that was literally it. Nothing about his work, progress, friendships etc. I popped into the classroom afterwards to see if there was any work out on display, and there was a pile of spelling books on one table. That was it :(
I started to look through for my son's book and the teacher walked in, put his coat on and looked at me pointedly, so I left.

We do already do paid for refreshments (well not paid for, but donations) at the school plays etc., there is only an Xmas Fayre and not a Summer one, but I'm guessing that's for a reason?

Quiz nights...as I said, they've apparently been done a few years ago, the lady that told me about it, said they had fish and chips as part of the price (I had suggested curry, for a change) and it "was quite popular" but again, I'm guessing it stopped for a reason.

The creche - I just got that idea from other school PTFA pages, they said they charged £1 for the main child and 50p a sibling, which seemed steep to me, considering it's only 30 minutes max they'd need looking after. I just know the current set up, in the school hall, made it difficult for me to focus - as you could hear the conversations of the other teachers, plus the older children running round at the other end of the hall. Maybe it was just me that had a problem with it though, I don't know.

How about Class Reps? Read about those but as far as I know we don't have any.

Oh - and Christmas cards made by the children and printed into proper cards? I can only think of vistaprint that would do that...would a local printer do that kind of thing do you think?

How about the noticeboard/blackboard at the school entrance? Silly idea/some sort of health and safety nightmare, or not?

Thanks for the feedback so far btw :)

Oh also; sorry for being a bit dumb here but why is the facebook page an 'iffy' idea? Not criticising, just genuinely wondering.

No names of pupils, photos etc would be posted on the facebook page, it'd just give info on events, when and how tickets are being sold etc.

Only got the idea, because a lot of primary schools seem to have facebook pages...

There are specialist companies producing children's art work into Christmas cards, mugs, tea towels, aprons you name it for fundraising not sure of that one we use but definitely poor response this year.

We have a notice board at the school gate with a locked cover for Friends of the school notices.

Oh, yeah. We have one of those too but it's on the side wall and no one ever looks at it. Date on the most recent flyer on there is 2010 :/

A big winner at our school is the raffle at the summer & Christmas fair. Rather than rely on donated prizes the PTA spend some money to ensure the top prizes are good (last year you could win an iPad or an x box) the PTA bought the items, but on the strength of the prizes they managed to sell over £3k of raffle tickets ( there were other prizes which were donated). Our school summer fair is a massive money spinner, but again they spend money on it by hiring bouncy castles and things the kids will enjoy. We also have frequent cake sales, coffee mornings, quiz nights, bingo nights, family discos, the school also do a separate Xmas fair where they hire hall space to local business selling cards, Xmas decs, make up, kitchen stuff.

FB is iffy if you stupidly post pics of adults disco without checking.

Nothing dodgy, people just like to be asked first.

The F only stands for fucking when you realise you need to design a poster/ book bag flyer, cook buns and it's 1am and you've totally forgotten.

Otherwise, your ideas all sound great. Do check you have enough adults with babysitters before doing discos. Quizes can have teams of Dad' s or mum's, but couples like to come to dances. As DH is my child care they were difficult.

nancy75 - that sounds great for your school, but if we've never done anything like hiring bouncy castles or buying x boxes for raffle prizes...how can we justify doing that, without knowing how many people will turn up/buy tickets?

Is it a case of just taking a risk one year?

and Fucking PTFA is DHs response when he's been volunteered for something.

His own fault for being a long extension lead and floodlight owning geek.

just seen Startail's reply...would sending out a little questionnaire type thing in each pupil's bookbag sometime in the new term be a silly idea?

Just a quick thing saying the PTFA are thinking of holding a new event this year, and wondered which of the following you'd be more likely to attend.

Then the three options of a formal (ish) dinner dance thing (stating estimated price so they know beforehand what they'd be asked to pay out), quiz night with food/BYO drinks and disco or something, the parents can then tick the box next to the event they'd prefer and we should get some sort of idea which would be most popular?

I know that people can tick a box and then when the vent comes round, not bother attending - but maybe the parents would appreciate being asked for their input in the planning of the event?

www.spendandraise.com/xyzschool is a great website. Your family, parents teachers etc can buy from Amazon, M&S etc and a small percentage goes to the school. Free to set up and administer.

Please don't send a letter to teachers telling them the 't' stands for teacher. That would come across as very patronising. They work very long hours focusing on the teaching of the children, which is their role rather than peripheral activities. They give up their own time to help at events. If I were a teacher and you sent me that letter, I'd help a lot less.

The length of parent evening appointments has nothing to do with PTFA.
Fundraising is the main purpose of all the committees I have known.Hope your PTFA Chairperson doesn't feel you are trying to take over-I am sure that isn't your intention but it sounds a bit like you are.

Sorry to keep going on about the formal dance idea...I think I just like the idea of dressing up, lol.

But I was wondering - is there a lot of organising with that sort of thing? Something I might not have thought of, different insurance or anything?

I was just thinking of it as a one off, or some sort of 'parent & staff-only' event every year, but not the same thing year in, year out - maybe quiz night one year, disco the next and dinner/dance the next? For example :)

All we really have at this school is one disco at Xmas, a Christmas Fayre, a few random mufti days through the year to raise funds/get donations of prizes for the tombola/raffle at the christmas fayre, actually that's all I can think of. Oh - and then obviously the PTFA sell refreshments anywhere they can.

Just feels like we're missing out compared to other schools.

AliceWChild. I see your point, I won't do the letter thing :)

Although...all PTFA events are during school time, apart from the Xmas Fayre which ran from the end of school to 6.30pm, and the only teacher helping out (directing traffic) left about 4pm.

Oh and I'm honestly not trying to take over. Maybe a bit too enthusiastic, which is why I asked how many ideas to raise at the first meeting. Don't want to put anyone's back up.

WhistlingWaves - hmm, see I was of the thinking that combinging school fundraising with the parents getting a night out without the children might be a winner, but then from what you've said, maybe not.

I'm mostly going on me; I'm a single parent, so don't go out at all - but if the school had a 'night out' then I'd definitely book a babysitter once a year! Maybe I'm in the minority though.

Our school has an annual dinner dance - it is fab! Tickets approx £60/couple for 3 courses and band. Usually loosely themed - 80s etc. But... Definitely for the parents, not teachers!