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 :)

I think you need to sit down and consider the type of parents who have children in the school.

Our parents don't support quizzes, dances or indeed adult social events of any kind - anything that involves giving up time. They are generous when it comes to buying cakes, raffle tickets, donations for Christmas and Summer fairs.

As a teacher I show my face at events but generally don't stay until the end - sorry but I have other commitments. If you want teacher support consult them on events. While we appreciate the effort lots of things in school time are disruptive and stop us doing our job.

Regarding not having a date for the next meeting yet, there are two busy terms and one quiet one for our PTA, we're just going into our quiet one and I don't think we've got a date for the next meeting as there is relatively little to organise in the spring term and we had a massively busy run up to Christmas.

See this is the problem, we haven't had any adult-only events (apart from the quiz night that was mentioned but haven't got anymore details on how that turned out, yet).

There seems to be a good crop of donations for both the adult and children's tombolas at the xmas fayre, also the wine...for 'water and wine' - there were I reckon about 50 bottles of wine donated, the same amount of fizzy pop. Not sure if it means anything but I noticed on the last day of term, most children had gift bags for their teachers - I remember at school, it was only the 'well off' children that took in presents.

It's a good school, children are all very proud of their school, wea rthe uniform with pride and still dress like children even up to year 6 (long socks, knee length skirts etc), this probably quite shallow view leads me to believe the parents are probably mostly quite well off financially.

That's why I thought the more expensive, parents events might have worked - as if they were only once a year then it's something you can plan and budget for...similar to a night out with friends.

Teachers...well yes the majority are 30-50 year old women with families, but there are a few younger teachers that are new to the school, one is married but I know at least one of the male teachers has no children - obviously he may have a partner but being a 'single' male (I.E no children), I thought he might have less of a commitment in the evenings that those that are married with families.

So...sending out a questionnaire in the bookbags suggesting possible events - bad idea?

Don't limit something like a ball to parents only. Most of our parents have sets of friends so book a table's worth of tickets every time. If it was limited to parents I don't think you'd get the take up. Are there honestly people who pay for a creche at parents' evenings? I'm surprised. Our parents, if they have to bring their children, just swop care with other parents when it's their turn to go in. Once you get more involved you will get more of a feel for things that are going to be popular or not. As a parent you don't really get to 'know' all the other parents until you try to get them involved or even get them to give you a yes/no answer!

yellowmoon - when you buy things from there they donate a percentage to your school, you could look at that?

we have a summer fayre and a christmas one - they charge local business's £15 a table. Also on the weekly email/newsletter local business' can put a small advert and pay £5 for 3 issues.

You will need to get permission to give out any letters etc.Ask the Chairperson and HT what normal procedure is.Our Chair always sends letters via school office -you can't just go in and put things in book bags.

The last time we did a questionnaire we got virtually zero response. Our events are generally well supported though.

By parents, I meant just 'adults'.

I don't really know why our school doesn't have a summer fayre, I'll ask at the next meeting but I'm sure there's a reason for it...

Even things like at the christmas fayre though, all we had was bare tables (one table per stall) laid out in the hall - looked on other school's websites and they put bunting round the tables/tablecloths, decorated the hall a bit; I know that will sound like I'm trying to 'take over' but is it possible (or even necessary) to suggest changes like that, without seeming like a total bitch?

I'm not sure if they pay for a creche at parents evening, but I saw about 10 primary schools that do it, just from googling 'PTFA parents evening creche' so I guess parents must take it up, otherwise they wouldn't bother?

Thanks, will look at all the links.

Cauliflower cards are a popular company for doing Christmas cards etc as fundraisers for schools. You could volunteer to co-ordinate this next year - you need to start thinking about it in about October though to allow plenty of time to get designs done and ordered in time for Christmas.

Quizzes are a good social event where parents can support the school and money is raised in the process.

Infant and junior discos in the school hall are good fundraisers too. Hire a dj, ask parents to help with tuck shop etc... This might be something you could volunteer to organise?! Maybe one at the end of each term? My friend organises them - lots of work but worth it for amount raised and the children love it obviously.

Christmas and summer fayres are big fundraising events where teachers are generally keen to help. Teachers usually want to support the school as much as parents. Agree worth buying iPad or similar main prize for raffle is worth it.

A ball is likely to be a good fundraiser but it's a LOT of work and you have to make sure you keep very tight control on the costs and work really hard to sell the tickets. If you tie it in with a high end raffle for people who can't come on the night you should do well.

I know one of my DCs friend's school does a termly raffle for a really good toy, I don't know if they buy it or someone donates, and that raises a lot. If you have somewhere to display the prizes or do really large posters people will normally buy tickets.

You sound enthusiastic and just the sort of person a PTA needs but I would advise doing more listening than talking at the first meeting, its human nature to feel defensive if a newcomer comes with lots of ideas, maybe see how the land lies first.

Definitely agree with not saying anything to the teachers until you know how much time they already give.

Good luck

We have a bring a bottle mufti day before our fayres, I.e. the children get to wear mufti and the payment for doing so is a donation of a bottle for the bottle tombola.

Comparisons to other schools don't go down too well.Parents who harp on about how much better previous schools were are known as Amos round here.(At my old school...)

we do that trinity - its mufti day but you have to donate a gift for tombola/wine/chocolate etc

GW297 - we already have one disco, it's in December usually (last week of term) and they have KS1 for an hour, then they leave and KS2 come in for the second hour - they have a dj they've been using for a while, apparently. Would more discos just be seen as unnecessary hassle? By the Head/teaching staff, I mean?

I really like the idea of a ball/meal and disco type thing, just not sure about mentioning it in case it doesn't work out and then I'm to blame. What sort of price would you need to charge? The ones I've seen have been £20-£25 a head for a 3 course meal, live band or dj and a bar but how do you know enough people would take up tickets? It seems scary to think about organising it, but I really want to; if not next year then the one after...

No, at the first meeting I definitely won't be going in shooting off ideas and saying the Xmas Fayre was poorly designed, I'm more tactful than that - lol. I've mentioned the Quiz thing to the Treasurer and she seemed keen, then when other PTFA members came in she said I'd had a good idea for a quiz night...I just shrugged and didn't say too much, so not sure how that came across.

You could always put an Easter or summer disco forward as a suggestion?

Wear your own clothes and bring a bottle for a stall is a really good idea that lots of schools do.

Going to see Santa at the Christmas fayre is usually one of the most popular events too. I love the idea of buying a small wrapped gift for a parent!

A notice board in the entrance hall and a section on the website are both good ideas.

Ok I'll put forward the noticeboard and PTFA page on the website as ideas, if not in the meeting then mention it to the treasurer and see if she'll suggest it, lol.

We already do bringing a bottle/tombola prize in exchange for mufti, also had a santa in the grotto at the xmas fayre and the queue was massive, must have raised at least £100 just off that. This year they did also have the wrapped gifts for parents at the xmas fayre - forgot to mention they also have mothers and father's day secret rooms for £1, it's just the 'big' events they dont have much of - all we have is the xmas fayre with KS2 carol concert afterwards and disco which is also in december.

Feels like there's room for a couple more lerger events earlier on in the year? Maybe.

it's tricky when you're fizzing with ideas and yet aware that they might not go down well...... glad you're dropping the letter to teachers thing!

I struggled for a few years to find my niche, but got there eventually.

Our lowest-stress biggest-reward event is our promises auction, held in the spring. The great thing about an event like this is that it doesn't involve getting either adults or children in a room at a set time, so you can treat it as a "tester" for getting involved with other events.

I used to turn up and make suggestions, but once I was getting results instead, I didn't need to go to meetings any more, if that makes sense?

We do
2x cake sale per term
2x disco per year
Christmas Fair with supporting Mufti day for tombola
Summer Fair ditto
Family photo session
Sponsored event for children every other year
Quiz probably 2 out of 3 years
Christmas cards designed by children

In addition there are these school events

Comic/Sport Relief Mufti Day
Harvest festival
KS1 and 2 Christmas performances
Christmas dinner
Carol Service
KS1 and 2Sports Days

PTA members tend to help out with most of the school events as well as the PTA ones.

I wouldn't worry about suggesting a ball and it failing, it is a committee decision and not yours it just depends how much support there is for it from the rest of the committee, but it probably is hard work to organise.

I've done PTA from "both" sides, as a parent and as a teacher. You probably need to understand more about why things are as they are before sharing all your ideas, which some people may misunderstand as criticism.

You need a feel for the catchment of the school and the types of parents. You need to understand any "history" between the staff and the PTA. You need to understand how the money is spent and who decides that.

My advice would be to volunteer to help out or organise some planned events before suggesting anything new.

Our PTA has a fireworks display every year. A large proportion of the profit comes from glow sticks and flashing things like light sabres. We do have a large field though.

You have got lots of ideas but all these things take a massive amount of organising and peoples free time. I would suggest getting involved with the current planned activities, going to the meetings and then when you have a clear idea of who isinvolved and how much work, you can put your suggestions forward but don't try to do too much at once. Attending the meetings is key as that is when suggestions are discussed.

Walk before you run!

Our school has a fair which is massive. This year it made AU $56000 which is about £35000.

It does it through getting money from outside if the school. Other people go to it from outside of the school community. My friend ran the silent auction which made over $8000 with almost no outgoings. She contacted hundreds of businesses for donations for the prizes to be auctioned off.

It's terrific that you have such masses of ideas & enthusiasm.
Agree with those who suggest you attend maybe 3-4 meetings before putting any ideas forward.

Something I always wanted was a creche DURING the actual PTFA meeting, so that parents like me could actually go! Insurance & CRB checks become an issue, though.

Something else I'd like... would be a note about 4 weeks before each event (Christmas fair, etc.) that asked for one-off volunteers "Our next meeting is X date and please come if you think you can help out this time or get in touch with X on tel. 88888888888 to say you'll be available to help run a stall for the big event on XYZ date" kind of statements.

Team F+Chips Quiz nights are one of the best & more consistent fundraisers, which I would push to the top of ideas lists, because if advertised well they draw in people from all over the community, not just from the pool of school-parents who already feel well-tapped out wrt school fund-raising.