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 :)

the other problem with a creche run by parents is won't they be attending parents evening for their own children so not available? not sure how that would work

"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. "

yup - that's where I went wrong!!!!!!
My points and suggestions were probably correct - but my timing and delivery was too intense and too much too soon.

The tiny things I did that went down well were (i) suggesting that we buy adult versions of our school sweatshirt so our helpers could be identified at inter-school sports events and (ii) arranging some live music to be played at the christmas fair. Once you demonstrate a small improvement through things like that, then you have a voice. The other thing that gives you a voice is being the person who turns up early and puts the chairs out...... oddly enough, having great ideas doesn't give you a voice :)

At my sons' old school the PTA used to use the speech day marquee for a ball in the evening, hence there was no expense. They usually managed to find a parent who was in a band or ran a disco and you could have a swim in the school pool afterwards if you wanted ( that sort of thing now probably banned under H&S). This raised a lot of money. On the whole though I think people are most happy with things that raise funds but don't need much input.

The 'ball' idea will totally depend on your catchment. I know my DB and DSiL used to go to one at their ds's school as the PTA's main fundraiser, but they were all 'City Types' who wouldn't bat an eyelid at spending over £100 on a night out (add raffles and auctions and babysitters and drinks to the price of your ticket). There's no way in a million years you'd find that kind of money where I live, and where I live is considered a 'nice' area for my part of the world. Only you know if that sounds likely or not. Then the thing is to phone round a few hotels / function suites and get prices.... go for a quieter time of year (avoid Christmas and wedding season), tell them it's a fund raiser, and see what you can negotiate.
Glad you've dropped the idea of writing to the teachers !
With the creches, then it depends if you see PTA as solely being a fundraiser, or if you see it as being there to support the school. First couple of parents evenings I went to at ds's school had the TV on in the hall, some colouring sheet out and a couple of construction / lego type stuff out, and a couple of adults who were parents 'keeping an eye on things'. It was useful to be able to leave the siblings there, but not to the extent that I'd have paid for it - I'd have just managed, same as I did all the years there wasn't one. People were free to leave their dc there for 10mins or so, and understood it wasn't a formal creche and that the adults in the room were just parents volunteering to help others out for an hour or so. Another time when it would be useful is at class assembly time or Christmas play time, but again, parents need to know it's just a bit of free babysitting. Up to them if they choose to use it or not.
Christmas / Summer Fayres can be quite a lot of work to organise, which is why a lot of schools have one or the other. That said, you can have a mini-fete if you begin to have a stockpile of games you can store somewhere, and then do an hour after school without so much preparation, as you already have the games.
Quiz night I'd support, but there's no way in a million years I'd go to a disco at my dcs school - and I like a cheesey wedding dance as much as the next man.
What about 2nd hand uniform sales ? - People donate what they've outgrown and you just set out the stall in the collecting children area about once a half term and sell off everything for a £1 or so. Easy money. Un-named and unclaimed lost property gets washed and put in there too if unclaimed after a year or so.

Yes, not only are parents attending their own parents evening slots, a lot are committed to other after school activities such as swimming lessons or are working.

I think any PTFA would be thrilled to have such an evergetic new member BUT I seriously suggest you just go along, listen and help out at a few events before you start unveiling all your ideas! You'll seriously piss off existing members otherwise. They'll probably have thought of lots of these things already and will resent you implying that they haven't been doing enough. Oh and definitely DO NOT suggest to teachers that they should be more involved. They work enough hours already without being hassled to become amateur fundraisers in their sapre time!

Maybe if you really want to make a difference it would be most effective (and tactful) to suggest extending something that already works. If your school already has an annual disco why not suggest making it termly?
Get involved though - PTFAs always need extra helpers.

The main thing about fundraising events is to understand your school. So it's no good a bunch of strangers on the web telling you what works where they are. That said, if it's been a few years since an idea was rejected it may be that things genuinely have changed and it's worth another try.

Our PTA does not run a summer fair because it only gets about 4 volunteers to help run stalls, which makes it impossible. It doesn't run events such as dinner dances as most parents can't afford them. We recently tried to run a quiz night but got no interest - feedback was that lots of people worked nights or had childcare problems.

Specifically addressing some of your points:

• I don't see why anyone would want a creche for a 10 minute parents' evening slot. It is simpler to take your smaller child in with you or leave your older child playing outside.

• increasing the length of parents' evening slots is down to the school. If you specifically want more time you can always ask to speak to the teacher another time. We find 10 minutes ample most of the time so wouldn't be interested in more time.

• teachers are not obliged to be part of the PTFA. Even if not explicitly involved, lots of events rely on their good will. Be careful not to alienate them.

• IMO publicising the PTFA is only a good thing - so facebook/postboxes/noticeboards are good ideas, require little overhead organisation and are worthwhile even if only looked at by a handful.

Hi, I have been involved with the PTA since eldest was in foundation, he is in year 5 and I took over as chair, reluctantly, when the outgoing chair resigned due to poor health 2 yrs ago.

I would love someone like yourself to put yourself forward at our school we get so bogged down in the organisation of the big events sometimes we just don't have enough help to take the lead or help out on new or smaller scale events so they just don't happen. And while we are fundraising, we see our role as one of I supporting the school community so that means things like a crèche for events, some of us are CRBd, and organising reading support etc. I

I use the PTA association website and magazine, a wealth of information and advice not to mention good discount codes and offers for various essential supplies. When I was faced with putting together a major event at a moments notice this resource saved my life... Now if only anyone else on the team would read it!!! Why not ask your chair, secretary or whoever if you could take a look it could help formulate your ideas and work out what could work at your school... And how to go about it!!

You will need a password to get to the printables and event planning resources but even if your chair won't let you have that then the site is still useful.

Just one final word... Some year 4 children who do dance etc asked us to put on a talent show... Teachers were reluctant and parents wary but the head was keen so we organised it... Not a gala event but a great show....it raised 3 times as much as a school disco, was a huge amount if fun and we now do it every year. We were brave and it paid off!!

Good luck!!

I agree with what others have said about sitting back and seeing how it all goes for a bit then start with small ideas. Last year a mum new to the school came to one of our meetings full of big ideas and while it was great to see such enthusiasm it was a bit awkward. We had to explain that we can't make too many changes at once and things stay largely the same year to year because they really work well and many of the suggestions were thngs we had either tried before or wouldn't work for various reasons specific to our school. She has proved to be a very helpful volunteer in the longer term though.

Thanks everyone - the reason for posting this thread is to get replies just like the ones that have been posted; I wasn't planning on jumping in at the first meeting with plans for a major overhaul, I'm too shy for that, but as I said I might mention a couple of the ideas to the treasurer and see if she will help me put it to the committee eventually. I've alreday spoken to two of the newer members of the PTFA (one that's been there about a year and one about 4 months) about the quiz night thing and they said they'd totally be willing to help me organise it if I needed them to, and would support me with putting it foward in a meeting - but as I said, I'll leave suggesting events for a couple of terms yet :)

The creche was just as backforgood said; I didn't see it as a 'proper' creche or a fundraising thing, more just a room with some parents in that will watch some of the children if needed. My instinct would be to not charge, have a few toys/books/colouring things out and some juice and maybe biscuits for the children, tbh though I love the school, I think it's got a lovely family feel to it and love the fact the headteacher knows every single child's name, knows a lot about them...I know that's probably just primary schools in general, but it's just got such a lovely atmosphere and I really enjoy being in school whenever I'm helping out with the PTFA stuff. I want to be a TA too but there aren't any volunteer ops at the moment...so maybe that's why I'm so keen to be more involved with the PTFA :/

I'd even be willing to get a CRB check and pay for it myself, just in case it was ever needed - but that probably makes me sound mental! Lol.

This thread has helped me out so much, lots of things to think about so ta muchly :)

Our school (one firm entry primary) do
3 discos, one per term with bar.
Christmas fair, with bar with mufti day for tombola prizes. Usually makes £1500 - £2000
Summer fair with stalls, cake competition, bar. Usually makes £2000 - £3000.
6 cake sales, to coincide with end of term assemblies.
Film showing 2x year straight after school. Can't charge for film but get around it by charging for sweets/popcorn/drink.
Ladies pamper night with fashion show and stalls/bar.
Quiz night with bar.
Race night with bar.
Are you seeing a theme?

Some events make little money but are more for arranging a social night and building up relationships etc.

We have a PTA Facebook page but it's been problematic with some parents using it to slag off teachers and other parents and has to be strictly policed.

Glad you've decided to wait a bit before suggesting stuff.

It is better to get to know how people work first. Having had three widely spaced dc through the school, I'm one of the longest running people there. It can be very frustrating seeing ideas promoted which have been tried and failed several times before.
Unfortunately some people come, give their "big" idea, and rush off in a huff when the pta doesn't fall round their neck because their idea has been tried before and lost money.

Glad you won't send that letter. Imagine if you got a letter from work reminding you that you should be turning up to an unpaid evening once a month or so...

Tbh we have a noticeboard for the pta. It's the same people who check it to see if they can help/what they should be doing. The rest just complain that they're never told anything despite the letter in the book bag, letter on email, and poster up on the noticeboard.
And on the same track, the postbox would be filled with complaints... "It's not fair..." Ditto fb.

We used to have a creche for during school performances. Was stopped due to constant moaning over silly things. People seemed to think it should be an unpaid nursery, and you'd get silly things like people turning up with older siblings who were off school sick.

Things like asking for the parents' evening to be changed to 20 minutes, firstly, we have 10 minutes (by the bell) and more often than not we've finished in 6-7. If we need more, we finish the meeting by arranging to meet at another time without restrictions. Plus that's not a Pta thing. They're not there to deal with school policies really. If you think that's a good thing to suggest speak to the head.

Our pta does "adult only" stuff. They work well, but aren't generally big fundraisers. they're more there for the social side. Staff aren't put under any pressure to attend, but usually the head comes and one to two others. You need someone ready to jump on the parent who thinks all the staff want to do is discuss their pfb's reading though... we have a couple of pta members who do a very good line in extracting that parent without hard feelings.
We've done quiz nights (with fish and chips), summer ball (expensive) and other things like race nights, beetle drive etc. They are done for fun rather than fundraising.

The way new ideas work at our pta, is you get the agenda. You then speak/email the chair with your idea which will come under any other business. As a general rule, it needs to be easy, or you are prepared to lead the committee to sort it out.