Schools and learning

Setting up a PTA/Friends of School Association

Some points to consider before forming (or re-forming) an association:

• Think carefully about the name you give your association. The traditional title of Parent Teacher Association may well exclude some people with a great commitment to the school (for example, governors and support staff) and may suggest to teachers that the organisation expects a degree of involvement by them which they might not be prepared to give. You may decide that “Parents and Friends of . . .” or just “Friends of . . .” would be a more appropriate title. Some such organisations continue to receive help from parents long after the children involved have left the school.
• Consider carefully before you decide on any membership fee for the organisation. While such a fee may bring in regular income, the problems of collection may be significant.
• Bear in mind the dangers if the association is perceived as being in the ‘control’ of a small group who may complain about the lack of support they receive from others but who in fact do not welcome newcomers. Try to devise mechanisms by which each year/class in the school is represented on the organising committee, paperwork and annual meetings. Obviously the views and experience of highly committed parents are to be greatly valued – but you should be aware that their activities and contribution might be a bar to other parents becoming involved.
• The Charity Act (1992 and 1993) requires that any charity that raises more than £1000 a year become a registered charity. There are tax advantages to being registered and to be a registered charity gives your organisation a valuable ‘seal of approval’. To become registered it is necessary to have a constitution that is approved by the Charity Commissioners. Probably the quickest way for a PTA (or equivalent organisation) to secure such a constitution is to purchase a ‘model’ one from the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations (NCPTA) and then to adapt it to suit their own purposes before sending it for approval to the Charity Commissioners. The NCPTA’s address is 18 St Johns Hill, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 3NP. Tel 01732 748850. www.ncpta.org.uk
• It is important that there are good relationships between the governing body of a school and its PTA. Some schools make sure that a member of each organisation is at least an observer at the meetings of the other. However, the two organisations can (and should) have separate existences, not least so that the governing body does not have to spend time dealing with concerns of parents and others about the conduct of the PTA.
• Many PTAs/Friends’ associations have a range of aims including the establishment and maintenance of good relationships between the parents and the school. Some PTAs arrange presentations on topics relating to education; others look after the ‘social’ arrangements at parent/teacher consultation evenings. Many, of course, also raise funds for their school; some organisations are very ‘up-front’ about these activities; others recognise that many parents and friends of their school are not prosperous and accordingly put fund-raising lower down their agenda.