Here’s a simple explanation of how the school is funded, where the money goes, and why we need the PTA!

We aim to raise £20,000 every year for our school.

With the money we have raised in recent years, we have bought essential – and nice to have! – equipment, resources and experiences for our children and staff, including:

• Replacement smart boards for every classroom
• A revamped library for all the pupils to enjoy
• 30 ukeleles for use in music lessons
• Playground games and sports equipment
• Upgraded broadband connection
• Educational licenses to aid online learning
• History in action days
• Books, workbooks and educational programs for Science, Maths and English
• Forest School resources, including tools and seeds
• Replacement games and learning resources for classrooms

What is the PTA all about and who is involved?
Every parent is automatically a member of the PTA (the Parent and Teacher Association) and is welcome at all meetings to influence and vote on what funds should be spent on and how to approach fund raising. There is no selection criteria or need to sign up, anyone can just turn up.  You will not be asked to volunteer or to take up any extra duties. Meetings last around an hour and people turn up and leave as and when they need to. A lot of things discussed at the PTA meetings do not appear on Parent Mail. It is therefore important that all parents read the minutes, which are circulated via the form reps, in order to stay fully informed of PTA decisions. Hard copies can also be provided if required.

There are currently four elected officers, all of whom are parents and volunteers. The Chair and Vice-chair (these roles involve running the meetings and some communications). The Secretary (the vast majority of the formalities, event organisation with the sub groups and paperwork). The Treasurer (running the bank accounts, telling us how much money we have and making sure someone controls the finances)

How are decisions made ?
All decisions are made by the attendees of the meetings and any big ones or funding requests are voted on together. At the next meeting on the 19th March we will be discussing how we can get more parents involved in these votes even if they can’t make the meeting – hoping to help solve the logistics problem listed above.  Ideally I would like us (as a group of parents) to agree a big ticket item to raise money for over the year- then go for it and focus our efforts on achieving that one big thing.

The PTA approve or reject funding requests from the teachers. The PTA are often not involved in the implementation of the idea beyond providing the funding.

What is the purpose of the PTA?
The main role of the PTA is to raise money for the school for things that will improve our children’s school experience.  Thanks to the hard work and generosity of many of you we have already raised around £16,000 since September.
At the bottom of this note you will find a list of everything that the PTA has funded so far this year – the dining room if you haven’t seen it, is totally transformed and will benefit lots of children for years to come.

As a softer and secondary target the PTA also arranges events that are considered for the good of the community – these events may not always be big money-spinners but it is good to hold events where there are other drivers. Without people to run and take charge of events they do not happen.

The PTA's help, time and donations make a massive and fairly immediate difference.

We are grateful to everyone who has helped us to be able to deliver what we have so far and who continue to work hard so we can do more. Meeting details are shared through ParentMail and the newsletter.