Survival Advice
With 2012 winding down and the Christmas holidays approaching fast, what can you do as a PTA volunteer to ensure that the New Year gets off to a good start and stays stress free?
Tips for a stress-free PTA year
2 ✔ ✔ ✔
013 is looming for you and your committee colleagues – you’ll face challenges and new opportunities but with regular meetings, good planning and clear communication you can reduce the stress!
So, here are some dos and don’ts, courtesy of
PTA-UK to help ensure the New Year gets off to a flying start!
If you’re new to the committee and you’re tak- ing over an officer role, try and meet with the out-going post-holder for a handover. A quick chat over a cup of coffee could save you a lot of time and help you settle into your new role as quickly as possible.
Meet with the Head as soon as you can to en- sure that key school dates are in the PTA’s diary.
You’ll need to know when you are needed to support school events and when the school will be available for your PTA activities. Get these dates in the diary early to avoid any sort of clash or disappointment.
As soon as you can, review your last 12 month’s worth of events and don’t just run them again, just because the PTA always has. Take
a critical look at what worked well and what events weren’t so successful. Don’t be afraid to ditch the events that were too labour intensive or the ones that didn’t make as much money as you thought they would. Discuss new events and broaden your fundraising horizons. Undertake some research with your own parent body – see what they want, you never know someone might just come up with a gem of an idea!
✔ ✔ ✔
Ask the Head, or their representative to come along to your first committee meeting, with their wish list, so that you can debate and agree what you are going to fundraise for. Don’t forget to add suggestions from the Committee and parents too.
Once the AGM is over, don’t think you need to go it alone. Always ensure that your parents
know that their support is welcome no matter how much time they can give. Explain that every little really does help. Make sure your PTA feels inclusive, some Committees appear so organised parents as- sume that everything is covered! Continually remind parents that their support is always welcome and re- ward volunteers with free family tickets to PTA events.
Review the way you communicate with your parents, make sure your website is up-to-date and your newsletters are fresh and interesting and never under-estimate the power of simply talking to parents. Use social media – we’re all doing it so get talking to parents via your own PTA Facebook page and Twitter! And remember to promote the successes of your PTA throughout the year – remind everyone just how good you are!
PTA-UK
PTA-UK is a membership organisation for all forms of home-school association. Last year our members raised over ££110 million for schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We offer a range of unrivalled benefits including insurance for PTA events, fundraising guidance and advice on running a successful PTA. For more information and details of our free fundraising workshops, open to all PTA volunteers please visit
www.pta.org.uk or call the PTA-UK Advice Line on 0845 850 5460.
WWW.MUMSSURVIVALGUIDES.CO.UK 55
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64