Help is at hand W
Widen the net when recruiting volunteers and take advantage of the valuable skills available in your community
hat do you picture when you imagine a PTA? A group of mums chatting in the
playground? A gathering of women planning the summer fair over a coffee? But times are changing, and with work patterns becoming more fl exible and childcare shared with dads, grandparents and friends, maybe it’s time to mix up your PTA and get a more diverse bunch of people involved. Just think of what you could achieve with all those extra volunteers…
New faces Experiment with holding meetings
at different times of the day and
make it clear that everyone is welcome. If you’re planning to survey parents (
pta.co.uk/running- a-pta/boosting-support/parents- questionnaire) add a question directed at dads to discover what time of the day would work best for them. John Adams from parenting blog
Dadbloguk.com says: ‘PTAs can be incredibly welcoming and recognise the contribution dads can make. But it’s true that many dads work full-time and struggle to attend committee meetings held during school hours or to help at
events held straight after school.’ If you would like to attract
grandparents, how about writing a letter addressed directly to them, which could be sent home in book bags and passed on? Members of the local community can be reached through local newsletters, parish magazines and social media. Identify specifi c jobs that would be suitable for the groups you’re targeting and ask as directly as you can.
Manpower To get dads to dip their toes in the
TIP
Hold a meeting outside of usual PTA hours once a term so that people who wouldn’t normally be able to attend can come along.
PTA, put out a call for jobs that may appeal more to them. Could they help make-over the school garden, repaint the shed or lend a hand on the barbecue? Nick Roe, PTFA member at his daughter’s school in East
Sussex, says: ‘I joined when we moved to the village to get a better understanding of how the
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