Agenda SECRETARY
Diary of a PTA
Nathalie Dawson, PTA secretary at St James’ CofE Primary School in Cheltenham, shares the results of a successful summer term of fundraising
April Over the holidays, our PTA holds its
first Easter trail – a fundraiser first conceived with PTA chair Rachel Arthur, on one of our Wednesday Wellbeing Walks where we would catch up on PTA business during the lockdowns. Families pay £5 for a trail map and hunt around the local area for golden letters that spell ‘HAPPY EASTER HOLIDAYS’. We award donated chocolate eggs as prizes and raise over £400. The school’s Eco Hub (see PTA+
Summer 2021) is one of my favourite projects. We enhance it further this term so the school community can recycle more items such as textiles, crisps packets, sweet and biscuit wrappers and milk bottle tops.
May As secretary, my main job is to
organise and minute meetings, write content for the monthly newsletter, create social media content and look
The school now recycles items including textiles and crisp packets
after communications. I set up a meeting on Zoom where we make plans for a face-to-face celebration for committee members and volunteers at the end of term. We’re hoping to support a local restaurant and enjoy a glass of wine! We’ve moved our pre-loved
uniform sales to Facebook and begun holding regular non-uniform days during the pandemic. It’s an easy fundraiser, and the children love them. Over the half-term holiday, we
hold a Smarties/raisin box challenge. Pupils do jobs in return for coins, which stack neatly inside a Smarties tube or raisin box. Parents are highly motivated at the thought of their children making their own beds, and we raise a fantastic £1,170.
June A few years ago, the PTA invested in
a large polytunnel for the school, and our Year 2 polytunnel crew have been busy this year growing a variety of vegetables. The PTA holds a pop-up shop on the grass verge opposite the school gates each morning where parents can buy items such as tomato plants, pepper plants, sunflowers, mint and beetroot for £1 to £2 a pot. The plant sales raise £120 while teaching our children about the thrill of watching nature work its wonders.
Plant sales – and a Name The Bear competition – sent funds soaring
We also hold our final non-
uniform day of the year, bringing the fundraising total to £1,663.
July With no summer fair, we make a
big deal of our raffle. The PTA asks for donations and 20 local businesses run by school parents give us 27 prizes. We run a ‘Countdown to the Summer Raffle’ campaign on Facebook, where we showcase a prize and business every day leading up to the event. I host the event on Facebook Live with the help of one of our lovely teachers and the chair. The raffle raises an astonishing £1,817. We also run a ‘Name the Bear’
competition using a giant bear donated by a parent. The winning name is ‘Lost and Found’ – the bear feels lost during the pandemic, but now he has been found by his new owner. I’m thrilled to be the person who hands the bear over to a delighted winner! Our wrap-up meeting goes ahead
and we thoroughly enjoy our lunch outside at Moran’s Eating House. We reflect on the past year and say goodbye to five of our Year 6 parent volunteers. It’s been an extraordinary time, and I feel so proud that the PTA has raised over £15,000. We’ve not just survived – we’ve thrived.
pta.co.uk AUTUMN 2021 9
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