‘Primary schools in many
places are at the heart of the community, so as things get harder, we will see parents and carers turning to their schools for help. But the rising costs will also affect staff and volunteers, diminishing their ability to give free time and resources. So schools, which are already in this pressurised position, will be asked to do even more, and to find innovative ways to help, especially in deprived areas. And the parent community, who would previously have been providing some of this support, are going to be the ones in need.’
What can PTAs do? Alison recommends that PTAs develop a strategic plan to look at what the school can do and what funding the PTA can access. ‘All too often, PTAs stick with traditional fundraisers, such as bake sales. I’m not being critical of those because they are important community-building activities, but I know as a mother that I might easily spend as much on the ingredients for a cake as it will raise for the school. ‘As a separate entity from the
school, the PTA can often apply for funding from grants and trusts that the school can’t access. Or they might be able to work in partnership with businesses or access corporate money through match funding. I recently came across a group of PTAs who got together to work with a local charity that provides early intervention support services. Together they applied for quite a large fund to provide early intervention support across all their schools. That has massively improved children’s lives within the schools, without having to rely on the parent population to fund it.’ Problems can develop when the PTA and school aren’t aligned. To
open up the conversation, bring the PTA committee, headteacher and governors together to discuss priorities. Nikki Bell, co-founder of charity support network Fundraising Everywhere, suggests PTAs ‘call a meeting that isn’t connected to any kind of activity or event planning. Often when PTAs meet, there are loads of things happening with flurries of emails, and it’s a bit overwhelming. At this meeting, think only about the coming year; talk to the school about what they actually need and what the PTA can realistically achieve, identify any gaps and discuss how you might fill them.’ There’s a community aspect to
PTAs that goes beyond asking for money, and events are still an important part of the mix. So make an events plan for the year matching people to events and giving them responsibilities. Once you’ve got that in place, focus on growth.
Use your connections PTAs should start close to home by concentrating on their
networks. ‘Look at circles of influence, which is to say the people closest to you with the best alignment to your cause,’ says Nikki Bell. ‘First, you have the parents of current pupils at the school, but there are also the parents and carers of children who have left. Then there’s the local community, some of whom will be looking to invest in the people around them. Write down who you know within the school and who’s in the community, find out where the overlap is, and then proactively approach those people and ask for help. When you do this mapping exercise, you’ll be surprised to discover who you’re connected to. ‘When approaching local
companies, try to avoid cold calling and instead build on past successes, for example, someone who helped during the pandemic. Corporates are often looking for ways to put back into the local community and if you have a clear link with them, such as a lot of employees with children at the school, use that to help persuade them your campaign is a good fit. Companies love a project they can put on their website and social media to show the good they have done in the community. So often we find that the successful partnerships at a local level are
‘As a separate entity from the
school, the PTA can often apply for funding that the school can’t access’ Dr Alison Body
18 AUTUMN 2022
pta.co.uk
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