RUNNING A PTA – Diversity
‘It starts with the school, and our
head teacher is amazing,’ says Kent. ‘She’ll suggest a topic for discussion and put time in her diary so that parents can have a face-to-face chat with her. Last year, our local council developed a Trans Inclusion Schools Toolkit and rather than put it in a newsletter, she shared it with parents in a way that enabled them to ask questions and feed back. The PTA also has a close relationship with the two members of staff who form the school’s Inclusion Team.’ ‘In 2018, the school held an
you’re trying to do. Get to know the people in your particular patch: are there asylum seekers, Roma families, foster carers or people in financial difficulties? What colour, shape and size are your families? Only those who have experienced lives and cultures truly know the challenges – this is known as “lived experience”. So make sure the topic is led by those who have actually experienced life as the minority. EDI can’t come from one person on the PTA – that’s exhausting; effecting social change is everyone’s responsibility. It needs to be embedded in every PTA role, come from the head and be part of the school curriculum.’
Everybody is welcome At Elm Grove Primary School in
their family feel included in what the school does, and the PTA is part of that. It’s in our constitution to advance the education of pupils in the school, and you can’t say you’re doing that if you’re not including all the children who attend your school and, by extension, their families,’ she says.
‘Nothing about
us without us’ ‘Equality, diversion and inclusion (EDI) aren’t just about box-ticking,’ says Wilde. ‘While there are things you can do to get the conversation started, what’s really needed is a cultural overhaul. Let the word “respect” underpin everything
Brighton, new PTA chair Becs Kent is putting inclusion at the heart of what the PTA does. ‘Our school community isn’t the most racially diverse, but we have a broad range of financial circumstances. We also have a lot of different family types in terms of size, siblings, sex, gender – all kinds of relationships, and we need to make sure no one is excluded from anything we run because of that.’
inclusion audit which identified the cost of uniforms as prohibitive for some parents. Now, the PTA and Inclusion Team sets aside some donated essential items such as winter coats for those most in need. The identities of these families are kept confidential, and the PTA doesn’t have access to it.’ This year, Kent will be working
with The Real Junk Food Project, (
trjfp.com), an environmental charity which redistributes surplus food from across the food industry. Her aim is to provide a free fruit snack for all KS2 pupils. ‘Some of our children are going hungry, but we don’t want there to be a stigma attached to receiving a free snack. If it’s available to all the pupils, everyone benefits because there’s a better atmosphere in the class and no one’s too hungry to learn.’
Start a dialogue By starting honest and open
What’s really needed is a cultural overhaul. Let the word ‘respect’ underpin everything you’re trying to do
conversations, a PTA can understand what the community needs. Perhaps something has always been done a certain way, but the participants have changed. Does the PTA hold an event that doesn’t sit well with different faiths? Are there SEN pupils who need extra help or families who can’t afford the ticket price? ‘We’ve found we need to give a lot
of notice of our events so that people who need to plan finances, work or childcare can attend,’ says Rachel Khan. ‘We also don’t mention “mum” or “dad” in our events. There are so many different family situations in our community that it feels too prescriptive. Doing a lot of
pta.co.uk SPRING 2022 25
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