Agenda
PTA THROUGH THE YEARS
Iford and Kingston CofE Primary School lies in the village of Kingston near Lewes in East Sussex. The school has had a PTA since at least 1965, when it moved to its current site, having been based in the nearby village of Iford since 1872. We talk to some of the different people involved with the PTA over the past 50 years…
The beginning Colin Finn was PTA chair in the
1970s: ‘In those days, there were under 100 pupils,’ he says. ‘Virtually everyone came from Kingston and the immediate surrounding parishes. In the latter part of the 1960s, the PTA raised a lot of money to build a swimming pool behind the school, which was a wonderful facility. A lot of the dads were involved, and a group of them made a brick wall for the children to bounce balls off.’
The 1980s: May Fayre ‘When my husband took over as
treasurer in the 1980s,’ says former PTA member Caroline Fry, ‘the swimming pool had already lasted for double its recommended life. The school needed more space, so the PTA raised funds to pay for
a substantial brick structure, which was built on the site of the dismantled pool. Known as the Owl House, the building was used as a library, and for music and singing, but for legal reasons couldn’t be used as a classroom. ‘The bonfire night event was our
biggest fundraiser, but we wanted to add a regular summer event to the calendar to help pay for the Owl House. There was already a village fete in the summer, so we chose to hold a May Fayre. We always had to be careful to avoid FA Cup Final day, when many dads would be otherwise engaged.
‘The PTA would send out a weekly
‘It was great – a chance to meet new friends and join in. I loved listening to people’s ideas and finding a way to make parents’ views heard.’ Caroline Fry
note, and the head always put our news in the school newsletter. If there was an event, most people would volunteer because it was jolly and a good way to make friends, as well as helping the school. Back then, classes were split differently each year. The parents mixed more because the children often moved between groups, so you always knew a lot of people. I think it made it more sociable. We were all very hands-on: when the hall needed painting and decorating, the PTA formed working parties to get it done.’
The 1990s: Fun and friends
Bruce Adams was PTA chair in the mid-1990s.
‘The Owl House hadn’t long been built when I took over,
and the school needed help getting it finished,’ he remembers. ‘For six months, PTA members would turn up every Sunday morning and get stuck in. Once we’d finished inside, we built pathways
‘The PTA was a wonderful way to get to know people. We had a lot of laughs and made it fun for ourselves as a committee.’ Bruce Adams
and landscaped outside too. The PTA also funded a set of playground equipment and new library books.’ By now, the May Fayre
was an established part of the fundraising calendar. ‘As well as
maypole dancing, we’d have welly-wanging, sponge the
pta.co.uk SUMMER 2021 11
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
