‘We aren’t allowed to use the school buildings or grounds – ever’
‘A staff member has pledged a lot of our money to buy an item we think is far too expensive, without asking us’
‘We hold our AGM in January, but the school have told us to have it in September’
‘Our school won’t let volunteers work with the class their children are in, which means we can’t run whole-school events’
These real comments are typical of the challenges PTA members post on our Facebook group every day. While there are practical solutions – the PTA doesn’t need the school’s permission to fundraise, the school can’t dictate what the PTA purchases and governance isn’t the school’s concern – freedom can equal isolation. Put simply, a PTA cannot thrive without the school’s support.
Zoe Houghton, chair of the Friends of Rathfern in south east London, says: ‘If you don’t have buy-in from your senior team, you’re not going to go very far: you won’t get space in the school to do what you want to do; you won’t get the communication from parents that you need or the volunteers you want; and you won’t get the attendance of staff.’
Since Zoe first became a parent at Rathfern Primary School (492 pupils) over ten years ago, the school has been transformed. From struggling to attract pupils, it is now oversubscribed, thanks to the hard work of headteacher Naheeda Maharasingam and her team. This year, Mrs Maharasingam was awarded the Pearson National Teaching Silver Award for Headteacher of the Year in a Primary School, recognising her exceptional work in reshaping the narrative of poor outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. Zoe says she is ‘inspirational’, and her inclusive approach is evident throughout the school.
This includes the relationship with the Friends, who Mrs Maharasingam describes as ‘a truly diligent and devoted group of parents who work tirelessly to raise funds for much-needed school resources’. She highlights their commitment and hard work as one of the factors that helps the school build community spirit. Zoe adds: ‘It doesn’t just feel like my children’s school now; it feels like part of my work, like part of my life. Even if we are two separate entities, I see it all as one.’
Strengthening bonds
The Friends meet at the school every week, and staff are encouraged to drop by to ask questions. Two early years teachers act as the liaison between the school and the Friends, which Zoe says is ‘pivotal in getting messages across and organising things inside the school’. They are always available via email. Additionally, the school regularly invites the Friends’ committee to staff meetings, strengthening their connection and visibility.
At the beginning of the school year, Zoe asks Mrs Maharasingam about her priorities, where the budget is not meeting the school’s needs and how the Friends can help. ‘Our school has always held a welcome meeting for new starters, during which they give out a bag containing a PE kit and a book. But, for the past two intakes, they’ve not been able to afford the book, so we stepped in. We came to the meeting, added in a book and welcomed every parent with their bag,’ she says.
Although Zoe does not believe the school would ever ask for anything unreasonable, the Friends have compiled a list of requirements for funding proposals. Staff members must complete a form that includes details of the item they are requesting, the reason for the request and evidence of its impact on the school community. This process ensures staff carefully consider all requests before ever submitting them. In addition, the Friends allocate a small amount of money to each class teacher to spend as they see fit.
This year, to raise money for their classes, pupils created items to sell at the summer fair during their lessons and assisted their teachers in running class stalls.
‘We handed it all over to them,’ explains Zoe. ‘A year group who were learning about African history made notebooks covered in African prints; a class that was studying the environment grew and sold plants.
‘It wasn’t just the parents who came to the fair. The street was closed, and everyone was invited. The whole day was about peace and love and everyone being welcome, which is exactly how I feel about the school.’
A fresh start
The PTA at Rush Common School in Oxfordshire (450 pupils) stopped functioning during the pandemic, and most of the previous committee – as well as the headteacher – left the school. To revive the Friends of Rush Common, Rebecca Strugnell stepped up to take on the role of chair, a decision she describes as ‘a leap into the unknown’.
She says: ‘I had a long talk with our new head Kristen Fawcett about what to do – what he’d like to get out of it and what I’d like to get out of it.’ One of the first things they decided was that clear communication was essential. As representatives of their groups, they would be in charge of the strategy and could delegate to their teams, meaning there’s a single thread of communication, which prevents confusion.
They also agreed that the Friends would use the school premises after school and twice a year at evenings and weekends, for their big events – the summer fair and fireworks night. They hire local halls for the smaller events they run, such as wreath-making workshops and first-aid courses. Rebecca believes it’s helpful to understand why school procedures mean there’s a good reason behind this decision. It also puts her in a better position to ask for help at the events they do hold at the school. ‘When we run events on school premises, staff are really helpful. But we don’t pressure them because that’s their time,’ she adds.
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Balancing acts
Last term, Mr Fawcett asked the Friends to focus on curriculum-based items instead of their longer-term goal of replacing the adventure playground, explaining that these were still additional resources that the school wouldn’t otherwise be able to provide.
‘I did ask for clarification on that,’ says Rebecca, ‘but I accept that however wonderful it might be to prioritise only the fun things, the reality is that we need to ensure we have enough of the essential items.
‘The leadership team have a difficult task. They have to make their goals realistic in terms of what they can afford. I need to understand that it’s not all fun for them; they have a lot of balancing to do.’
Should differences arise, Rebecca tries to use them as a way to further understand the school’s values and objectives so that she can better anticipate their needs.
Every year, she attends a teacher training day, where she explains the value the Friends bring to the school and asks what they can do for the staff. She says: ‘I make a real effort to say thank you, and it’s not a one-way thing. Every year I get invited to the end-of-year school assembly, where they thank everyone, and they always include the Friends. We won’t always see eye to eye, but there’s a lot of mutual respect and as long as we have that, we can do this well.’
A middle ground
Following an Ofsted visit, Milton Primary School in Cambridge (320 pupils) invested heavily in rigorous safeguarding procedures. Everyone was pleased that the school had fulfilled its responsibilities, but it left Milton School Association (MSA) with a big problem. Committee member Elizabeth Cook says: ‘Instead of the school becoming an easy place to be after half past three, it suddenly felt like they had extended the day to six o’clock. Volunteers who hadn’t been through a hefty checking process, known as ‘red lanyards’, had to be supervised constantly. To become a ‘green lanyard’ they had to provide references, take a course and pass
an exam. There are two things about this: it takes time and there’s a cost to it. It was going to take six months to get any volunteers and made after-school events impossible.’
Elizabeth knew that many parents at the school already volunteered for local sports clubs, such as football team Milton Colts, and charities that required similar vetting procedures. She asked headteacher Damien Homden if they could treat the Association in the same way as other contractors, such as PE provider Cambridge United Football Trust.
‘Our head is a reasonable man, and to his credit he was open to this idea,’ says Elizabeth. ‘We had to accept the new requirements, but we also wanted to find a way to achieve the result we needed.’
Eventually the Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust agreed that if the welfare officer could provide the DBS numbers and names of volunteers along with confirmation that they had met the Milton Colts safeguarding requirements, those people could be considered as green lanyards – subject to presentation of photo ID. ‘Having that agreement in place instantly took my pool of volunteers from a potential two to 16 – assuming they were willing. But that was enough to make a huge difference. It was our first strategic relationship,’ says Elizabeth.
Next, she started looking for other groups of parents who could also be considered as green lanyards. The number of potential volunteers grew further when Dr Homden confirmed that parents who had been checked and vetted for preschool activities could also be counted.
Repeat behaviour
Dr Homden’s investment in collaboration has significantly strengthened the school’s working relationship with the Friends. As a result they are able to be open and candid with one another.
MSA traditionally held gift sales around Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. However, these sales didn’t raise a lot of money and required multiple volunteers. ‘The thinking was that it gave the pupils an opportunity to do some shopping on their own, which they don’t normally get to do,’ says Elizabeth.
She asked Dr Homden if he thought there was any educational value for the children in going shopping, describing it as ‘a moment where it hung in the balance, when he had to choose between telling us what he thought would make us happy and the truth. Eventually he said no. That’s also when he explained that his priority was that there would be minimal loss of learning time for the pupils.
‘There are so many parts to running a school that, as someone who isn’t a professional educator, I can’t actually grasp. But, I am not the headteacher; I don’t know the strategic aims. However, having clear parameters meant we could find a way to work within them. Being educated on what the school needs means we can do things like run a film or hire out the swimming pool for fun sessions with the support of the school, even if we no longer run painting workshops or hold gift sales in school time.
‘Our head is an intellectual person. His approach to an issue is to stop, consider it, acknowledge how we feel about it, contemplate the reasons behind our thoughts and examine how it aligns with school priorities. MSA needs to get behind the objectives of the school. If the aim of the school is to increase learning time, then we’re all looking to increase learning time. And if anything changes – such as a change of headteacher, a change of culture or change of aims from the Trust – we have to follow those too, because we are there to support the school.’
Mutual support
As part of her work with the Friends of Rush Common, Rebecca Strugnell often chats to other PTAs on social media. ‘I read a lot of posts where people talk about the difficult relationships they have with the school, and I’m so grateful we don’t have that,’ she says. ‘I want them to be proud of us and of everything that we accomplish.’
