Happy New 2024-25

Automatically generated from the audio, so it may not be perfectly word-for-word.

Hi, welcome to the PTA podcast. My name is Yvonne, and I've been a PTA volunteer for a few years now. But I'm just one of thousands of volunteers up and down the country who all want to make a difference to their schools. PTAs are becoming even more crucial in UK schools to boost budget, and I find it fascinating to talk to other volunteers about the different approaches they take. So please join me in this podcast to share information, generate ideas, debate issues, and to celebrate success. And I hope that you can take something away for your PTA today. I did intend to record something for you before the summer holidays, but unfortunately I just didn't have the time. And as you know, I'm having quite a lot of building work done in my house. So there's been a lot of people here, and I just felt a little bit self-conscious of trying to record my podcast when my builders were in my house. And also I could never tell if they were going to do any loud drilling noises, so I just felt it was safer not to start anything in case I kept getting interrupted. I've also been trying to keep up with the painting of the house as the builders have sort of been moving around the rooms, so I've been trying to prioritize that to my and refray. That means that the podcast slipped down my list of priorities just slightly, but um so yeah, there's been a bit of a break, but I am back now and looking forward to talking to you again. So I just wanted to know how your summer has been. I think that it's definitely well earned to have a few weeks off doing some PTA stuff after you've been busy the whole year. And I do also like to give my team a bit of a break from me on our PTA WhatsApp group. Um, but it was really nice to just sort of switch off completely from school and focus on having a bit of a rest over the summer holidays, which was really lovely. We didn't go out and do a lot of things because we are having all this building work done, but it was actually really nice just to spend a bit more time at home and not loads of time rushing in the children around to clubs and activities, and not feeling like my day is kind of chopped up at chopped off at three o'clock. We could kind of run on till five doing stuff, so um it was really lovely, and I think the kids also appreciated just not doing all the crazy rushing around that they have all now uh gone back to in our crazy modern day lives. So it is now a new school year, um, it's the second week of term already. My PTA has sprung into action because of course we have to get back into the swing of things. Um, and I've been working on three different things already since my children have returned to school. So I'm kind of juggling trying to juggle these three different things on my PTA at the moment. So the first thing that we are doing, um, which is what we decided back in July actually, is we're doing a little fundraiser to kind of kickstart the year and sort of advertise who we are to any new parents that have joined the school and remind the existing parents who we are, I suppose. So one of my PTA team members uh spotted a squishmallow for sale. Um I'm not actually sure which shop she found it in, but it was quite a big squishmallow and it was on sale for £9. So she had a great idea that we could just buy this £9 squishmallow and then sell names so children can play guess the name of the squishmallow. And we were we've put together a list, or she's put together a list, of 60 different names. So if we sell all 60 names, that will be 60 pounds because we're going to sell each name for a pound, and we spent 9 pounds on the squishmallows, so we'll make uh about 50 pounds profit, which is quite good. Um, she the squishmallow she bought is I I I didn't realise this actually, but most squish mallows are based on a real animal, or or this one is anyway, but it's based on an animal that that none of us had heard of before, which is a Tarzia, I think she said it was. I'm not quite sure even what sort of animal that is, it sounds very exotic. But the squishmallow is brown and white and it's got little ears. So she was trying to come up with names that were linked to this type of animal, and she managed to come up with 60 names, which is very impressive. So we are going to be selling names after school at Pickup in the playground, and then next Friday we're gonna have a cake sale where parents will donate cakes to be sold. We normally sell those for a pound each. Um, we're also gonna put out our secondhand uniform in case anybody needs anything, and we will draw the winning name of the squishmallow. So it's a really tiny small event which is easy to set up and take down. I mean, the actual event itself, if we do it after school, it won't be more than half an hour, so it's it's very quick. Um, and yeah, we just wanted to do something at the start of the year, and it's great to have a little fundraiser in September that kind of sets out your stall in a way for what might happen for the rest of the year. So trying to sort of support um with that event and let parents know it's happening, that kind of thing. Then the second thing that I'm also sort of juggling are all these um initiatives that have come out of parentkind. So I don't know if everybody who listens to this podcast knows about parentkind. It is it describes itself as a charity to support PTAs, but it does actually provide um insurance to PTAs, so we get our insurance through them, and they are trying to assist PTAs in a few different ways. And one of the things they've been doing over the summer is trying to partner with other companies to um give extra help to PTAs, uh, and and now on the Facebook page and by email, they are letting us know about all these different things they have organized, and they're kind of letting us know um it feels like a different one every week at the moment. So I think we've had three so far, three new ones so far, um, which I have to say I'm struggling to keep on top of, along with everything else that's going on, you know, going back to school, it's a really busy time. So I think before the summer or over the summer, they had some initiative with a second hand car company that if you sold your car through this company, then your PTA would um be donated a little bit of the money. I haven't really looked into that one um very much, but there is that one available. Um, the most uh popular one at the moment is the Asda Cash Pot one where you read if you're not a P a parent kind member, you can still register your PTA to be part of this initiative. So basically, anybody who shops at the Asda supermarket in the UK um can earn a percentage of their shop to go towards their nominated school. So the easiest way to do it is to download the Asda app on your phone, and there's a little section on there called Cash Pots, and you can use the drop-down list in there to find your school, and they are listed by school name rather than name of your PTA. I think there was a bit of chat about that on one of the uh Facebook groups, and I think ParentKind felt it was easier for people to find the name of the school than the name of the PTA because sometimes the name of the PTA doesn't have the school name in, and it can be confusing. I do think that's a good idea to use the school name. Uh, so you just nominate that you want your money to go to that particular school, and then um you just do your normal shopping and money goes in the pot for the school. Uh so yeah, we have made sure we're on the list and checked our cash pot, and we do have some money in there, so that's good. And I do need to send an email out to all the parents alerting them about it properly, but I just haven't done it yet because I wanted to get the data out of our little fundraiser out first, so I have to do another email to parents about the ASDA cash pot scheme, and now they've just uh parent kind of just uh this week launched their third um scheme, which is coats, winter coats for primary school children. So I think your school can um request a number of coats to be sent to them based on children who may not be able to afford a winter coat. And the idea is that um Fatface, which is a clothing company based in the UK, provides some children's coats that parents can buy for just £10 to ensure that their children are um kept warm and cozy and dry in the winter if they couldn't um otherwise afford a coat. So I think I probably need to contact the school and just forward the details of that to them in case any children at our school could benefit from that. But I haven't done that yet, so I'm hoping there isn't a deadline on that. I really need to check. Uh so yes, I have been trying to keep up with all those new things coming out of parent kind, which has been quite hard to do with all the other new school, like new year emails coming out of school, there's just quite a lot going on at the moment. Um, then of course the third thing that I need to sort out is our AGM. So our AGM is always held in this term one in September or early October. So I've been trying to pin down a date, and I've got a date now from my committee, which I confirmed uh a couple of days ago, and then very frustratingly yesterday I got an email from my eldest son's school, secondary school that said uh there was a meeting about a school trip that I do need to go to, which is on the same day as the AGM. Of course it is, it's on the law, isn't it? So my school meeting with my eldest son is at six o'clock, and then I have to very quickly get to my AGM for 7 30, which I'm hoping is gonna be possible, because I can't miss either of those things. Oh, it's just oh the timing, honestly. Um so I did do an episode all about my AGM and what I have on my agenda, which I think was episode 10, and I think I explained in there that I always get really nervous doing my AGM, which hasn't changed. I have been chair for seven years, and it hasn't changed at all. Uh I will be using the same agenda because that's always the same. But I do get nervous about it. Um, I get nervous giving my report out and hoping that people think we've done a good job. We generally don't get extra parents coming to the AGM, it does tend to just be people on the committee and a couple of staff members, like senior staff members, so the head of school and possibly the head teacher, executive headteacher. Uh, but this AGM is going to be a little different for me because I am trying to step down as chair this year. I did indicate this at my last AGM last year that this was gonna that was my last year as chair, and I have tried to keep repeating that throughout the year so everybody knows that I'm stepping down. Um I think it's the right decision. I am second guessing myself a lot at the moment, but I think it's the right decision. I do want to stay on my PTA because I love being on the PTA. I just don't want some of the responsibilities of being chair anymore. I just feel like I could really do the break from some of those extra things that you're responsible for as chair, and I still want to help at events and organise some events, but yeah, I just don't want the extra trappings that come with the glorious job of being chair. So I'm hoping to step down. But of course, I don't know of anybody who wants to step up and take over the chair position. So uh our AGM is in three weeks' time, nobody has indicated at all that they're interested, nobody on my committee has indicated that they're interested. I have tried to encourage people by saying you could do a co-chair with two people so it's not too onerous for just one person on their own. I have um also tried to say that uh they don't have to be the chair in the same way that I was the chair, so you can probably tell if you've listened to um some of the other episodes of this podcast that I definitely throw myself into this role 110%. I can't actually do it any other way. I have tried, but if but I couldn't do it. And I do understand that for somebody else coming forward that might seem really daunting. They might feel that they have to do it in the same way, and that might be stopping them saying, Yes, I'll have a go at being chair. So I have tried to make it clear that obviously it was my decision to throw myself in 100%, and I don't certainly don't expect anybody coming after me to do it in the same way. Everybody's different, everybody will have different ideas. Um but uh those two suggestions don't seem to have made any difference. Uh nobody's talked to me about it. Um I I don't know what I'm going to do at the AGM when it comes to electing the positions because we're going to get to the part of the AGM on my agenda where we have to elect the chair. And for the past seven years I have been happy to carry on and now I'm not and I'm actually not sure what to do at that part of the meeting when I say he wants to be chair and nobody says anything. I don't know what I'm going to do at that point. I really need to make a plan. Um I don't know if we can function without a chair. I know that in our constitution it says if we don't have a chair elected at the AGM, we then have to call an EGM, which is an emergency general meeting, to try and get a chair, I suppose. So I guess that would be the next step. Um, but it's not something I really want to go through. To be honest with you, and I know that many of you are chairs listening to this podcast, or some of you used to be. But I I've been chair for seven years. I think I've been on the PTA for eight years, and it's had its ups and downs, but it's been absolutely fantastic, and I've got so much out of the experience, I wouldn't change it for the world. And I really wanted to have a good ending to my chairship, and I really wanted to step down and somebody else step up, so that the last two years that I've got at primary school with my youngest child, I could still be part of the PTA and still help out, but just take a little bit of pressure off my shoulders. And I certainly don't want to step down and and nobody step up and then have this weird sort of experience where it hasn't ended very well for me. And I know perhaps that's a little bit selfish, but I I just that's how I want it to be. I want someone else to step in and I can definitely support that person. I wouldn't just leave them hanging, but somebody needs to have a bit of courage perhaps and have a go at it, and uh unfortunately so far, I don't think that person is uh in existence. So I'm not sure what's gonna happen. I'm gonna have to keep you updated on that. We also need a new treasurer, uh, because our treasurer, his daughter, has just left the primary school, but we do have somebody lined up for that who's going to take over in April as their child starts at our primary school. So very kindly, our treasurer has said that he will stay on till April, so he can do a handover at that point, so that's okay. And our secretary has said that she will stay on as secretary, and because getting the filling the chair's position is more important at the moment rather than her stepping down. I think she does want to step down as secretary, but again, she uh kindly said that she'd stay on, so it is just the chair position we are concerned about, and uh yeah, I just I don't know what's gonna happen, and I don't like not knowing what's gonna happen, and I don't like the fact that I'm going to go into this AGM and not know what's gonna happen either. So I like to be in control. You've probably noticed this from the way I organise my events. I like to be in control, I like to know what's gonna happen, and if I uh don't know what's gonna happen, I like to have a clear plan of what to do, but in this case, I don't even have that. Can any of you offer me any advice? I would really appreciate it. Please email me, help me. Um, my email address is hello at ptapodcast.com. If you can offer me any tips, any advice, uh I would really appreciate it. Thank you. So basically, I feel in a bit of limbo at the moment with my PTA because I feel that obviously um obviously at this point in the year I would be thinking ahead, definitely to Christmas, I would be planning ahead for the year, thinking about what events we could do, but I feel like I can't do that obviously because I'm trying to step down as a chair. So it's a bit of a strange time for me. Um, the last seven years I've constantly done all this planning, and now I can't do anything until we have had the AGM that's sort of the h on the horizon, and I'll just have to see what happens there and how we move past that. Um, so I can't really tell you any other plans that we've got at the moment. Um, I know that a lot of you at this time of year will already be thinking ahead to Christmas. I know some of you have really extraordinary uh Christmas events and Halloween discos and things like that. Um so normally at Christmas time we do some sort of Christmas fair or well we call it a winter fair just to be inclusive to everybody with sort of winter-themed, snowy themed things rather than Father Christmas themed things. Um, and uh the past uh twice actually at Christmas time, we've also done the printed tea towels, which have been really good sellers at that time of year. So um, so I just want to say good luck with your Christmas planning. Um, in my next episode, I'm going to be sharing a chat I had with my friend Eve about something slightly different you could organise uh as a Christmas fundraiser. This is actually something which would work really well for an evening event if you wanted something just for grown-ups at Christmas time. So tune in next time. Tune in next time, and you'll hear all about um a new idea for a Christmas fundraiser that you might want to think about. Well, that's kind of it for this episode. I know it's a little bit shorter than my normal episodes. I'm hoping that next time I might be able to share with you what happened at my AGM. Uh, but until then, I wish you lots of uh success and lots of energy and enthusiasm for the start of your new school year. Uh perhaps you're stepping into a role for the first time, or perhaps you've just stepped away from a role that you had for a while. Why don't you let me know how you're feeling about this year and your PTA? Uh, just drop me an email, it's hello at PTApodcast.com, and I look forward to chatting with you next time. Bye for now.