Friends of St. Mary’s (PTA)

Friends of St Mary’s (PTA)
As a new member of the school community, you are automatically a member of the Parent Teacher Association. As the name suggests, the PTA includes staff (teaching and non-teaching), parents and carers of all the children at the school.

Aims & Objectives
The PTA has two broad functions, both of which work towards the prime objective of furthering the educational, social and general opportunities of all the children at St Mary’s.

• Communications – the aim of the PTA is to foster good, open relations and communications within the school community; between parents and professionals, and among parents

• Fund-raising – the PTA runs a programme of events and activities throughout the year designed to a) promote its first aim and b) provide additional funds for the school to purchase ‘extra’ equipment, activities and experiences to enrich our children’s opportunities at St Mary’s.

Management & Organisation
The PTA is managed by an elected committee, which meets regularly and on an informal basis. At these meetings, we discuss the planning for all the forthcoming events. Everyone is welcome to become involved as much - or as little - as they wish.

Financial Contribution to School
St Mary’s School PTA is a very active and productive fund-raising body. It benefits from a particularly supportive and generous parent population. Expenditure decisions are made at PTA meetings with particular reference to the school’s development priorities.

Examples of recent items that have been funded by the PTA include installation of a Living Willow Classroom, refurbishment and maintenance of our outdoor swimming pool, playground equipment, computers and environmental improvements. The PTA also provides funds for ongoing expenditure – helping towards the cost of school trips and entertainment and smaller items of school equipment.

Social and Fund-raising Events
The PTA runs a busy programme of events throughout the school year. In planning our events and activities we try to strike a balance between wanting to make money for the school and wanting to bring people together to get to know each other and have fun! These two objectives are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but it is not always easy to get this balance absolutely right and we are always looking for new ideas – all suggestions welcome!

To give you an idea of the kind of events we organise over the year; Christmas Fair, film nights, end of term discos for the children, day trips. We also serve tea and coffee after school events such as end of year assemblies, Sports Day and the parent/teacher consultations. The summer term features the Summer Fair, which is the biggest event of the year.

Making Contact
The PTA is a great opportunity to become involved with your child's school at a greater level and to enjoy getting to know other parents. Whether you want to play an active role, like becoming the chairperson or secretary, or would prefer to just become a volunteer and be 'on call' for one of the many fund-raising events throughout the year, the PTA would love to hear from you.