WALDEGRAVE PTA: Committee Roles
As a whole, the PTA meets regularly to discuss how to raise funds, how to spend them, and how to keep the PTA going.
The PTA is strongly supported by the school; the Headteacher or other senior staff attend most meetings, and we have
links to the governors. Being an active member of the PTA is a rewarding thing to do; it is fun spending money to help
the school and making the environment better for the girls It is also a way of getting more inside knowledge into how
the school works, without the responsibility of being a governor.
Our meetings take place once a month in a school classroom, starting at 7.30pm and ending at 9pm. We communicate
mostly by email in between meetings, and we all help out at one or other of the events – serving tea at parent/teacher
consultations, or running the bar at Quiz Night or Comedy night, or helping with the gardening on Dig Days. We have a
good group of people who don’t come to Committee meetings but who volunteer at events. We have a cupboard on
the school premises where we keep our stuff, and the caretakers keep charge of the keys.
Usually, one of the more active members of the PTA takes the lead role in organising the various fund raising events,
often this is not one of those in the formal Committee roles – for example, we had a number of people organising the
summer party, and we have two people taking the lead on the next Comedy Night.
Chair (one meeting a month, two to four hours in addition, including helping out at events)










Provide leadership for the committee
Chair the meetings (making sure that the agenda gets covered, everyone contributes
and feels involved, establishes a consensus)
Follow up decisions to make sure they are carried out
Take an overview of the events, supporting event organisers
Signatory for the bank account
Liaise with the Headteacher & school staff
Turn up for some (but not all) events
Organise someone (if not self) to give brief presentation about PTA as needed to new
parents etc
(At the moment) run the Twitter feed (but this could be someone else)
Prepare an annual report for the AGM
It is useful to have some experience of chairing meetings, but in fact being Chair is not an
onerous responsibility. You can make of it what you want. Different chairs have different
personalities and want to be involved in the school to different extents. You could do it for just
one year, or you can start earlier in the chain and spend a few years in the role.
Treasurer (one meeting a month, two to three hours in addition, including helping out)








Maintain a record of all income and expenditure (using Excel spreadsheet)
Operate the bank account, retain the cheque book
Make payments – committee expenses, new purchases etc
Give a short account of what has been going on to Committee meetings
Prepare floats for events (getting change from the bank), and then pay in proceeds after
events
Pass information to the auditor who checks our accounts annually
Keep records of school fund payments received, and submit Gift Aid claims to HMRC
2 - 3 times per year.
Present an annual report for the AGM.