Parents - How can I help?
Parents, carers, extended family and close community are all Friends of Belgrave.
Many among you will want to know how you can help the school to be an even better environment for all pupils.
Belong
We all belong to the Belgrave community and must work together to ensure all the pupils achieve the best outcomes. There should be no ‘them’ and ‘us’. Any concerns should be raised with a positive and open-minded approach, trusting the good intentions of everyone involved, and keeping the well-being of our students as our top priority.
Participate
Our community is much more fun and cohesive when everyone joins in. Our Parent Teachers Association (PTA) works very hard to organise events that bring everyone together. The pupils love seeing their adults being involved with the school, getting to know their teachers and teaching assistants as well as their friends’ families. Teachers will often encourage parents and carers to engage with a piece of homework, be it reading with the kids, or being quizzed on history or even maths. Please join in, don’t be shy or afraid to show how much or little you know: simply joining in their learning journey has been proven to bring huge educational benefits!
Volunteer
It takes a lot of time and effort to keep a school community thriving, and we will sometimes ask for volunteers to help us run a PTA event, ferry kids to a sporting competition or even dig out a playground or repaint a wall. If you can help, please do. We also welcome people who can tell a good story, explain what they do at work, or run a craft session. If you think you have something to offer, please reach out and we’ll see whether we can use your help.
But please don’t over promise, and be clear and honest about what and how much time you can commit, which is essential for our organisers to work their magic.
Organise
Our PTA consists of a formal committee (chairs, secretary and treasurer) elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in early September, and a network of class representatives. Together they organise a busy calendar of fundraising events throughout the year, and will regularly ask for volunteers to pitch in. Remember the PTA cannot do this on their own and rely on parents, carers and families to help run these events as well as participate.
We also have a Local Governing Body (LGB) who sets and monitors the strategic progression of the school. This too consists of volunteers, who serve 4 year terms. New parent governors are elected every year or so, and we welcome parents and carers from all walks of life to put themselves forward for elections and help keep our LGB fresh and representative of the whole school community.
Contribute
It is a sad fact that schools are continuously asked to do more with an increasingly insufficient budget. We rely on the funds raised through PTA events to buy equipment we can no longer afford with our government funding, such as the new years 3-6 playground, or the iPads used in the classrooms. We are a registered charity (N? 701864) and if you can afford to donate, or buy that cup of sweets, that burger, that beer, that second hand teddy, please do with the assurance your donation will go directly to improve the children’s school day as well as their educational outcome.
Belgrave Governing Board
