Award winners: A chance to celebrate success and recognise achievement
By Laura Warren
Published: 03 July 2007
Finalists in the NCPTA Gold Star Rewards joined the winners of the NCPTA LEAPP (Learning, Education And Parental Partnership) Awards at a presentation event in central London. The event provided an opportunity to recognise achievement and celebrate the success of home school associations across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools and 14-19 Learners, who presented winners with their awards said, "Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) make an enormous contribution to the wellbeing of our schools. By creating exciting fundraising ideas, developing extra-curricular opportunities and fostering greater parental involvement in school life, they play an essential role in shaping the character of schools. The finalists and winners reflect the energy, passion and creativity at the heart of all successful PTAs."
NCPTA Gold Star Rewards 2007
The Gold Star Rewards recognise the achievements of PTAs and other home school associations and reward best practice with £1,000. A total of six £1,000 rewards were awarded in three categories:
PTA Fundraising Achievement
Looks not only at the amount raised but also innovation and the involvement of parents, pupils and the wider community.
Changing the Life of a School
PTA-led projects that fundamentally change the life of the school for the better. Although fundraising is often an element, judges also look for activity that has a significant impact on the whole school community.
Achievement in Parental Involvement
For initiatives that encourage sustained parental involvement and how they are extended to include parents who do not usually get involved in the life of a school.
NCPTA LEAPP Awards
The NCPTA LEAPP Awards provide six awards of £2,000 as dedicated funding to help get more parents involved in their children's education. The LEAPP Awards support the development of parental involvement within schools by funding innovative projects which expand the remit of home school partnership activities, and/or the number of parents actively involved with schools and the education of their child.
The standard of applications was very high, making selecting the winners a difficult choice for the NCPTA judging panel chaired by William Atkinson, headteacher at Phoenix High School, London. Examples of the excellent good practice that stood out include:
Nower Hill Parents & Friends Association: Bollywood Night Extravaganza
Finalists in the Gold Star Rewards, Changing the Life of a School category, the Nower Hill Parents & Friends Association (PFA) were faced with the challenge of low parental involvement at secondary level and wanted to hold an event that would raise their profile and increase parental support. They opted for a Bollywood night, which was recognised by the school as the best-attended PTA event ever staged. The school and the PFA are now better engaged with the local community and a much wider section of parents are offering their support.
Chiswick Community School PTA: Monthly Boot Fair
Gold Star Reward winners in the Fundraising Achievement category, Chiswick Community School PTA, ran their first car boot sale in August 1991. It attracted just 50 sellers and raised £300. From this small start the event has grown beyond all expectations and Chiswick Community School PTA now run a series of monthly boot fairs. For the academic year 2005-2006, the car boot sales raised a staggering £58,042, the equivalent of around £47 per pupil.
LEAPP winners
Kidbrooke School Association: Involving Parents in Restorative Justice
Better known for being the secondary school featured on Jamie's School Dinners, Kidbrooke School will use its LEAPP funding to gain the involvement of parents in a programme of restorative justice. The school is already working to improve behaviour and wants to ensure that parents are involved in reducing conflict. Led by Kidbrooke School Association, workshops will be offered to parents to develop awareness and skills in areas such as active listening and conflict management. The proposal received a resounding endorsement from the NCPTA judging panel as a very innovative approach to engaging parents as partners in a crucial issue for the school.
Villa Real Special School: Real Therapy Interactive Workshops
Villa Real is a Community Special School catering for two- to 19-year-olds with severe and multiple learning difficulties. Holistic therapy workshops will be offered for pupils and their parents/carers to participate in together. The workshops will see a reversal of roles, with the students acting as the carer rather than being cared for. Parents will gain an understanding of different approaches to help de-stress an anxious child and be taught ways to assist a child with physical difficulties.
Laura Warren is communications manager at the NCPTA. The NCPTA Gold Star Reward and LEAPP Awards 2008 will be launched in September 2007. Visit www.ncpta.org.uk for further information
