Rhodes Park School School PTA – A Brief Guide

Official handover ceremony for the Marco Polo Scania 65-seater bus in Feb 2011 from Barclays Leasing

WHAT IS THE RHODES PARK SCHOOL PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION?

The Rhodes Park School PTA is this year held its 25^th Annual General Meeting on Saturday, March 5, 2022.

The association is a formal body that is composed of parents, teachers, and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a school. Its role is to encourage closer links between home and school. PTAs are best known for their fundraising work, but they have a useful social function too. Fundraising events provide an opportunity for parents, staff and pupils to get together.

All parents who have a child enrolled at Rhodes Park School and all teachers working at the school are automatically members of the PTA.

After operating on a more informal basis since 1994, the Rhodes Park School PTA was formally registered with the Registrar of Societies in 2010.

WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONS OF THE RHODES PARK SCHOOL PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION?

The PTA works closely with the school community and administration to promote and support the school. The actual activities of the Association are listed below:

• Supporting learning through local and international educational field trips. This includes scheduled annual excursions by various grades as well as tours by School Clubs to foreign countries
• Organising social events that bring the school community together, e.g. games.
• Fundraising activities that benefit the students and teachers of Rhodes Park School.
• Assisting families through the sponsorship of needy children under the PTA Benevolent Fund.
• Promoting Community Service by funding child-centred visits to less privileged and vulnerable members of our society.
• Playing an important role in helping parents get to know each other and enhance a sense of community.
• Rewarding child performance as requested by the Head of School and
• Supporting teacher-centred effort as requested by the Head of School, for instance, contribution towards prizes for the best achieving teachers of the year, teachers’ team building programmes/trips.

WHAT ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS DOES THE PTA USUALLY HOLD?

• The Academic Fundraising Exercising in Term 1, e.g. Busimania for this year.
• One Civilian Day each term
• Cultural Evening in Term 3
• Other fund-raising events and activities

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PTA? 

• Provision of buses to transport pupils on educational tours and field trips
  • Purchase of Autorec school buses (Toyota Coaster) (1999-2006)
  • Leasing of brand new buses started with two Mitsubishi Rosa minibuses (2006-2009) and advanced to the acquisition of the 65-seater Marco Polo Scania Torino in 2010, followed by the new 34-seater Mitsubishi Rosa minibus in 2014.
  • Leasing of the brand new 70 seater Marco Polo Andare Bus in 2019
• Successful annual fundraising events
• Sponsorship of learners in need by the PTA Benevolent Fund Sub-committee
• Rehabilitation of the Northmead School Sports ground starting in 2014 under a Memorandum of Understanding with the two neighbouring government schools
• Financial support for annual Educational Tours for Grades 6, 7, 9 and 12
  • Grade 6 to Treetops Wildlife Camp in Kafue National Park
  • Grade 7 to Livingstone/Victoria Falls Region
  • Grade 9 to South Africa
  • Grade 12 to Namibia
• Financial support for Club members’ foreign trips, including:
  • World Scholar’s Cup team to the Regional and Global Rounds held across the world, and then the Tournament of Champions at Yale University, USA in 2017, 2018 and 2019
  • Educational Exchange Programme by French Club members to the Reunion Island in 2010 and 2017
  • Child Rights Club Tour of the United Nations Headquarters in NY, USA in 2017
  • Junior Engineers, Technicians, and Scientists (JETS) Club trip to Beijing and Shanghai in China in 2014, 2016 and 2017.
  • Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) Secondary Club Tour to Florida, USA in 2017
  • Mathematics Primary Club Tour to Japan in 2017
  • Performing Arts Club attendance of the International Children’s Festival of Performing Arts in India, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2016
  • Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) Club members’ trip to Buffalo; New York in the United States of America, from 20 to 29 July 2011, for the World Cup Competition
  • Girl Guides and Rangers Centenary Celebration Camp at Kuilsilver Caravan Park in Cape Town, South Africa from 6 to 17 December, 2012
  • The ICT AND French Club Members trip to France and Belgium in 2013
  • Educational Tour by French, Tourism and Fine Arts Club members to Switzerland, France and Hungary in August, 2014
  • Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) Club members’ trip to South Africa from 22 to 27 July 2010, to take part in their first World Cup Competition hosted in Cape Town
• Support for the annual Prize giving ceremony, and the Grade 12 Graduation Luncheon
• Organisation of social games for parents and teachers
• Support of members of staff on team building trips

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST EACH FAMILY?

There is an annual fee payable by each member family, and the amounts of contribution are set at the Annual General Meeting

• Membership Fees are payable termly and currently set at K70.00 per family.
• Bus Fund is levied at three hundred sixty Kwacha (K360.00) per family divided into three terms. This goes towards payments of leases as well as maintenance and insurance of the buses and trailers
• There is also fifty Kwacha (K50.00) per child contributed towards the Benevolent Fund each term.

WHAT DO MEMBERS DELIBERATE ON AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING?

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the PTA is normally held each year towards the end of February. Notice of the Annual General Meeting is sent to parents seven clear days before the actual day.

 Minutes of the preceding year’s Annual General Meeting

• Chairperson’s Report to members
• Audited Accounts of the Association
• Treasurer’s Report and Annual Budget for the coming year
• Any other PTA Matter
• Election of members of the Executive Committee

ARE THERE OTHER MEETINGS HELD APART FROM THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING?

YES! THERE ARE OTHER MEETINGS HELD ACROSS THE YEAR

• Extra-ordinary General and Special Task Meetings for selected parents are held when necessary.
• The Executive Committee of the PTA meets once each month and whenever there are matters to discuss. The Executive Committee also holds special meetings to prepare for fundraising events and important meetings, such as the Annual General Meeting.
• Parents Consultative Committee Meetings held to gain the views and input of parents and guardians on specific issues affecting the School community

WHO GOVERNS THE RHODES PARK SCHOOL PTA?

Responsibility for managing the affairs of the Rhodes Park School PTA falls in the hands of the Executive Committee. The committee is made up of parent and teacher representatives.

Parent members

• Chairman
• Vice chairman
• Treasurer
• Vice-Treasurer
• Two Committee Members

Teacher members

• Head teacher acts as Secretary of the Parent-Teacher Association
• Vice Secretary – Deputy Head teacher (Secondary or Primary)
• Senior Teacher from the Primary Section of the School
• Head of Department from the Secondary Section of the School
• A teacher Representative (representing teachers in the Primary Section of the school)
• A teacher Representative (representing teachers in the Secondary Section of the school)

Elections to the Executive Committee are held on the day of the Annual General Meeting. Parents elected to the Executive Committee can only serve for a maximum of two PTA years.  Members of the teaching team serve a maximum of one year due to their Academic Work.

SO WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PTA AND THE OWNERS OF THE SCHOOL?

Rhodes Park School is owned and operated by Rhodes Park Schools Limited. Day to day management is in the hands of the Executive Management Team, which reports to the company’s Board of Directors. The EMT is responsible for management functions such as budgeting and financial management, fees, employment and Human Resource functions, as well as strategic planning and control. The Head teacher is in charge of the Academic team and supported by the two deputy heads and the Heads of Department.

Despite that, having a functioning and contributive PTA in a private school such as ours could have posed certain challenges in terms of defining roles and responsibilities, we are very pleased that over the years, a positive working relationship has evolved between the school management and our PTA. Issues such as respective roles, responsibilities and indeed, boundaries have been clarified.

The Board and Management of Rhodes Park School understand how valuable it is for parents to become part of school life and the PTA encourages and supports the participation of all parents to share their experiences, knowledge and talents to help enrich the school’s environment for our children. In this regard, the Board and Executive Management Team (EMT) act by providing logistical support and facilitation of the PTA’s work.

This ranges from the Secretarial duties carried out by the Head Teacher, all the way to the Financial Accounting and Reporting work for the PTA done by the School Accounts Department.