Parents’ and Teachers’ Association Lead Election and Steering Committee Opportunities

PARENTS’ AND TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION LEAD ELECTION

On behalf of the PA (Parents’ Association) newly renamed PTA (Parents’ and Teachers’ Association), it is with great pleasure that we send our first official note to our BSB community for the 2023-2024 academic year!  We hope that you all had a wonderful and restful summer.  

Before we dive into this exciting year, it is important that the PTA is transparent.  We desire to be a welcoming group for all that would like to support the school.  We desire to find strength in our diverse community and to do that we need to make sure that the leadership of the PTA is known and chosen by the community.  Therefore, as interim PTA lead, I believe that an election is an important step in the rebuilding process.  

I along with anyone interested in leading the PTA may submit a biography by September 11 to PA@britishschool.org.cn.   The bio should include the applicant’s background that would support the duties of the position along with the vision for the upcoming academic year.  All bios will be sent out to the community and there will be an official vote to elect the new PA lead onSeptember 13.  

The PTA lead duties include: 

• Meeting with the leadership once a month to discuss the effectiveness of the PTA in supporting the school and the community along with updates on PTA involvement in major school events.
• Leading Steering Committee (the head individuals organizing big events for the PTA) meetings once a month. 
• Organizing open PTA meetings once a month for the BSB community.  
• Supporting the organization of PTA interest groups 
• Working closely with the school’s marketing team to aid in welcoming new families to the BSB community and to support school community building events.  
• the PTA lead will need to present concrete ways to communicate with and to serve the diverse BSB community to include overseeing the PTA newsletter sent once a month.

Bios for all applicants will be sent to the community on September 12.  We will hold a vote for the PTA lead at the beginning of the PTA meeting on Wednesday, September 13 at 10am in the school theater.  

There is already a great team of parents working together to make the PTA welcoming for all parents. This election is our first step in opening our doors to all that would like to join in our mission to support our BSB school community.

The PTA Leadership Team   

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STEERING COMMITTEE INVOLVEMENT

On behalf of the PTA (Parents’ and Teachers’ Association), we are excited this year to offer many ways that parents can take leadership roles in our commitment to support the school and thus our students.   One such opportunity is by leading on the Steering Committee.

For those that are unfamiliar with the Steering Committee, it is composed of different parents that have offered to lead major events that the PA leads for the school such as International Day, the German Market/Christmas Fair and the Santa Secret Shop.  The Steering Committee also offers committed parents a seat on committees set up by the leadership at the school such as the food committee and the mental health committee. The Steering Committee also has a chair for those that would like to help to organize different interest groups for Parents outside of school.  Finally, the Steering Committee is for those that would like to aid in the function of the PTA.  

All open Steering Committee positions are listed below along with a brief description of their duties.  Some of the positions you will notice have already been filled by those individuals that sat on the Steering Committee in the last academic year. If you are interested in learning more about those positions, please refer to our website under the Parent Essentials on the BSB main webpage next week. We are in the process of building the website to hold all PTA information. 

If you are interested in being involved in any of the different groups that are not available to lead, we encourage you to come to the PTA meeting on September 13 at 10am to see how you can volunteer. 

Open Positions

PTA secretary

This position would be in charge of taking notes at the meetings to be posted on the new PTA website so that the boarder community can see what the PTA is discussing and upcoming events. This position would also be in charge of gathering information and creating the PTA newsletter which will be sent once a month to the BSB community. This position would attend two meetings each month which would be the Steering Committee meeting along with the PTA meeting. 

Speaker Organizer

This position will work with another parent to organize speakers for both the primary and the secondary school.  The speakers for the primary will include talks with professionals that help the development of our children for example nutritionist, doctors and educational professionals that will help us with techniques to read to our children etc.  Secondary speakers will speak to students and parents about educational journeys that have led to different professions for example lawyers, doctors and business professionals.  The position would attend both the Steering Committee and work closely with communications and the school to organize and plan such events.  

Food Committee

This position attends the school food committee meetings with the school chefs, school leadership as well as student representatives.   The member would discuss the food options and offer ideas and insight into the lunches offered at school.  The member would attend the Steering Committee meeting once a month and would report to the Steering Committee any important information from the school meeting. 

New Family/Outreach

There is one position open to help with new family outreach.  This would include welcoming new families and especially students, answering any questions about how to get involved within the community and would be asked to direct the individual to the correct people within the school to have questions and concerns answered.  This individual would be ready to offer help whenever a new student arrives as well as will attend Steering Committee Meetings.

Sports Club Coordinator

This individual would work with interested parents to create sports opportunities for students and parents together.  This individual would work with Mr. Armstrong to see that the facilities are available during the weekend at the school and or organize events outside of school.  This individual would need to attend the Steering Committee Meetings each month. 

Mental Health Committee 

This member would preferably be a parent with a background in psychology, but this is not a must.  This individual would attend the mental health school meetings and then offer ways in which the PTA can help the mission and goals of the school in this area.  The duty would be to attend the Steering Committee meetings each month as well as the school meetings whenever they are being held. 

Interest Group Coordinator

This member would be the contact for the different interest groups supported by the PTA as well as help organize new interest groups that the PTA would like to begin this year.  The individual would be the point of contact for the parent groups such as hiking, English classes, Chinese Classes, TaiChi classes and Yoga classes.  This parent would work together with the PTA lead to create interest groups that also serve our students such as book clubs.  

If you are interested in any of the above positions, please email the PTA at PA@britishschool.org.cn. Please also remember that there are many other Steering Committee groups that have been filled by parent leaders that are not listed here, but will be presented at the PTA meeting on September 13.  You will be able to view all of the information on the PTA website next week as well in the case that you are unable to attend the meeting but would still like to be involved in the groups.  

For more information or if you have any questions, please also send these emails to the PTA at PA@britishschool.org.cn.

Thank you and on behalf of the PTA, we hope you have a wonderful afternoon.