SPTC Member Survey 2010 - Report

In January 2010 SPTC surveyed all PTA/Parent Council members – in the region of 1700. The survey
repeated many of the questions asked in previous surveys while also focusing on the very current
theme of pressure on local authority budgets. Specifically, we are keen to feed into the Scottish
Parliament’s current scoping exercise around funding of education services. The survey therefore
probed this issue and also enabled us to compare parents' perspectives and note any changes over
the years (figures from our 2003 survey are shown in brackets where there is an interesting contrast to
be highlighted).

Key facts

311 responses – 18.8% of our membership

82.3% from primaries
98,527 children in responding schools
All 32 local authorities represented

In total, we received 311 responses representing 18.8% (19.2%) of our membership and more than
11% of state schools in Scotland.

Of the members who responded, 72% were from Parent Councils and 28% from PTAs. 82.3% of
responses were from primary schools, 15.8% from secondaries, 1.9% from special schools.

These parents’ groups are active in schools with a total roll of 98,527 across each of the 32 local
authorities. This breaks down as follows:

Number of schools Total school roll

Primary 256 55,135
Secondary 49 42,628
Special 6 764

Responses by LA/sector

45

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35

30

25 Primary
Secondary
20 Special
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SPTC May 2010 1

What the PC or PTA does

97.4% of parent groups raise money

67.2% raise parental concerns with head teacher and staff
27.3% organise meetings and events on educational topics
Survey reflects increasingly significant role of parents in school life

While fundraising remains the most popular activity undertaken by parent groups, it is no longer
undertaken universally. The advent of the Parent Council may be the reason for this: while PTAs
(which traditionally have the fundraising role) have often merged with PCs, this is not always the case.

Just over 97% of respondents said they raised money, and almost 83% (88.3%) said that they
organised social events. Significantly, 67.2% (42.9%) said that they reported and discussed parents
concerns with the headteacher and staff. Organising meetings on educational topics has increased
markedly as an activity at 27.3% (16.7%). This reflects continued efforts to involve parents in their
children’s education, although there is a considerable difference between primary and secondary
schools. There has also been an increase in parents’ groups running activity clubs at 14.1% (8.3%)
with a small but significant 2% also running after-school clubs – this was previously not identified as
an activity.

The ‘other’ activities again reflect the increasingly significant role of parents in the dynamics of the
school: many groups are involved in consultation events within their cluster or local authority area,
supporting development of CfE and attending/supporting events.

Activities by sector %

100.00%

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80.00%

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60.00% Primary
Secondary
50.00%
Special
40.00% Grand Total

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SPTC May 2010 2

Amount raised

Expected fundraising ranges from £200 to £19,000

39 groups raise more than £5000
Small schools have strong fundraising advantage

Groups were asked how much they expect to raise this year: this ranged from £19,000 in one primary
school to £400 in another, £200 in one small rural secondary to £10,000 in a large urban secondary.

39 groups (17) expect to raise more than £5,000: five (one) were secondary and the rest primary
schools. Also, fundraising in special schools remained very significant.

However, when we look at the per pupil sum raised, size continues to matter! Only three of the top 20
earning schools have a school roll of more than 100. In contrast, of the 50 schools raising less than
£5 per head, 32% had rolls of more than 1000.

The average raised per head in each sector is as follows:

Primary £14.83
Secondary £2.41
Special £13.09

Funds raised by Local Authority

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Type of fundraising activity

Fundraising remains a major activity for parents’ groups across all sectors
Primary sector very active across all activities
The number of alternative activities continues to increase

The school fundraiser remains the most popular activity in primary school along with social events,
although in secondaries fundraisers such as raffles are equally important. Other fundraising activities
highlighted by respondents were wide ranging but included everything from bag packing at
supermarkets to selling baking/fruit & veg and recycling.

SPTC May 2010 3

 Fundraising activities

80.00%

70.00%

60.00%

50.00%
Primary
40.00% Secondary
Special
30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

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How money is spent

IT the major spend for primary

Sports equipment major spend for secondary
Activities in school major spend for special

While IT remains a major area of spending across primary and secondary, outdoor play equipment is
almost as popular in primary. In secondary its popularity is exceeded by the purchase of sports
equipment. Once again, the range of alternatives offered was wide, although support for music and
also for drama was mentioned frequently. Other activities included environmental projects, prizes or
presents.

SPTC May 2010 4

 How funds were spent

250

200
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150 Secondary
100 Special
Grand Total
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Who makes the decisions on spending?

Joint decision making on spending - between schools and parents - a rising trend
Pupils play an increasing role

Decisions on spending

250

200

PTA/Fundraising Group
150
Parent Council
Headteacher
Joint school/PC/PTA
100
Other

50

0
Primary Secondary Special Grand Total

The findings demonstrate how varied the practice is regarding who makes the decision on how money
is spent. Our advice to parent groups is always that this should be a shared decision between the

SPTC May 2010 5

PTA/PC and the school. Certainly this appears to be what is happening very often, although there is
still a significant minority of schools where the decision is being taken by the head teacher.

Many of the ‘other’ options were variations on this theme, often including pupils in the mix and
sometimes with a bid system in operation.

Cuts in school budget

We asked our members if there had been cuts in their school’s budget and, if so, to give an indication
of the percentage.

The responses received indicate that most Parent Councils and PTAs have a patchy and often
confused picture of what is happening in this area. While 45.98% said budgets had been cut, a
substantial percentage (36.66%) did not know if it had. Only 14.8% thought the budget had stayed the
same.

Unfortunately, very few respondents who said their budget had been cut were able to give a clear
picture of the scale of the cut. The suspicion is that financial information is either not provided to
parents or is difficult to understand and variable in quality.

18 May 2010

SPTC May 2010 6