What is your parent teacher group called at school? Is it a PTA, PA, PTO, PC, PSA, Friends Of … or something else? The world of schools and their parent associations are absolutely littered with acronyms and jargons that would test the most experienced Government or multinational business employee!
So we’re here today to bust a few and lift the lid on what all the terminology, jargon and acronyms mean. This is a thorough rundown of all the key phrases you’re likely to encounter in your volunteer role at school; hopefully more than you’ll ever need! We’ve included education-sector specific terminology that is used in school too, as there are many occasions when you’ll be supporting or fundraising for a particular service that the school offers. We’ve also thrown in some phrases used in school governor meetings too!
You may be surprised to find out how much you already know. You could even use this as an ice-breaker quiz for your next AGM (Annual General Meeting)! *cringe*
PTA - Parent Teacher Association
PA - Parent Association
PTO - Parent Teacher Organization (usually in the USA)
PSA - Parent School Association / Parent Staff Association
PTC - Parent Teacher Council
PC - Parent Council (usually in Australia)
PSA - Parent School Association
PTSA - Parent Teacher Student Association
PFA - Parent Friend Association
AFL - Assessment For Learning
ARE - Age-related expectations
ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorder
CAHMS - Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
CiC - Children In Care
CLA - Children Looked After
DHT - Deputy Head Teacher
EAL - English as an Additional Language
EBD - Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties
EHT - Executive Head Teacher
EYFS - Early Years Foundation Stage
FTE - Full Time Equivalent
FSM - Free School Meals
G&T - Gifted & Talented
HE - Higher Education
HT - Head Teacher
INSET day - In-Service Education and Training day - teachers go into to school, children have the day off, parents have to find childcare!
IWB - Interactive White Board
KS - Key Stages
KS1 - Years 1 and 2 - age 5 - 7
KS2 - Years 3,4,5,6 - age 7-11
KS3 - Years 7,8, 9 - age 11-14
LSA / TA - Learning Support Assistant / Teaching Assistant
Maintained School: This is a community, foundation or voluntary school
NC - National Curriculum
NOR - Number On Roll
NQT - Newly Qualified Teacher
PPA - Planning, Preparation and Assessment time - teachers have some allocated time for lesson planning within in the school week
PSHE - Personal, Social and Health Education
Pupil Premium - extra funding for schools to raise the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers
SATS - Standard Attainment Tests, taken in primary schools in the UK in Year 2 and Year 6
SEAL - Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning
SEN - Special Educational Needs
SENCO - Special Education Needs Coordinator
SEND - Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
SIIP - School Development Plan / School Improvement Implementation Plan
SIP - School Improvement Plan
SLT - Senior Leadership Team - Headteacher / Principal, Deputy Head / Vice Principal and key teaching staff
SPaG - Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar
SpLd - Specific Learning Difficulties (dyslexia, dyspraxia etc)
Statement of Special Educational Needs - also referred to as a ‘statement’ - a legal document that sets out a child’s needs and support requirements
Transition - movement of pupils into a new Key Stage or school and the support that goes alongside
DDA - Disability Discrimination Act
DfE - Department for Education
FMSiS - Financial Management Standards in Schools
HMI - Her Majesty’s Inspector of Schools
ISA - Independent Safeguarding Authority
LA - Local Authority
LLE - Local Leader of Education
LMS - Local Management of Schools
LMSS - Local Management of Special Schools
NAHT - National Association of Head Teachers
NASUWT - National Association of Schoolmasters / Union of Women Teachers
NUT - National Union of Teachers
OFSTED - Office for Standards in Education
Performance Table - DfE table to compare school results
Budget Share - the school’s share of the money available to schools
Capital Expenditure - spending on building projects / large equipment
CIF - Condition Improvement Fund: a grant funding scheme given by the Education & Skills Funding Agency (EFA)
Contingency Fund - money saved for unexpected costs
Crowdfunding - raising money via an online platform for a specific project
Delegated Budget - the amount given to governors to manage (including increased powers and responsibilities for management of staff)
Devolved budget - money given to schools to pay for centrally-provided services
Formula Funding - the method by which school budgets are decided
GAG - General Annual Grant
Grant Fundraising - raises a non-repayable sum donated by councils, foundations or businesses
PDC - Post-Dated Cheque
SLA - Service Level Agreement
Voluntary Aided (VA) School: a school set up and owned by a voluntary body, usually a church, largely financed through the LA. The governors employ staff and control religious education and admissions.
Voluntary Controlled (VC) School: a school set up by a voluntary body (generally the Church of England), totally funded through the LA. The LA employs the staff.
Constitution - PTAs that are registered as a charity need to have a published constitution, which sets out the rules and procedures by which committee members govern the association.
Quorum: the number of people required to be present in order for the meeting to be able to conduct business. This is usually half the governing body (excluding vacancies). For committees, this should be at least three full governors.
CEO - Chief Executive Officer
COO - Chief Operating Officer
CRB - Criminal Records Bureau
DBS - Disclosure and Barring Service
FOI - Freedom of Information
GDPR - General Data Protection Regulations - the EU rules around data protection, including laws on how you can contact parents and how to look after their data
ISA - Independent Safeguarding Authority
KPI - Key Performance Indicator
NGA - National Governors Association
PI - Performance Indicator
PSA - Parent Support Advisor
QA - Quality Assurance
RAG - Red Amber Green rating
ToR - Terms of Reference
VA - Value Added
Let us know if you have any more!