NZPTA Structure

Individual parent groups, like PTAs, Home and School, Friends and Whanau, etc. belong to a Federation. At present we have two Federations, one for North Island members and one for South Island members. Each Federation has an elected Executive Committee that oversees Federation activities and reports to the National Executive. Representatives of these Federations also make up the National Executive of the New Zealand Parent Teacher Association. As the diagram below shows, we are a grass-roots organisation where those on the National Executive are also volunteers in their own local PTA.

NZPTA National Executive

Members of the NZPTA Executive are elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) (often held in conjunction with Conference) from and by the delegates at the AGM and Conference. Delegates are the members of a school who are at the AGM or who have indicated their votes to the Secretary or Executive members before the AGM.

The Executive has an elected membership of President, Secretary, Treasurer and five representatives each from the North and South Island Federations. They meet when necessary during the year, and conduct all business associated with running the organisation as wide and varied as the PTA movement. Their work includes:

• Liaising with the Ministry of Education (MOE)
• Receiving and dispersing to Federations, information received from the Ministry, Government working parties, and review committees
• Receiving reports on Federation activities and on kindred organisations working in the education field
• Assisting Federations with any problems/concerns
• To give help and support to Federations in recruitment and retention of members
• Monitoring and commenting on current educational issues
• Being responsible for producing a national magazine (Parent & School Today)
• Deciding on the format, agenda, speakers and venue for the AGM
• Dealing with all aspects of remits to the AGM
• Setting annual levies

The secretary handles all incoming and outgoing mail, keeps all listings up to date, communicates with Federations and disperses information from the Ministry, etc.

The treasurer handles all finances of the National Executive, receiving all money derived from affiliation fees, processing GST returns, paying of wages and PAYE when necessary and preparation of annual accounts.

The organisation is a non-profit, volunteer organisation, dependent on the good will of hard-working parents and families.

Find out more about us in our Information Booklet.

History of the NZPTA

The first known New Zealand association of parents and teachers was formed in a primary school in the Hokitika area in 1906. The name adopted by the school was the 'Home & School Association'. From this has grown our present nationally recognised group of parents and teachers from all levels of the education structure who contribute widely to the development of the children in our schools.

The movement gained great impetus after the 1st World War and many schools had PTA committees. Gradually the need for Federations became obvious so that schools in an area could come together for support, information and communication. The first Federation was set up in 1943 in Southland, with Canterbury, South Auckland (Waikato), Taranaki, and Auckland following soon after. They were closely followed by Dunedin and Wellington.

The need for a national body became obvious as the Federations became more involved with education throughout the country, and not just on a local level. Thus, in 1951, the New Zealand Parent Teacher Association was formed. By the 1960's there were Federations from North Cape to the Bluff and the NZPTA was a prime force in the education field.

Societal changes over the last couple of decades, combined with changes to the education system following the introduction of "Tomorrow's Schools" in the late eighties, have lead to a decline in the number of groups affiliating to the NZPTA. Now there are just two Federations remaining, one for the North Island and one for the South. Although the number of Federations has been reduced, the National organisation is still well-recognised as the voice of parents within the education sector.

NZPTA is the parent organisation which looks at education as a continuing process and considers all the problems in relation to education as a whole, and not as part of a particular level. We believe this is one of the most important contributions we can make to the education field, as our movement is an autonomous organisation responsible only to its members.

Promoting the formation of Federations is also still an important component of our organisation as we emphasise the need for parents to remain involved in their children's education and the valuable role they can play in the formation of educational policy. However, the basis of the PTA movement in New Zealand is still the individual parent group and we hope that it will remain so. We look forward to the growth of parent groups and Federations, and thus the continued strength of the NZPTA.