Parenting: What's the role of a PTA?

Listener Ellie Kemp wants to raise the subject of school Parent Teacher Associations and the difficulties they face in finding parents who have the time or the confidence to volunteer, particularly in rural areas, as well as the increasing reliance schools have on the money they raise. Ellie is Chair of her son’s school PTA. What is the role of PTAs, what part do they play in children’s learning and what are the benefits for the volunteers and pupils? Jenni Murray speaks to Ellie, Gill Sims, illustrator, blogger and author of the Why Mummy series and Tracey Handley, from the charity Parentkind.