Family friends

Parents' involvement with their children's schools usually starts as soon as they enter primary school. Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) or Home School Associations (HSAs) welcome the fresh energy of eager new parents at the beginning of a long primary school life. But nursery school heads are not usually approached, so when I suggested starting a parents' group to Mary Hart, head of my son's Margaret McMillan Nursery School, it's no surprise she was a bit sceptical about how successful it could be.

Mary's concerns related to the high turnover of children in under-fives settings. 'Sometimes you barely get to know parents before they're passing on to another school. Experience shows that setting up a PTA in a nursery can be difficult and the staff are often left to run it. Many children are here for only one academic year.' But what swayed Mary to supporting the idea was the possibility of funding for a series of pre-planned activities led by parents under the banner of the Friends of Margaret Margaret McMillan.