(Pretty) please could we have your thoughts on school fairs for the times?

[JustineMumsnet]

Angela from the Times writes:
"We have noticed that in the more prestigious schools they are becoming ludicrously competitive and pricy (£7 chutney; professional sugar-craft cakes on the cake stall etc) and aim to raise thousands of pounds - sometimes five-figure sums - rather than hundreds."

Is this your experience and if so what do you think?
Many txs in advance. MN Towers.

[Milliways]

Yep!

Mine is at a state Grammar, and the Parents Association have their own website - with pages for the Spring fair. In 2008 they made £10,000!! (mainly from the Grand draw and SIlent auction).

They invite all the Yr6's who have a place for next year, which is a good idea as they are all very keen.

Other child is at a Comp which just asks for £15pa per child in lieu of such events - much better way of doing it and with 1600 pupils probably also lucrative.

[FAQinglovely]

aww - was going to have a rant about my DS's schools fairs but I'm not sure it's entirely relevant to what they're looking for.........as they really are looking to make £100's as opposed to 1000's of £'s.

Anyhow - I shall rant anyhow - I would say that 90% of the the "stalls" at both fairs are those that involved a element of luck or chance - pick a lolly, tombola, raffle, various other games of chance. To be fair to them the cost for these stalls is very low (10/20p a go/ticket) but it's annoying that there's very little opportunity for the DC to "spend their pocket money" (as the letters from both schools said they could do) on anything tangible.

[HelenMumsnet]

Oops, we seem to have posted this thread twice .

FAQ and Milliways, we'll make sure your comments are noted.

But, from now on, please could everyone ignore this thread and post your comments here instead?

Thank you.