PTA raffle-all 4 of the Chair’s kids won the top prizes

To the question, maybe they bought a lot of tickets...
They would need to buy about 422 out of the 500 tickets to have better than a 50% chance of winning all 4 prizes.

The draws should be made publicly. Lots of schools do them in assembly or actually at the Easter Fayre.

Only one way to find out for sure, you're going to have to join the PTA.

Everyone loves to moan don't they but never offer to volunteer themselves!

I do think they should have drawn it in public but I also hate threads that bash the PTA - I know everyone thinks they are a Mean Girls type bunch of people who get special treatment but the reality is they are just the only ones who get off their arse and spend their own time doing a thankless task for the benefit of all the kids at school.

People were absolute arseholes to my friends when she and her husband chaired and ran events - lazy, entitled knobs who wanted the events and the resulting money for the school but absolutely refused to offer to support in any way, including just buying bloody event tickets on time so they then didn't have to take calls from whining parents who's precious little child would now miss things.

So you deserve the front row!! If others want it they are more than able to join the bloody PTA themselves!

Maybe they give them to extended family as Easter gifts?

Drop them off at the Food Bank?

I was on the pta we use to buy lots of tickets but so did everyone else so I rarely won. The only perk we got was front row seats at Xmas concerts (for dealing with tickets, selling refreshments) and parents complained about that!

Yes this a good point, why on earth would anyone want that many chocolate eggs in their house?

My DH was Chair of Governors at our children’s’ primary when they were there and my kids never won anything!

That link to gambling commission guidelines says raffles can’t be online people need physical tickets

How odd. Our PTA raffles are done in front of everyone. I also thought they had to be held under strict guidelines as it’s gambling? You could email the governors from a new email address outlining your concerns? It seems strange though that they would want so many Easter eggs? I certainly wouldn’t want my kids having TEN eggs!

This does sound plausible to be fair.

Yikes, we always draw the raffle infront of an audience. I never buy tickets myself so not accused of cheating. This is awful, I’d report to the school. A raffle needs to be conducted in a certain way and requires a small lottery return.

Kind of missing the point but who want want to win so many eggs?!

This was obviously fixed, draws should take place in front of everyone.

Even if it was just a coincidence that they won the fact one prize was taken before the draw was.done is incredibly dodgy but also the draw happening behind closed doors it totally unacceptable.
There are laws(?) Or regulations governing school raffles and they aren't following them at all

I can't believe the school isn't reacting to this. Personally I wouldn't contribute to the PTA anymore.

No it ain't. Not necessarily. Having said that, I think it's how it's dealt with that the clincher.

My Dad used to run a weekly event for a local charity. My Mum and Nan would attend, and buy raffle tickets mainly to support the charity, which was a godsend to the local community, not because they actually wanted to win a prize. They'd win a prize most weeks, sometimes 3 or 4. It was ridiculous, and they'd always hand prizes back or refuse to claim them. Why did they win so often? Because it was fixed because my Dad was the event organiser? No, it was because most people would buy 1 or 2 raffle tickets for 50p each, and my Mum would buy £10's worth and so would my Nan. They're just in a fortunate position they had more money and could choose to do that, rather than a lot of people attending the event, who by it's very nature didn't have much cash to spare. So my family won more often just because they bought more tickets.

It's the same situation now my Niece is in primary school. As a family we'll support the PTA loads, and so end up winning more stuff, along with the same familiar faces who also buy large amounts of tickets.

However I do agree that the draw should be made publicly at the event, and with full transparency. Last year we also won one of the many hampers of Easter eggs, which my Brother gave straight back. We won the PTA quiz and gave the prize money back to the PTA. Same as my Dads charity event, it gets embarrassing to keep winning raffles, so we make a point of doing the right thing, but it doesn't stop hecklers shouting it's a fix!

The school and headmistress wouldn't even dream of selecting any pupils for parts in school plays etc based on their parents involvement in the PTA. It's frustrating to know that goes on. Mind you, that might be because my Niece is such a bad, wooden, actor that it would completely destroy any nativity 🤣🤣

It's a very poor example your PTA leaders are setting that they're so greedy and supporting these events for the wrong reasons. It's very demoralising for the rest of school, and just perpetuates the strength of the inner-circle "don't question the PTA Mums" that puts others off and shores up the sides of their ivory tower. It's everything that's wrong about PTAs. We're lucky that my Nieces school is a rarity that it doesn't put up with any of that shit.

The people who run this kind of thing often end up buying a lot of the tickets themselves, I know this from bitter experience.

Over the years, I've won many a raffle, sometimes winning back the prize(s) I donated in the first place. Yes, you can put them back, but that can also lead to proceedings dragging on interminably if everyone keeps doing it.

But in your case I'd imagine these people give up their time and effort for the PTA so they can run a sophisticated scam targeting baskets of chocolate Easter eggs. Much more likely.

I wouldn't be happy about this. At our school, either the headteacher or deputy head draws the raffle and a short film of the draw is put on the school website. I'm sure this is partly to protect the members of the PTFA - if one of them did win a big prize fair and square, they wouldn't deserve to be under suspicion.

They still should stick to the rules, though, as set by the regulations.

I'm a helper on our PTA. More often than not, our main committee members will have a redraw if they win any of the main prizes or if they win more than one prize at all. If they are drawn lower down the list/smaller prize they will take it (they buy tickets same as rest of us) but only one. Nor do they take front row seats or anything else preferential (for them or their kids) - they're usually too busy helping with refreshments etc

Yours seems a bit suspicious to me, and is what gives PTA a bad name.

I bet they bought a lot of tickets, does anyone really want multiple hampers of eggs a week before Easter! It does sound a very odd set up though and should be drawn in public.

Whether it a coincidence would depend on many of the tickets were purchased by the family. If they stuck in £100 out of the £500 there is a high chance of winnig. It is not uncommon for most raffle tickets purchases to come from the PTA members. So many parents don't give a shit about putting anything in but just like to complain.

yeah that’s shit. And why people won’t join the PTA. Or PC.

I am chair just now, in a rural Scottish school, for my sins.

I am the annoying one, trying to change things and make it more accessible.

I drew a raffle at a family games night this week. not in public. The night was running over, so I stopped playing, pulled the head out to draw it, another staff member to supervise and we ticketed the prizes for people to collect as they left.

I am from a raffle village, always draw it in public or as above with two individuals. NEVER take more than one main prize behind closed doors, and indeed in public most of committee would pop back in.

sounds highly against the ethos of fundraising and yes I would raise it, but I would also take it over and change it.

Yeah, I think this is far too suspicious to be a coincidence!

The odd prize, sure, even some of the main prizes, but not all four.

My DS won an amazing Bluetooth speaker recently at an event at DD’s school - unfortunately dd was one of the people drawing out the raffle but at least it was in front of people. Then the other ticket we had bought (I only bought two as only had £2 left!) also got drawn - I said to draw again as it was too embarrassing!