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

Our school fair raises usually about £1200-1700. The stalls are mainly jumble sale type, home-baking and local crafts such as jewellery. There are also activities for the children such as treasure hunts and the like. Certainly not £7 jars of chutney.

I ran a stall for Guide Dogs this year, bringing along my own Guide Dog puppy, and managed to raise £167 from 2 hours.

I think if they are being run on pretentious lines then it would take away the fun, it is supposed to bring the school and community together.

Dammit I knew I'd spelled caricatures wrong. I can't even spell it, let alone do them, and you're right, I'd be public enemy no 1! 'draw incredibly unflattering pictures of all the staff and parents' isn't the way to make friends.

ours is a "fayre" too

at caricatures - you would make 200 enemies in a single night!

are the times interested in normal ones or not?

Certainly not the case with our rural village school - I very much doubt the format has changed in the last 40 years - we have a tombola, a tat stall, throw a wet sponge at a teacher, have your face painted and jump on a bouncy castle. So, you still come away with a tin of marrowfat processed peas, an alien for the top of your pencil and a second hand soft toy that smells of mildew, you drink some warm but lung itchingly strong squash, eat a gritty fairy cake with blue icing, and miraculously manage to spend £27.

I was asked to set up a stall doing characatures of people this year, but declined as i'd be rubbish. The organiser said 'can't you just have a little practice?' But I think it'd take more than that really.

Funnily enough was feeling a little cross with our school this morning as I took in raffle tickets. Have managed to spend £35 and a bottle of wine on the fete and it hasn't even happened yet!

Never encountered professional cakes or £7 chutney. I do wonder whether perhaps Angela has encountered a school where one of the parents is, like COV, a professional cake decorator.

hatwoman - at DS's school fair a turn on the treasure island game (etc.) is also accompanied by a sweet of some description so that child feels he/she is getting something concrete for the money.

I do object to their being called "fayres", though. Perhaps the Times could run an article on that...

actually forget it, life's too short.

so what exactly was wrong with my comment?

Yes Fio I know and that word in itself makes me cringe.

I think 'Angela' has very likely only come across one school selling £7 chutney and is making an entire article out of it.

DD2s school is in a pretty deprived area so the school fair is likely to raise a few hundred rather than a few thousand. £7 for chutney made me laugh - round here 1, parents probably wouldn't know what it was and 2, you can get a packet of fags and a few cans of ale for £7

They haven't had the Summer Fair yet but if it's anything like the Easter fair it will be fairly cheap and cheerful - lots of unwanted tat gifts that people have donated as well as a bottle stall, tombola, games and 20p stalls. But it's good fun, raises much-needed money for the school and isn't terribly pretentious and competitive.

what?

Not every thread has to be a class war SEA!

You see I disagree with Charis. I think spending some of the money raised on something unnecessary but lovely is a good use of PTA funds. It shouldn't all be mundane and bare essentials.

i guess the times isn't interested in schools that aren't of the more 'independent' or 'middle class' no?

Ours is a traditional fair.

Home made cake stall selling a mix of Waitrose's Best, home baked beauties and something cobbled together by the kids which may, or may not, be a fairy cake (avoid the latter at all costs).
Prizes are plastic tat, much loved by the children.
There is a second hand toy stall where you donate back the stuff your children bought the year before.
There are bouncy castles, BBQ and a Pimms tent (not recommended together)
There is a "mini zoo" where they'll put a rat on your baby daughter without asking.
We have had pony rides but only because one of the families in the school has ponies.

I think it depends on what type of Fair you're talking about.

Our previous school holds a traditional craft fair (or fayre!!) near Christmas each year. There's a fee of £10 per table (usually around 25 stalls) which is money collected directly for the school.

What's actually sold depends entirely on the stallholders. We had something similar to the £7 chutneys, but also cards, jewellery, sweets etc at varying prices. That money belongs to the stallholders.

We also ran a cafe selling cakes/drinks/soup etc which usually raised another couple of hundred. Plus a raffle.

At our current school, the Summer Fair consists of games etc made up and run by the children. This includes welly & wet sponge throwing, various guessing games, apple bobbing, and similar - usually with as much mess as possible!

All money raised goes to the school. I'm not on the PTA here, so have no idea how much money it raises.

Both events are completely different, & both enjoyed very much.

Another point to consider is who is anticipated to attend.

The Christmas Craft Fayre was very much for the general community, not just the school. In fact last year we ran the school mini-buses to various care homes to collect/drop off anyone who wanted to attend.

The summer fair is very much a family & friends event - not open to the general public.

So really we need to know - who gets the money from the £7 chutney?

ours was cancelled ths year because people couldn't be arsed to volunteer (primary)

secondary has just had a very expensive successful summer ball instead.

I think I would be more supportive if the pta spent the money on something useful. Last year we raised £3k and they bought a huge digital photo frame thing which was supposed to be updated with photos of the kids regularly for parents to see (suprise, suprise it has not been updated since easter) and a beautiful but hideously expensive rug for the children to sit on in the library. What a waste, I would rather have sent the money to charity.

If it raises money for the school then why knock it?

It only becomes a problem when you are expected to buy the £7 chutney.

Oh and we call ours a school fayre.

I like them - but resolved some years ago to only ever help out on stalls where people know what they're getting. I couldn't cope with the wobbly lips of small children who win nothin having just spent their last 20 pence on the kids tombola/treasure island thingy/pick a pink lollipop stick to get a prize stall. A friend of mine was saying he had a little boy ask if he could change his mind and get his money back...poor love.