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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

the hate school fayres?

119 replies

thebird · 23/06/2011 15:26

Its that time of year again that makes me very grumpy - the school fayre. The weeks leading up to the Christmas and Summer events mean endless letters/texts/emails from school wanting money for raffle tickets, cakes, tombola items, jazzy jars, home clothes, book your slot on the boucy castle or go cart track forms. Its making me dizzy.

Then theres the joyful event itself. An afternoon of chaos and spending money buying other peoples unwanted toys and arguing with DCs when they want more money for candyfloss or a barbie with one leg. I've tried to be positive about these events but I just can't help but get annoyed. I'd rather give the school the money and do without the hassle - or maybe I'm just a grumpy old women!

OP posts:
nickelbabe · 23/06/2011 15:30

sorry, I think yo uare being grumpy Grin

I love school fetes/fayres.
I've not even got children!

Every year, I get asked by at least 5 schools (who I then force to have an acocunt, cos you can always guarantee it's the schools who have never bought anything from me) to donate prizes for raffles (i have shit unsellable books for this purpose)
and I usually attend one village one.

this year, I got asked to have a book stall at one school fete - it cost me more in employing my staff member to cover the shop than i earned from it!
and I managed to get fleeced for strawberries and items sold by the Enterprise Groups, but I loved it.
(i did not love the honeycomb, though - the samples they sent round were lovely. The bag i ended up buying had toooo much sodium bicarb in it it )

I'm sure i'll feel differently when I'm a school mum, but at the moment I love them.

Riveninside · 23/06/2011 15:31

Yanbu. We just dont go

Original poster
thebird · 23/06/2011 15:34

Very brave Riveninside! Our school fayre is held on a school day afternoon and DCs are let out early to join in the 'fun' so a bit hard to avoid.

OP posts:
webwiz · 23/06/2011 15:36

I feel your pain - I have spent many hours helping to organise the blasted things and I still hate them. DD2 always wanted to buy the evil looking teddy with matted fur and as I was treasurer I would be running around with extra change when everyone wanted to pay with £20 notes. DH usually had to be drafted in and would trail round fending off demands from the DCs with a pained expression on his face.

Now that my children are past primary age I don't go near them.

Riveninside · 23/06/2011 15:36

I dont do drop off or pick up. They do it on a saturday at the Rugby Ground which is 4 miles away. Bugger that. Theres no buses there.
But when my teenagers were little we did our fair share of fayres. Never again!

Riveninside · 23/06/2011 15:37

And i helped. I have face painted numerous children 'i want to be a tortoise'
Wtf!

worraliberty · 23/06/2011 15:39

Psssst! You don't have to attend you know, you can always pick the kids up and go straight home.

Or ignore the texts and emails and just give them a couple of quid to spend while you sit in the car/sit on a bench in corner of playground.

Shodan · 23/06/2011 15:42

I used to like ds1's school fayres. I always seemed to do really well on the bottle tombola and come away with six or more bottles. Some good to drink, others put by for upcoming school fayres. Win win there.

Went off them a bit when no-one bought my lovingly made slightly burnt but I like them that way Welsh cakes. For some bizarre reason they all preferred the fairy cakes with violently coloured icing. Philistines.

And they wouldn't give me back the Welsh cakes to take home for a scoff-the-lot party-for-one. Angry Grin

Original poster
thebird · 23/06/2011 15:47

Well I do my best to ignore it and I am getting better as the years go on. I usually arrive late, ignoring the 'you can sign DCs out of class at 2pm', much to the annoyance of the teachers and DD who is stuck in a classroom. By this time most of the tat has gone and after a quick whizz around the other bits we esacpe!

OP posts:
BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 23/06/2011 15:47

You misog........I loved summer fetes when I was a kid and I love em now!

tethersend · 23/06/2011 15:52

YANBU. At all.

I live over the road from a school and they have theirs on Saturday. I cannot bear it. It was so odd last year i started a thread about it here.

The DJ cranks up the speakers about nine. To be honest, last year he looked like he cracked open the Special Brew at seven.

I plan to be out of the house from dawn 'til dusk this year.

SpringchickenGoldBrass · 23/06/2011 15:57

DS' school doesn't have them . Because there's no PTA to speak of. However, they have been having a PTA recruitment drive lately and DS' Dad made me put my name down.
So I think my first suggestion would be, let's not have a school fecking fayre.

GypsyMoth · 23/06/2011 15:59

worra.....a 'couple of quid'?? you're having a laugh!! ours always rip off the parents. i dont go anymore. wouldnt mind if there wasnt the pressure for money,money,money the rest of the time. but its getting VERY grabby now

and thats very devious! having it in school time so you really cant disapoint the dc by shooting off home. bad form i think!

pingu2209 · 23/06/2011 16:03

The last 3 years I have spent £60 on all 3 children and my and dh at the summery fair. The stands are only 50p each but last seconds and we have to do it all 3 times (1 each child).

I help out with the PTA so have to be there and help organise it etc.

This year we are broke. Flat broke and can't afford even a third of the 'normal' spending for the day.

I have just found out that for the key 'games' and stalls they are putting prices up to £1! I tried to argue that in these economic times people just don't have the money but it fell on deaf ears. I will wait till 16th July to see just how much money we take and the difference from previous years.

Insomnia11 · 23/06/2011 16:06

School fete is brilliant, the kids love it anyway. Have bouncy castles and other inflatables, face painting, the choir sing, street dance club do a performance, have throwing the wet sponge at the headteacher (!) then all the traditional stalls, tombola, cake and craft stalls, coconut shy, a nail bar, beer tent, BBQ, tea room. In three hours it raises about six grand for the school fund.

Just don't go if you don't want to and ignore the requests, it's not that hard. Ours is on a Saturday so easily avoidable. It takes a lot of organising though hence the repeated requests for help and donations. Thank goodness some people do want to make the effort.

MummyDoIt · 23/06/2011 16:08

YAB a bit U. I bet you're happy for your kids to enjoy the benefits of the funds raised. Sure, the school could just ask for a tenner from everyone but the kids love these events and it's not just about raising money, it's about giving the kids a good day/afternoon out.

What you should do is give the kids a set amount of money to spend as they wish, get yourself a cake from the cake stall and a cup of tea and park yourself somewhere comfy with the paper for the duration!

GypsyMoth · 23/06/2011 16:08

its ridiculous pingu.....do they say at these PTA meetings 'the parents will be pressured to pay,dont worry,put the prices up,they will have no choice'

Insomnia11 · 23/06/2011 16:09

"Rip off the parents". Where you you think the money goes, into the teachers' back pockets? Hmm

Ours is like 50p to get in and it is pretty hard to spend £60! I think I spent £10 last year, which for three hours entertainment isn't too bad value I don't think. Costs more to go the cinema.

GypsyMoth · 23/06/2011 16:11

mummydoit.....that 'set amount of money' really needs to be in excess of £10 each. i have 5 dc. no way. not for a rubbish day coming home with tat,eating home made,questionable cakes and usually being stuck indoors in the rain

ebbandflow · 23/06/2011 16:13

I'm not happy about them, My DD has been sent home with 5 books of raffle tickets to sell, as well as prizes to be sent in for stalls. Hope it rains heavily

Cupawoman · 23/06/2011 16:14

YANBU. Horrible, horrible, horrible things. My DC are teenagers now but I have awful memories of paying money for somebody else's used tat before promptly recycling it back into the next school fayre. Would rather have just paid money directly to school in the first place.

GentleOtter · 23/06/2011 16:15

Is the school fayre an English school custom? They sound good fun but none of the schools my children attended ever had a school fayre. Envy

Insomnia11 · 23/06/2011 16:16

You grumpy sods. :o

Bunbaker · 23/06/2011 16:19

I love this time of year - school fair, church garden party, village galas etc. The bank account doesn't, but DD and I go to several. I help organise run and clear up the school fair as I am on the PTA committee, but I just go and enjoy the others as a visitor. I give DD £5 and tell her that it is up to her to spend it wisely (but no cuddly toys) and when it's gone it's gone.

The kids at our school love the summer fair and the year 6 children love to help bring out the chairs, tables and donations for the stalls (we always have it on a Friday after school).

We have the usual - tombola, toys, books etc. We also hire a bouncy castle, do a few games and sell refreshments and have a barbecue. It is immensely popular and it is only a small school - less than 150 pupils, yet we still managed to raise over £900 this year.

So stop being such a misery.

GypsyMoth · 23/06/2011 16:23

i have dc at a lower school AND the middle school.....upper school dont have them.

also,this week is 'charity' week Hmm at the middle school.....so money is required daily to conform