To think that primary school proms are total wank?

[ChickensHaveNoLips]

DS1 leaves primary school in July. Today he brought home a letter informing us that to celebrate year 6 leaving, they are having a prom. DS is horrified, as apparently a lot of the girls are insisting on dates. DS would rather lick his own foot than be seen publicly with a girl, what with him being 11 and all. Tonight the fb discussions have started between parents arranging limos. Limos for 11 year olds. Surely this is beyond batshit crackers? Is this insanity normal now? What's wrong with a disco and a handful of haribo ?

I too am horrified at the prospect of Year 6 Proms. I teach secondary and my year 7s regale me with tales of limos, Hummers, spa days to get ready, having dresses and suits made.
The thought of it all makes me want to weep. I hate Americanised shite.

Good heavens. It will be proms for leaving nursery school next. What's wrong with a disco. Parents should put their foot down. Limos for 11 year olds. Most teenagers do quite like the end of 5th year prom. Or end of 6th year prom. And I've no objection to these.

I'm stuck in the old terminology for years I'm afraid.

yuk... sounds dreadful.
We're having a bbq with teacher/parents vs kids rounders.

Just go alternative. Arrive on scooters/skateboards wearing a t-shit with a bow-tie printed on it, a bottle of panda pop under one arm and ready-salted own brand crisps under the other...

Canapes, anyone?

DS2's school are doing a slightly formal leavers party - not quite a full on prom, smart dress (no jeans or trainers), no going in couples etc and £10 a head. Seems to me a fair compromise - and it turns out every child in the year is going which suggests its probably been pitched about right.

When DS1 left 3 years ago, they had a party in the church hall for less than a fiver a head but the general view this year was that people wanted 'more' - we have escaped lightly compared to a couple of other local primaries who have a full on prom, buffet and disco at the local Marriott hotel for £60 a head plus the cost of outfits, limos etc!

My DD's school just have a big party during the school day and they can dress up if they want.

I certainly wouldn't be doing limos, and dates for that age is ridiculous. My eldest would rather go with me than a boy and I bring no end of shame upon her.

Horrified. Limos! It's bad enough at 16.

Another one who says what's wrong with a disco.

Who's idea was it to have a prom? IMO Find out how many parents want a prom if you can, and how many don't.

Dates indeed.

YANBU

LIMOS!!! how awful the whole thing just sounds too dreadful.
Then people wonder why their kids are growing up too fast
It's naff as well. I'd boycott it. Its primary school

Total wank. End of.

Seriously? Gah.

While I appreciate that the tradition of prom is another Americans practice that doesn't sit well with most people in the U.K., the Americans aren't stupid enough to hold proms for 11 year olds.

What happened to the days of Year 6 Leavers Disco, starting at 6:30 ending at 9. The kids wearing anything from jeans to pretty skirts and sparkly tops or t-shirts. Crisps and haribo, a DJ, boys on one side of the room and girls on the other, by the end of the night the brave few dancing at arms length apart.
End of year 11 is the time for prom if we really need one!
DD's friends school seem to have got it right, they had Year 11 Cocktails Party and then Upper Sixth/Year 13 Leavers' Ball.

We are English- it should be a Ball not a Prom!

YANBU, they're nice for leaving high school but definitely not primary. It seems to be the teachers encouraging it too- my poor niece's teacher announced that they all had to have dates and corsages. It caused hysteria as you can probably imagine, before the sensible old headmistress put an end to it all.

That's pretty crazy. Even end-of-secondary school proms seem a bit OTT to me sometimes.

DD's school have a leaving party, organised by parents in the local cricket club. Most of the girls make an effort and wear something nice, but generally the boys were jeans & trainers - which is fine.

A few years ago, some of the mothers tried to hi-jack the party and wanted to move it to a hotel & organise limos for the kids - which would have cost a fortune. Thankfully there were enough sensible mothers who refused to be drawn into their awful scheme so it was still a wee party at the cricket club.

The 'daft' parents went ahead and ordered a limo for their daughters, all of whom had real prom dresses on, fake nails & looked like they'd been tango'd after their spray tans. They looked so out of place in the cricket club.

Thankfully, it's been business as usual since then. The kids have a good time at the party, there's no pressure to dress up, go with partners and it only costs parents a few pounds.

Plenty time for the real thing when they leave high school.

Not at the primary school stage yet, but ds1 about to leave nursery, and we have been told their graduation is on 15th June. They hAve already had their graduation pictures taken - with a mortar board and gown! Is this a new thing too? I was a little surprised.

I also remember the good old days of the leavers disco in the school dining hall, a parent from the PTA selling sweets and fizzy drinks from the hatch that went into the school kitchen, and a teacher as "DJ". We loved it.

Even when I left 6th form, we hired out a hotel (student-organised), car-shared our way there and went on to a club afterwards - none of this limo lark!

And I'm not exactly ancient myself!

Beyond horrific. Totally age inappropriate, and what about the children from hard up families that can't afford the humongous cost of a full on prom? Far better to have something simpler and more inclusive.

DD had one 2 years ago

Organised at a local nightclub adapted to that age group , it was ok really

YANBU though to dislike the idea

"... wearing a t-shit ... "

Yup, that sounds like DS2's kind of outfit

hatesponge my DD would struggle with "no jeans or trainers" - I reckon she's have to wear her school uniform to that event!

(I hasten to add - jeans and trainers only are her choice of out of school attire, not mine!)

It's fucking materialistic bullshit, and we all know it is. Year 11 proms are pushing it, frankly, but Year 6? Seriously, I'd complain to the school that by holding one they're encouraging their pupils to value glitter more than substance, and forcing parents to fork out money for dresses/suits/limo's'n'shit that CHILDREN should not be subjected to.
(can you tell I'm in a grumpy mood? :o )

Ours cost £15 which I know is a lot but included as much to eat/drink as you liked and a decent DJ -NO limos though

Prom? What a horrible embarassing idea - let alone the expense. In DDs school they had a disco on school journey in year 6 which was bad enough.

For the leaving ceremony the teachers had made a video featuring all the kids with a soundtrack which they played in assembly. The children were individually presented with a scroll by the HeadTeacher - a bit like in a graduation ceremony. That was also filmed and put on the DVD.