A they BU in not letting year 11 have a Prom?

[NaturalBlondeYeahRight]

School are really anti any end of year party. They discourage kids and parents who might try to organise one by not letting any discussions/tickets/money be on school premises.
They say it's because 16 year olds will drink and cause mischief. Well surely all the other schools in the county would have the same issue and secondly 'thanks for the faith in your pupils!'.
I know 'Proms' aren't everyone's cup of tea, but it is a lovely way to end your GCSE's. They don't have one at the end of sixth form either, in case you wondered.

DS is going to prom organised by girls in the corresponding girls grammar. Nothing to do with school at all. Just like Y6 leavers party was organised by a few parents.

The Y11 prom is in a posh hotel in central Manchester but I'm told half the ticket price is for security! The mind boggles!!

My dss' school do a yr 11 prom. The PTA organise with the support of the school. The year 11 music student bands perform before the disco and some teachers attend for a boogie with the kids. It's alcohol free of course and the dcs are made very ware that anyone appearing drunk wont be admitted. It's an excellent event. Ds2 had one of the best nights of his life.

It's the after prom parties where the trouble happens

What a pity the school is so po-faced.

Our school supports the prom. It's found that using the rewards budget to give credit towards the cost of the prom encourages the students to collect merits which has benefits through school. Merits are given for things like attending revision sessions which is an incentive for some.

Being obstructive about a prom is sad.

DD had her prom at the end of sixth form after A levels had finished and after they had officially left school. It was held in conjunction with the adjoining boys school. The organisation and fund raising was done entirely by the Head Girls team and the Head Boys team.
It was lovely that they had a chance to say a final farewell to each other before starting university/work, it wasn't at all tacky. Tickets were £40 and the event was held at a beautiful lakeside marque at a country manor. They had a professional photographer, a three cause meal and a disco. The students arrived either by taxi or mums and dads dropped them off, there was no ott limousines etc.
There was no embarrassing drunken antics as practically all of the students were over 18 and were used to the occasional drink (or 10). The headteachers and senior teachers were also invited, I think because they weren't officially students any more it helped make it a more relaxed grown up party atmosphere.
Many of the students looked forward to the prom all year.

*three course meal

I think Y11 should have a leavers' party but the prom thing has spun out of all control and reason. I can understand why some schools are sick of them.

Middle ground is needed I think. In 2002 my girls school didn't have a prom- it was deemed "tacky and unnessessary" by our head of year especially as we were all girls and she said she wasn't encouraging "dating" .... as I recall it was £3 each the school threw us a really nice party in our school hall with a disco, a buffet and karaoke. Our head of year had a Polaroid camera and stood at the door taking pictures of the groups of girls as we arrived. No ball gowns, I wore jeans and a corset top and my best friend wore a poncho (that was trendy then, I'm sure). It was great and it cost next to nothing and there was no pressure to be adults. and yes we were trashed- everyone had different methods but me and about 8 of my friends drank Bacardi Breezers in a tent in my parents back garden and then went back there afterwards to drink further Bacardi Breezers. It was great but pretty innocent

We had a proper ball at the end of upper sixth with the local boys school.

Do you want school to sell and collect for you? Do you want to be on the premises at a certain time to sell them? Both are unworkable if school are not endorsing the event. I'm not a fan of the prom btw, I don't see why marking the end of GCSEs need involve and expensive dress and other nonsense. Good luck with policing it btw...many parents will not stay and kids will drink.

felloutofbedtwice yours sounds perfect.

Tacky as hell. We are not Americans.

However, a tasteful leavers' ball...

And the difference is....

Ours seems to be all about the arrivals - by wheelbarrow, horse, scooter, 2CV, dump truck...

Ah, that's a shame. Ours is like Mrs Mook's - funded through the good behaviour rewards system. Organised by a Year 11 Committee, helped by teachers, most of whom turn up on the evening in their best bib and tucker to enjoy the evening

I think it's a pity not to have that sort if event. My DD had wonderful events at her school and they all enjoyed them. You are also learning too about dress codes and what to expect.

Now she's at uni, it's apparent that some students have not had the opportunity to attend them and don't really know what's expected or feel comfortable with that sort of event which is a pity.

She's also been to industry sponsored drinks receptions and balls at uni so I'd see it as good practise!

Just to let us advertise and sell tickets on school property.

But it's nothing to do with the school. They clearly want nothing to do with it. So I can see their point.

You want to do this, so you need to sort it out.

caboodle yes, I look back on it with great fondness. It was a lovely night. One of everyone's best memories of it is of a girl on our year who was a bit of a star. She was lead in all the school plays and had a part in a west end show by the time we were in year 11. She was asked to sing the song from Dirty Dancing, you know "I had the time of my life..." Halfway through the night, unfortunately it was her first time properly drinking alcohol- like a lot of us- and she had been on the Breezers pre party too. She was up on the stage, all star quality and glitter and just blanked and forgot the words. Cue a whole hall of girls and their form tutors joining in and helping her out with the lyrics and about fifty of us on stage!*

• that story has entirely outed me as one of a possible 250 Essex girls. But it's a lovely story!

Perhaps they're against them because they've seen how the events have snowballed at other schools, from a simple end of year party to a colour-coded guide to which pupils come from the haves, the have-nots and the have-access-to-credits.

Is a prom organised by school mummies likely to be popular? Best leave it til end of sixth form when they can book venues etc themselves.

But having said that, I'm not sure why you would need school's involvement - just sell tickets online, surely it's the simplest way anyway.

This doesn't need to be organised through the school. You may get more support not calling it a prom. It conjures up images of losing virginity, naff limousines and popular girls prancing about in awful ball gowns. It isn't being snobby to say that this year should be focusing on their end of year exams, not a silly outfit and a party which will be forgotten soon enough.

Why don't you just set up a website where tickets can be booked and have parents pay into your bank account (if they're trusting you with cash they might as well trust you virtually). The kids can share details on their phones. You can email out e-tickets and have a door list. No bits of paper involved. Also have a fb page directing people to the booking website so the ancient parents can easily find the details.