School disco

[emzaroo]

I have 2 children in the primary school.
We had a good ofsted and to celebrate the Psa are putting on a disco at a cost of £5 per child. The disco is 45 minutes long and the children get a drink of squash and a small packet of haribo.
Both dd are going to want to go, and righty so but the question is....
AIBU to resent paying £10 for this?
I am happy to pay but truly feel £5 each is ridiculous! What do other schools do?

I appreciate Psa do a good job at raising money but I no longer enjoy going to any school things due to the sheer cost.

Thanks

£5 is way over the top for a school disco, especially one that lasts 45 mins. Yes, it is raising money for the school but it is still a rip off.
I would email the chair of the PTFA and copy in the school management and explain they are shooting themselves in the foot. Fewer children will go if it is that expensive. And, even worse, they are not being inclusive. £5 per child really does put it beyond the reach of some families.
Our school charges £2 including sweets/ squash. They advise an optional further £1 maximum for extra sweets or a light stick type thing. Christ, even secondary school prom is only £30 for 5 hours- meal, live music and band etc etc

That does sound steep we are London 4.50 for 1.5 hours, drink hotdog and crisps

Ours is £5.50 a - £6 at the door but it’s 2hrs and includes icepop, drink, sweets, tatoos, nail painting, glow sticks etc. £5 for 45mins sounds a bit steep but unfortunately it’s to raise money so I would find it hard to complain.

I think it’s the 45 mins that’s the real stinger. It’s like being stingy and expensive.

I think that’s too much. My DS has a school disco tonight. 1.5hrs, £2.50. He’ll get a drink and they are running a little tuck shop selling glow bands etc for 20p

£5? Ours is £2 for 45 minutes!

£5!! For 45 mins?!

I'm on the pta for our school, we charge £2 for 2 hours, that includes unlimited squash and ice pops and a bag of haribo. If we charged £5, nobody would come. 45 mins is odd too, what a strange amount of time

Also read what the OP said about the Xmas fair. That's such a shame, at ours there is the odd higher priced thing (Santa £2.50 or craft items for £1-2), but a lot of the stalls are the 20p type games to make it accessible to everyone. We don't do badly either, around £1500 for a little school with only 80 odd pupils.

If it is for fundraising your children will benefit on what the funds are spent on.
I can't see how what you get for your money is relevant if that is the case.

Pop this link in writing on the PTA Notice Board.

Because I’m still at the toddler stage as a thing for 45 mins with drink and sweets it’s doesnt sound too bad. I’d be a total mug but 45 mins for a disco sounds short (I was a dance diva from early on)

I am chair of events and fundraising for our parent council this year - I’ve got two thoughts:

1: we always try to balance fundraising with fun, we want to make events as accessible as possible and we have free events through the year, will always give free tickets to those who ask (this can happen through the head teacher so is discreet) - BUT we can do this because we are a large school and we have a healthy balance at the moment. And having completed several large projects over the last five years (before my time) - complete playground overhaul and brand new library - we are at a time where we can tone down the fundraising and focus on social aspects. Your school may be in a very different position.

2: if you don’t like anything the pta do, then get involved and change it! We are always open to any offers of help and ideas - it’s really important that as many people get involved as possible to keep things fresh, and give balance to the events. Because there is a stereotype of a pta ‘person’ - generally people who have a bit of time, so may not be working, are generally not working to a strict budget personally, often they don’t consider things like affordability- if the PTA is more representative of all the families at the school this is easier. A lot of what we do is making school events easier for those who have barriers or challenges (we pay for a crèche so that single parents can attend evening meetings with paying a babysitter for example) get involved, make your voice heard!

Presumably it does depend how much they need to pay for the disco provision? Assuming they are hiring in someone with lights and a sound system- that must depend on area and if there is a parent who can do it cheap? Are you in an expensive area for that kind of thing? I do like pricing per family for this kind of thing though.

Ours is £3.00 for 45 minutes including drink and sweets.

Ours is free, 4pm to 5.15pm Year 3 and 4, 5.30pm to 7pm Years 5 and 6.

There is a tuck shop and glow stall (and free unlimited squash and water which we try and encourage them towards) We do say max £5 spending money but some parents send up to £20.

It isn't run as a money making exercise just a fun activity for the children. We just about break even after paying for the DJ.

That's ridiculous. My dc's disco costs £1.50 each for 90 mins (ks1) and 2 hours (ks2). They get a drink and bag of crisps included.

Ours cost £3(just entry), and allowed to bring pocket money up to £2.
So practically £5 since they end up spending all the money at the tuck shop.

Our school discos last 1hr45. Children get snacks and even fizzy if they want it (water/juice included too)

Tickets are usually £2.50 or £3.50 for a "family" ticket.

I have DC in reception and yr1 so I buy a family ticket.

£5 is crazy!!

They're fundraising. If you think it's too expensive you have two choices. Don't send your kids or talk to the committee and tell them that you think it's too expensive.

Note that whining on the internet isn't one of the choices.

Love a PTA committee member

They're fundraising. If you think it's too expensive you have two choices. Don't send your kids or talk to the committee and tell them that you think it's too expensive

This sort of defensive attitude puts people off PTAs.

Fundraising isn’t a catch all excuse to rip people off. There’s a commercial element to it which requires having a bit of respect for your target audience!

Our are £2.50,with drink, sweets, popcorn, and chocolate bar.

Charge £3.50 for two hours with DJ and the kids get a packet of crisps and a small chocolate bar and a drink yours seems overpriced

Ours is £2

But then there is SO much shit for sale in there. The entryway is like a little market with loads of light up crap 50p-£2 a thing.

Then there's sweets and chips and burgers etc inside.

That seems pricey to me, depending on their costs and location.

Generally I think events should be affordable for all (within reason) but with money making opportunities to extract money from the better off.

e.g. Disco - entry cost covers disco costs based on minimum number expected, but additional optional extras, food, glow sticks whatever also on sale. Summer fair a number of low priced games, but also some more expensive or good raffles etc.

A school is a community, and if a proportion feel they can never afford to attend events that isn't on imo.

£3 for 1 hour, includes unlimited squash/water, chicken nuggets & chips meal. No tuck shop.

We got a letter before the last disco apologising that it was going up from £2.50 to £3.00 . The school does have higher than national average FSM takeup. I have a feeling that the PTA actually subsidise the disco rather than using it as a money making event.