Year 6 leaving party/prom

[HolyGaucamole]

I all of a sudden feel like one of “those parents” 🙈 a group of mums at dcs school, including myself thought it would be nice to do an end of year disco as the school aren’t doing one for them, we have hired a hall and asked for all parents who want to be involved with the planning to contribute £40 towards a £1500 budget or whatever they can afford.
for context there are 4 year 6 classes so we are at least expecting to have around 60-70 children, but will not exclude any who’s parents cannot afford to pay.
There will be no limos and all that jazz, just a bit of music, food, games goody bag etc.
but do you think that is too much to ask for?
all the of the money will go towards the hall hire, decorations and jumpers which a lot of the dc have requested.

My ds wouldn’t wear a dickie bow if I paid him 😂

I would pay the money but it’s a lot of money for year 6, I think £25ish would be more reasonable with you being in London.
Also you said around 40 parents have agreed to pay the £40 but there are 60-70 children, if you don’t include the hoodies and ask everyone (who can afford it) for £20 contribution it could work out similar and a lot more would be able to afford it.

I'm in London and we've asked parents to pay £30 for the end of school party. That's hall hire, food, soft drinks, hiring a photo booth etc. Any money left over and we're going to take all the kids to buy ice creams on the last day of school. Any money left after that will go to PTA. We don't expect everyone to pay the full £30, it's just a suggestion, and there's no pressure to pay if you can't/don't want to, all the kids are still welcome.

There are 120 children in total split between four classes, so the estimate I made of around 60-70 attending is really just a guess at the moment as I don’t expect the full 120 to come.

I have now suggested a different theme and again reiterated that there is absolutely no obligation to pay what is not affordable and all children no matter what will be able to attend.

My DD Is in year 6 and we’ve paid £10 towards leavers party with additional funds being raised by cake sales at school.

Then leavers hoodies were separate at, I think, £25 ish and there is a leavers book being put together that we’ve donated photos to which is another £10.

so, all added together it’s a lot 😂 but I think asking in stages and for different things has made me not realise until now 😳

You obviously know the parents better than us OP but considering the environment we are all living in right now I do think this is very ill timed

You say no child will be left behind but what you will be causing is embarrassment from the parents who can’t afford it and won’t pay or can’t afford it but still pay so not to highlight any money issues and have to do without something else so their child can attend an expensive run around a church hall

All this could be done for a couple of hundred pounds covering hall hire, some decorations, trip to Costco for drinks and crisps and a Spotify playlist.

Great idea and kids will love it but £40 is a bit steep.

That’s a ridiculous amount for a kid’s party! Not everyone wants a hoody that will probably get worn less than a handful of times. Let the school sell them separately and make the party more inclusive by charging a tenner tops.

I think £15 - £20 is more reasonable. Separate out the cost of the hoodie.
forget gifts for the kids ( just not necessary) and minimise the decorations. Balloons and a banner should be fine

Its an awful lot of money.

These t shirts will never be worn once they go to high school
My DD was wearing hers this evening over her PJ's. It is a 2016 edition.

Sorry those of you saying leave it up to the school, I have already said the school is doing nothing at all for them! There is nothing in place, no planned trips, not a residential, they won’t even be having a class party unless the teacher decides they want to. My ds teacher does one every year so I know she will make sure her class celebrate, however nothing else has been done.

most of the parents including me think it will be a fantastic way to let off steam after a long stressful term with SATs, missing out on a lot of things due to covid and just a celebration.

I helped organise DC1s Yr 6 party - we hired a church hall - similar amount to you. Instead of a DJ we asked the DC to write down the songs they wanted and made a playlist from that which was played via the hall audio system (but a parent could bring phone and speakers). We gave everyone something to bring foodwise (so one crisps another sandwiches etc) for a buffet and bought in cartons of drinks. We also got lots of photos and made a powerpoint slideshow which was projected onto a wall in lieu of lots of decor - a parent brought a projector and laptop to run it.

A few older siblings came and did temporary tattoos, donuts on strings etc for those who didn't want to dance.

Parents went as well - opposite end of the room to DC and a BYOB - paper cups provided.

Cost was about £10 a head.

I've paid about that as an adult to attend black tie charity balls in London. Wouldn't pay it for a school disco.

£10 - £15 max, no hoodies or tops. Hall hire, dj, pizza/crisps/drinks/sweets covered. Get them to sign their shirts if poss instead.

My daughter is 12 now and in her first year of secondary school but she had no end of year celebration from Primary School due to Covid as they were supposed to be going on a 5 day Residential but it got cancelled.

I personally would pay the £40 as long as everything is included as they never get that time back again.

Dds y11 prom was only £30 per head and that was much nicer than a disco in a village hall.

£40 is far too much for an end of primary party. Maybe £5 per head would be reasonable. But no more. Where are you that a simple disco in a hall costs thousands of pounds?

I would keep hoodies separate and people can order if they wish and pay the cost price for them.

Its very steep, especially since parents have to stay and supervise. My kids in year 6 would have been horrified that patents stayed.

Well you'll have got the message that £40 is too steep OP, but on the wider point I think its a great (if brave) idea. Hope you get lots of support from other parents. So many kids missed numerous milestone events because of covid and I'd be grateful for anyone attempting to actually do something about it rather than just moan...

Because of this stupid new site I can't find the post I wanted to quote but please do not be a martyr and pay for everyone OP. People will not see it how you see it. They will be mortied you are providing something they can't.

I think it’s great that you are doing this and I I agree that they just need something to look forward to.

Ditch the goody bags and make it all more simple and I think everyone will be happy. It’s better to have a party every one can afford and is willing to contribute to rather than an expensive one with bells and whistles that only some people pay for and that could end up causing some resentment.

Primary school children are used to schools doing things on a shoestring and they still have a good time. Which is what it’s about. Those children enjoying themselves.

im struggling to understand the need for the thread. If most parents think it’s a great idea and you’ve got about forty who habe already covered the cost, what’s the issue and why are you suddenly suggesting a different theme?

for kids this age I also think it’s a bit ott to be honest.

As everyone else has said, it’s way too much money and I’d think either a) you were on the take b) you were an idiot who couldn’t plan properly c) you had booked Pete Tong for some 11 year olds.

My DS party pre covid was at a local sports club (with bar for parents), cost peanuts, disco was done by a Dad with lights at the hall and Spotify, parents all chipped in with the food, loads of people baked or bought cakes, crisps and sandwiches and there was plenty of green space for the kids to run around in if they weren’t disco types or it was a bit much. Being in the evening with the whole year dressed up made it special and everyone had a fantastic time.

They are 11, not 16 🪩

On the take really?!
I’m also not an idiot, myself and the two other main organisers work in events, so this is very much our area of expertise and why we were asked to plan it.
However I have never worked with any of the parents in this capacity, so it is all new territory for me.
I got told what a lot of people wanted and priced it up accordingly, but once I sent it out thought to myself that it was quite high and of course I can carry out the plans cheaper.

I’m not martyring myself at all, it’s just the type of person I am.
I wouldn’t mind siblings coming to my dcs parties as I always over cater, however some people don’t. I enjoy seeing people enjoy my work which is why I do it.

It’s always a pita organising something like this op as whatever you do you piss some people off (memories of pta 🙄). Much easier arranging a private party with like minded friends for your own kids - yes not inclusive and probably cliquey but you avoid randoms moaning at you for trying to do a nice thing.

As a former headteacher (secondary), I'm concerned about risk assessments and supervision. Assuming it'll be all right because the children's "parents will do it" evades the fact that if anything goes wrong, whoever organised it will be deemed responsible.