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.

That seems really steep, but I am a northerner .

At my kids school the leaving party is arranged by parents and the children, and the cost is partially covered by fundraising by the year 6 kids throughout the year- sponsored activities, cake stalls, they're doing an Easter egg raffle this week. It's brilliant as it teaches the kids about money and they get a say in what the event will look like. Its generally a hall hire, dj, party food and a hoodie for every child (60) regardless of if they attend the party . Delta cost to pay once their fundraising has been taken into account is approx £5-7 per child going off previous years posts on the parents Facebook group. DS is in year 4 so got all this to come soon!

£40 a head for a primary school disco is waaaaay too much... You need to revise that massively. For something like that, the expectation amongst other parents will be around a tenner a child.
Forget the hoodies - kids will wear them once or twice that summer, then once they're at secondary school, they'll never be seen again. Kids can sign each others uniform t-shirts on the last day of term.

I think you should not be organising such an event, £40 is a lot for some especially with the cost of living crisis.

I think it's great you are doing this, and disappointing the school aren't planning anything at all, but yeah do find all the pricing a bit weird. It seems a bit harsh that the 40 who are already doing all the hard work organising it are now being asked to pay for it too, while all the other parents have to do is turn up and get free entertainment and a t shirt! I know you say it's all optional but people still feel pressured by this stuff and I'd be annoyed if I was struggling for money and felt I had to donate 40 quid because I was friends with you or in the organising group, and then another parent who was much better off didn't have to pay anything.

I'd suggest everyone who wants to come pays a suggested donation of ten/fifteen pounds but make it clear that if they can't afford it the child can still come. Then your extra committee members who've already agreed to cover the event can donate more, with the understanding if it's not needed they'll get it back. Apart from anything else, having put some money towards it will make sure the kids are much more likely to actually attend, otherwise you'll have 120 'yes' votes and then if it's a sunny day suddenly half of them won't turn up because they've got a cheap holiday deal or want to go to the beach or whatever and you'll have loads of food left over, hoodies that are never picked up etc.

I would also not bother with a dj - I'm sure someone will have some good speakers, just get a playlist going via a mobile. DJs are a waste of time for 10-11 year olds!

I was about to say this! Y11 prom is £25-35 which includes venue hire in a hotel or barn conversion, 3 course meal, disco and coach to and from the school. How much does the hall cost to hire? Also, it’s a primary school leaver’s disco, not a prom.

Dts are y6, £36 hoodie, £40 contribution to party, leavers book and other random stuff, £30 theme park trip end of SATS. £300 residential. We can afford it but there's some that can't and I really feel for them.

Bog standard primary.

I mean isn’t it just the same as having a birthday party?
some parents stay, some don’t and I’m pretty sure most parents supervise their children daily, very odd thing to say.

I have already said that the initial idea was not mine, I was asked to do it because people know what it is I do for a living.
I was told what they wanted, hall hire, dj, decorations food & drink!
with that I looked for hall hires able to accommodate the amount of children and parents there are likely to be without breaking fire safety regulations for the venues.

There are 120 children, plus parents I’m sure at least 20-30 will stay, therefore we need a venue big enough.
Being very near central London and the party taking place on a weekend in the summer, prices will always rise and be charged at a premium.

£5 per head isn’t going to go cover everything.

"I mean isn’t it just the same as having a birthday party?"

No.

You're charging people to attend.

Plus there's going to be 90 odd kids there...

You need organised supervision.

And what if none stay?

Or 3? Or 100?

You need to have some sort of agreed ratios and get people to commit.

If you're hiring just the hall and not booking into an actual organised event then SOMEONE has to be in charge in case of emergency etc.

I just paid for my year 13 son's prom at a country house hotel. Sit down meal followed by DJ, it cost £40.

I would do something like a bring your own picnic in the park. Why don't you do a survey to see what the other parents would like to do?

I'm not reading all the posts. I have two children go through this.

Think I paid £20 for 1st y6 child, this included dj, photo booth (1 free keyring...all photos taken on a link to view and download), food being prepared for children and adults attended.

2nd child...£30. This included DJ, photo mirror - everyone allowed a printout of 3 pics taken together (children & some adults haha) plus all pics online, personalised cakes with faces on, pizza from domino's as food, personalised cups with names on.

Both parties loved by children & parents alike. Room hire free on both, on understanding you'll buy drinks whilst there.

The best thing to do is ask the actual parents involved & see what they are willing to compromise on, if £40 is too much. Some things make an experience nice, some are necessities I.e. food for children etc. Hope you get it sorted OP

I’m not charging anyone, the money is to go towards what other parents have asked for not me! Things like this don’t come for free.

I’m just going to booking a hall, give all the kids a share size bottle of coke and a bag of fizzy haribo and let them run wild! 🙄
Honestly this isn’t my first rodeo, there will be parents there to supervise. Also the children are 11 year olds not 2, most of them will be standing in a bloody corner doing tiktoks, calm down they will be fine.

Exactly, it is of course the experience and wow factor of things that they will remember.
I did explain upthread that I’ve spoken to the parents in the group chat and have said that the things they want are quite expensive and have suggested a change of theme, with only a couple of expensive items And most of the parents were already happy to pay the initial amount, it was me that thought it was too steep which is why I asked on here to gauge what people would and wouldn’t pay.

Our school pays for the Yr6 party and the PTA pays for the ( bloody!) hoodies.
I really wish they didn't do the hoodies as most Yr6 pupils don't want to wear them once they go to secondary as they want to appear older and no longer want to be associated with their primary schools.
Such a waste of money.

Go ahead, have 120 kids at a vaguely organised party where some parents might help cover the costs and some might supervise.

Hope it goes well.

It won’t and isn’t being vaguely organised I’m more than capable of organising a party, in-fact it’s what I get paid to do!

But thank you all the same your advice has been greatfully received.

I've organised my son's, two form entry, year 6 leavers party for £8 a head!!! Hall hire, disco with karaoke, dad doing a photo booth, loads of silly wigs and inflatables, and parents doing a buffet.
They're 11, they just want to be stupid with their mates!!!

My daughter is year 6, and a group of mums are organising a 'prom'. It's in the local village hall (similar to you OP, school hall can't be used, they aren't even allowed to send out an email about it).

Tickets are £25 each, which includes hall, vintage bus to take them there, disco, food / drink, decorations and goody bag. We have also got leavers hoodies, but these have been organised separately by the PTA, they were £22 each.

I thought £25 was a lot when I read the email, but £40 does seem steep.

Honestly I thought Dd would be sad as she is the type to love a party and 👗 my up but it was 2020 and covid. I kept trying to organise things but gave up. They met up in a field and mucked about had a great time. Cost zero. I learned from that.

I would do the disco and leaver hoodies as 2 entirely separate things.

You'll never be right in some people's eyes :) I wouldn't let it bring you down.

If out of 120 parents, only a minority are finding it hard....that is to be expected. It depends on the priority of this to each individual family, and we shouldn't judge why. Some of the children of the class on both parties didn't attend but it wasn't for any of us to make any judgement why they were not there.

I personally don't feel it is too expensive considering you also have the cost of room to include within it & are including hoodies within that too. We paid separately through school for this & I'm almost certain this was about £20 quid x I then paid separate for a t-shirt on the last day x I think your party is pretty reasonable tbh x

Far too expensive, will definitely put a lot of parents off, they won't want to say though, they just won't let child go, which is sad. £10 is top whack really, the kids just want some DJ, pop and snacks. It's not like the Yr 11/13 one! Why not do some fundraising for it? Have a bake sale every Friday at the school gates or some other side hustle. Defo no to £40 though! The one I organised for my sixth form was only £25 pp and that had everything!!