School disco just 45 minutes long?

[Incognitomum11]

This isn’t a big deal, my DD can’t even make that Friday BUT the school disco is just 45 minutes long?
is this what they’re doing now?
I know my kids before covid (different school) used to have around a couple of a hours per key stage

and yes yes I know it’s awkward when you have kids in both key stages and the poor old teachers etc etc but 45 minutes is hardly worth the drive. Or the £3

Agree! A COUPLE of HOURS?!?!?? Those poor staff.

Seems a bit pointless for 45 minutes. Ours used to be a couple of hours (seems a lot longer when you're a parent helper though).

Umm why? Because the people running those are being paid to do so?

Are they doing staggered disco times, so that the younger and older pupils can have separate 'dos'. This is totally understandable.

I agree with you, OP. If its too much hassle to staff and arrange then dont bother. And I have volunteered at many school disco in my time. Its bloody painful but it lasting 45 mins or 90 minutes is not making or breaking my day.

This.

The planning, buying, sorting, sweet bags for each child (400), staff time given, volunteer time needed, the DJ costs money, the set up, the clean up, both before and after and in-between the key stages, the counting of the money etc.

Just thank the people who do it rather than complaining about what they're not doing to your requirements.

Ours are only 40 minutes. They're staggered by year group, so reception, then year 1 and 2, then year 3 and 4, then year 5 and 6, with a handover period of 10 minutes between each session. The last one finishes at 6:30pm by which time everyone is probably exhausted. I was on the PTA for a while (helped organise but never managed to actually attend a disco) and they take a hell of a lot of organising. We pay £3 which includes a drink and popcorn. They're one of the best earners for the PTA and nobody to my knowledge has ever complained that they are too short or too expensive.

Our swimming lessons are something like £11 for 30 minutes.

I’d be pissed off too if the Year 11 disco was only 45 minutes long.

My DCs is 30 mins. By the time the DJ has unpacked he'll have to pack up again

Wow what a bunch of catty woman.

Our school has 3 sessions - lower school is 45 minutes (it’s loud and children get overwhelmed so 45 minutes is enough), then upper school years 3 and 4 have 45 minutes followed by year 5 and 6 getting an hour. They’ve done the same since dd1 was in reception and she’s now 14 but dd2&3 went to their primary disco last week. I usually help as it’s not worth going home.

Ours was 90 mins and that seemed quite short but the kids loved it

Offer to DJ yourself?

It does seem short, but I'm sure there's sound logic behind it. A lot of discussion goes into choosing timings and the logistics for our PA events. I'm guessing they have multiple sessions for different year groups?

Our disco is 1hr 15min for KS1, 15min change over, 1.5hrs for KS2. Both cost £4.50, and include a drink and mini bag of Haribo. It definitely doesn't need to be any longer as by the end of each session the kids are flagging and going a bit nuts (excitement + late night + end of term exhaustion). It is also a ear-splitting 4.5hr slog for us volunteers (with the set up and pack down) plus the organising and prep in the days prior. You now have me wondering if we could get away with cutting each session to an hour OP 🤔

Seems it's the teachers that are moaning, as usual

@KalvinPhillips23

Would you want to do tons of unpaid overtime for people who are ungrateful?

Absolutely!
I think that people who’ve never volunteered are very quick to complain!! 🙄

Yes I agree it's usually those that never volunteer that complain. Because if they did volunteer they'd understand why it's not perfect.

ours are 1,15 each and that includes a drink/snack in the lunch hall for around 15/20 mins. This seems like an ideal time as someone who has volunteered to help at them. 45 mins does seem quite short by the time they get in and get going. The £3 seems reasonable though regardless as it’s all for funds for the school presumably to use for other fun stuff for the kids.

Our primary school discos were 45 minutes for as long as I remember. Since 2004. I volunteered at many.

This!⬆️

So don't send your kid then. Plenty of others will go, love it & appreciate the effort. You don't have to.
Most parents don't realise that teachers & school volunteers don't do shit like this for the fun of it - it's simply a way of raising MUCH NEEDED funds for the school.

Wouldn't they make more money if it was on for longer though? My DDs used to have a very popular tuck shop, face painting, games as well as the disco. The children wouldn't have time to do anything in 45 minutes. KS1 used to get 90 minutes, then we did 20 minutes tidy up before KS2 came for 2 hours.
Long day for everyone (no one helping us getting paid) but they were twice a year so not like it's every week.

Gosh! It is hard enough working in schools nowadays without being forced to put in all the unpaid overtime of event after event after event. This is only shit for the staff running it. Theres so much work to do each evening teachers will be getting behind having to do this kind of thing. The kids will be fine. Maybe they're cutting it short to allow for the parents who turn up late, the huge amount of clearing up and extra (since covid) cleaning. Maybe they've had enough because nothing they do is ever good enough.

Ours is an hour for ks1 and 1 HR 15 minutes for ks2.

Op how long do you think it should be? People are giving up their evening for free to staff and run it, as well as all the set up and clear down. Have you ever volunteered to help? It is exhausting.