Village Gala Day Drama

[Bronniel]

I live in a small Scottish Village, every year there is a Gala Day, I imagine it is similar to a Village Fete in England, but basically It is a lot of local businesses, food vans, live music and some little rides for the kids in the local park, with a parade around the village and a fancy dress competition, it is fairly popular. Also a lot of other events in the village on the weekend surrounding it and competitions for the kids.
Every year there is a Gala Queen, plus some other big roles like crown bearer, maids etc. Basically the Queen gets crowned to kick the day off and prior to that leads the parade in a horse and carriage. It's all very much set in tradition but still popular and the kids enjoy it.
Traditionally the Gala Queen and the rest of the Gala party has been selected by the primary school in the village, and consists of P7s, the head teacher picks them and they are chosen based on behaviour/attainment etc. throughout the year. My own kids viewed it as quite a bit accolade to be chosen and it seems like a big deal to the kids. This method though has had its controversies as obviously not every child in the Village attends the village school with some going to other schools for various reasons and others going to say the catholic school or occasionally the odd who does the 30+ minute commute to a private school, it also excludes any kids who attend the schools for additional needs as these aren't in the village. However it has always been the primary schools pick.
I am on the Gala Committee and this year there is a push to change the allocation method, basically to some sort of system where any Primary 7 aged child who lives in the village or surrounding farms/one hamlet where all the kids also go to the local school, would be able to enter. The top ideas right now are some sort of essay writing competition or a competition where kids submit "evidence of excellence" be it a video of a dance they have learnt, art they have done, sports awards etc. The essay seems to be the popular choice but some fear that it will mean just the smartest kids get the chance to be part of it. It's said that either the committee would pick or we could get some locals to pick (so a panel of maybe the head teacher, the minister at the local church etc). The idea for the essay writing competition is they would write an essay on the history of the village or something similar.

However the issue is, this same year one of the most vocal members of the Gala Committee has a grandchild who is in Primary 7, but at a private school, so wouldn't be eligible under the historical system as despite living in the village, doesn't attend the local school. About half of the committee are against any changes as it is set in tradition and they feel the change is purely to benefit this members grandchild and future grandchildren. They also feel that it is unfair to ask the children of the local state school, many from lower income backgrounds to compete against private school kids on either the essay front or the hobby front. Others feel it is a necessary change as the days of all the kids going to the local school are over, and lots of the kids at the local school aren't from the village now.

It is creating quite the divide and a lot of upset so I'm looking to see what others think as we seem to be in a deadlock.

So
YABU - The traditional method should stay
YANBU - Time to update so all the kids in the village can be involved

(I know this seems trivial but it is the source of many a head ache for me right now and it is the height of village drama for our sleepy little place).

I would counter with suggesting any child who wants to take part of the right age group is entered into a draw (separate girls and boys if necessary) and it is simply names out of a hat.
Definitely not an essay competition.

If you want to be inclusive, an essay writing competition might not work for children with additional needs.

Good idea to open it out .. seems awfully cliquey at the moment

What @TickingAlongNicely said. Perfect compromise.

YANBU. It shouldn't be based on 'excellence' though, it's not the Victorian age fgs! It should be names in a hat. That way it's fair to every child and the one who gets picked can be of any ability or disability

I agree with the names in a hat idea.

Ah great minds think alike!

I really don't think this would be a popular choice, everyone agrees that it should be a reward of some sort, I'm not against it being a random draw but the committee is made mainly of older women In the village who definitely wouldn't like it at all.

Names in a hat is the only fair and inclusive way.

Was also going to suggest drawing the name from a hat. Seems the fairest way to me (and the least tedious)

For goodness sake don't get involved in picking winners. You will end up with 99% of the village (the ones who weren't successful) hating you!

Names in a hat would really go down like a lead balloon in my village. Those who donate/contribute to the Gala Day would become quite resentful if the kids who go about vandalising, and general have terrible behaviour and are known for causing trouble got a role and to be honest the families of these kids really don't contribute at all to the day.
I'm not against it but I know for a fact the committee wouldn't accept it, so it as a no go.

Borders by any chance? It's never been fair in the villages I know of - strangely the chosen children all came from families who had lived in the village for generations upon generations. There have also been some attempts at gender equality in the roles in recent years that went down like a lead balloon!

Yes private school children living in the area should be included. Incidentally, I suspect this is an issue that might be hard to understand on MN, as Scotland is different to England in that far more children attend the local village school and that quite simply there often is only one school with no others for miles around. It's a very different system to the English system of parental choice, which means village children quite often don't attend the village school.

Well it also definitely shouldn't be based on essay writing or anything that allows children with access to a more privileged educational experience to win based on that! What about a nomination system where anyone in the village can nominate a child based on merit - be that caring, fundraising, acts of kindness , anything else they can think of?

This is why the suggestion is a panel, so head teacher of the primary school, minister of the local church, possibly some people from the parish council, or owners of the local businesses.

Just do the kids who "qualify" into a hat then. Headteacher picks them, roles are announced and drawn.

South west but similar here that favouritism exists even when the school pick. Conveniently last year the Gala Queen was the daughter of the family who let us store all the equipment and decor in their barn, year before that it was one of the teachers Niece's. I'll be honest both of my own kids were chosen and I often wonder whether my role on the committee influenced that even though I never pushed for or expected it.

If the head teacher picks them it still excludes any child who doesn't go to the local school though, therefore we may as well continue with the current system.

well if random names doesn't work with the committee members

Perhaps stick with the essay on the villages history/story of the village but the essay can be spoken word poetry, video, visual art, photo collage, dance, stand up routine, a piece of drama etc just make it really ope

Could open votes to public or random from the committee

could you have more than 1 village may queen or whatever? or discuss other prizes/roles

I think it should be based on being of use to the village.

Volunteer hours signed off by approved people in the village.

Local businesses like retirement homes and animal shelters could sign up.
I'm aware there could be some logistical issues, but I think it could really work.

You would need to cater to various abilities, e.g weeding gardens or reading to people.

There could also be volunteer days at the primary school which all kids could attend from other schools. Maybe hold two or three weekends a year, and then the person is picked based on those.

There are 5 roles already, 3 for girls and 2 for boys. Each year at the primary school has 25-30 kids then add on maybe 5 more each year who go to other schools. So more than that just seems excessive.

The local pub already does a lot of volunteering things so we could link in with them I guess.

Each school that wants to participate puts forward 3 or 5 names and they draw out of a hat. All children selected must live in the village.

This would be a logistical nightmare, it is random as to what schools will have kids from the village each year and often it will be only one.
In Scotland the vast majority of kids go to their catchment school, there will be some in the village who moved during primary who keep attending their old school (could be one of say 15 schools within a 20/25 minute drive), some who go to one of two catholic schools in either direction, some who go to one of several private schools. There would be mo way of ensuring every school who had a child from the village would be told about it for sure and each year it would be different schools needing contacted.

This isn't agreeing either way about who's included, but if it was opened up to another school surely the same system could be used - so the head or class teacher nominates an agreed number of kids based on behaviour/biggest improvement in a subject area? Agree that the proposed 'tests' don't feel at all inclusive.

Cross posted sorry!