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).

Make it somebody else's problem: panel agrees which schools to select from (every school children in village go to, presumably), ask headteachers of such schools to pick a child based on their own criteria, and have as many roles as there are schools.

Why not make it anonymous? Any child in the village can be nominated with a reason why they should be queen etc (and I mean anything, academic excellence, sporting achievement, community spirited, kindness, triumph against adversity, eco campaigner, kind to wildlife, charity fundraising) then the ones that fit the bill go into a hat, or the committee could chose from those nominated, but without seeing the names of the kids (apologies to anyone whose already suggested this but I’m not reading through 11 pages)

For me i would ask interested parties to enter into a ballot. Then draw the names there is nothing fairer no essays no local school just do a draw

A ballot is throwing the baby out with the bathwater IMO. It isn't a bad idea at all to reward young residents for their role in upholding the social fabric. I don't think this should have anything to do with school.

Makes me glad I stuck to by guns and didn’t cave to DH’s wish to move to a village. Whether the committee likes it or not, names in a hat of all children living in village is only fair way. Otherwise you’ll have bias.

To exclude those who go to other schools, for whatever reason, isn’t fair. They’re twelve year old children! Our friends live in a similar sounding village. Their local school couldn’t meet the complex medical needs of their DC and they had no choice but to “opt out” of local school and attend a larger school that could meet needs. It’s heart breaking for them to watch their child being left out.

My tuppence worth of a suggestion is this:
Open it to all kids living in village in that year in any school; kids in village school don't need to apply but others apply themselves by date with application that can include an essay/artwork/colouring of their choice.
If no applications then current system remains.
If there are applications from non village schools then a panel is formed with e.g. publican, minister and local head teacher who decide the five roles, with minimum of four roles to local school- and one role open to any of the kids- so fifth one could stay with local school or go to kid from other school.

The selection process to do that as descirbed by teh OP currently results in the children of the sharp elbowed and the compliant girls being prioritised.

I'd much rather see a general ballot which gives all the children an equal chance as a bit of responsibility for a badly behaved child can be transformative for them and for a child with special needs it adds visibility and may even demonstrate how you adjust something for access.

There will be no need for the "good" children to be disappointed as they all had an equal chance.

YANBU, not one bit.

I disagree with your essay writing idea though. Excelling at something is really ableist, and something like that is usually heavily dependent on parent resources (time and money) too.

How about choosing nominees who start, volunteer in, or lead some civic spirited endeavour? A food drive for some local food bank, a litter picking event or two, a tidy school playground campaign, a poster campaign for road safety awareness, organising a community flower garden, etc?

The current system of rewarding behaviour, attainment, etc, sucks tbf.

It's got nothing to do with civic or community spirit or leadership abilities and it has no tie-in to the wider community because of that, and also because the pool of candidates is restricted to the one school.

which would be fine if it was a 'school gala' but it's not, it's a 'village gala' therefore every child living in the village deserves the chance to take part.

I'd say you need to keep it as it is - the village school kids only. Its a tradition for the village and there is only 1 school in the village, if you choose to send your kids to another school then tough. Traditions are old and if you're keeping the tradition of the Gala - then there's your answer. You either totally change the Gala and bring it into modern day - ie don't have Queens etc or you keep as is.

Let's face it the only person who really wants to change it has a granddaughter at another school 😂

The only other option I'd suggest if it needed to be opened up to all kids is for nominations. A bit like a "pride of britain" ... people need to be nominated and given a reason as to why - then the panel vote. That way, ability doesn't come into it, school doesn't come into it.

My guess would be she's seen this thread if you've received that message. If the system changed this year, it would be obvious it was at the Grandmother's request and the options being suggested here offer less chance of her Granddaughter getting the Queen role, since she wanted it based on merit, not random selection.
I would reply, saying she's right and it's probably easier to stick to the current system. Ignore the message about highland dancing.

You have absolutely no idea what any of us give to our communities. And your quite wrong

I am SO grateful that I do not live in this village. I cannot express how much, fully in words. So glad.

Same Anxiously and I grew up in one.

That said it can be quite cute. When I got married there after moving away the whole village turned out and the streets were lined with crowds. I was basically a royal. My Dh and our London friends were blown away by it!

My parents very community minded and there’s really not much to do in the village on a Saturday afternoon and I had a horse and cart.