Y6 Leavers Disco

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I have volunteered to arrange a disco for the end of Y6. Our school does not 'do' discos so I have no experience other than organising birthday parties.

Do you think the children will need any form of entertainment other than a DJ?

Also, I was thinking of hiring a church hall, but then there would be no decoration as such.

Anyone got experience of these?

Would the school not let you use the school hall? Otherwise, it gets expensive. Decoration would also be easier in school. I think a good DJ should be able to keep the party going and include some silly games etc in his routine without you needing anything else. Just provide plenty of water and some kind of sweetie stall where they can get even higher than they are already on a selection of E-numbers!

No - the school will not let us use the hall. The children are in the prep schools which do not have proper halls, and the secondary school is too big. Will have to make sure I find a good DJ.

Could the children get involved with decorating the hall themselves, by making things and being given an hour to put them up?

I'd say a sweetie stall is a must!

Discos at our school are a DJ in the school hall, a tuck shop set up selling sweets and drinks, glow sticks to buy (plain sticks, bunny ears and bracelets) and a raffle, one ticket per child given at the door when they enter, entry is £1. That's it, no decorations, no extra games, the children dance and just have a load of fun!
We are a small schools so discos are whole school affairs (even the Y6 leavers one, would be a bit dull for them if it was only Y6, 18 children a good disco does not make!), Children in reception and KS1 must be with an adult so that sorts out most of the supervision, volunteers only needed to man the door, the tuck shop and glow stick stall, this is normally done on a rota so not one person is stick there all night. The discos are normally 6pm to 8pm.

I organised the one for our year 6 leavers a couple of years ago. Do you have a budget? I hired a church hall and was going to decorate it but the DJ said not to bother because you wouldn't be able to see them once the lights were out and his disco lights were on. He was right! We were lucky that he also brought an MC, who never opened his mouth but did funky dance moves and break dancing and got all the kids going in minutes. The DJ also organised games and competitions so they all got involved. So I'd say go for the best DJ you can! He was amazing and we used it when we did a reunion disco the following year.

For food, I just got a load of squash and water (they were VERY thirsty after all the dancing), crisps, donuts and the like. All good nutritious food, of course but in fact they barely ate anything. They were too busy and thirsty.

Oh, and we had a Hollywood theme, so they all dressed as film stars. They made a massive effort - it was lovely! I got some old red carpet from a local carpet shop and a cardboard cut out limo from Ebay which we put at the entrance. My DH dressed as a bouncer and took photos of them all as they came up the red carpet. They really got posing, it was very funny.

Thanks All.

Private prep schools so I am desperately avoiding call it a Prom, but a theme is a great idea. I am just worried that some might turn up in those bloody stretch limo things.

No budget as such, I was going to price it up and then charge to cover the costs. I was going to either get catering in (ie pies) or make mounds of sarnies/sausage rolls etc, but if you say they don't eat............

I was going to try and get someone to run a bar with non alcoholic cocktails - my DD loved these when were in Cuba.

6pm - 8pm Is that long enough? Also, it won't be dark - must find a hall with blackouts.

Our school does much the same as some of the others here, but also uses some adjacent classrooms to sell tatoos and nail art which always go down a treat and raise money for the PTA. We have ours at school and have a licence to sell beer and wine in another room for the parents so all the accompanying mums sit around drinking cheap plonk!

Honestly, they really won't eat much, but don't underestimate how much they will drink!
I quite understand your worry about the stretch limo. Ours was state primary but in fancy area but fortunately no-one did the limo thing (apart from my cardboard cutout!).

I love the idea of a cocktail bar. You could have a Hawaiian theme!

Just a dj is fine, definitely squash & sweets & crisps!

Our school has a leavers' party for all year 6 AND their families; they hire a local hall, charge for tickets (to cover hall hire and DJ) and then everyone brings a plate of food to go on a buffet table. The organisers (usually a group of 4-5 parents of year 6) put a list of food up and the parents sign up what they're bringing in advance so there's some variety. The hall they use has a licensed bar so drinks are sorted that way.

It works really well because the families are there too, so you don't have to worry about controlling hyperactive children! DJ is usually enough entertainment, though there is a play park outside, so the children tend to slip in and out!