Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

School taking pupils to pantomime

53 replies

Doublethecuddles · 30/10/2014 12:11

Is it common for schools to take the children to see a pantomime? Our school do it ever year. It costs £10 per child and I have 2. I always grudge paying this. This year my DC are already going to 2 other pantomime which I have to pay for.
I grudge paying the money and feel the DC don't need any more treats! The have party at school.
What do other schools do?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

WooWooOwl · 30/10/2014 15:15

Really? That's interesting, and also a bit unfair IMO.

I hope it doesn't lead to schools having to cancel fun trips and disappoint children or make them not even offer fun trips because of a minority of parents that don't pay.

Sirzy · 30/10/2014 15:17

I agree woowoo.

I think trips like this are great, and going with a group of friends is a different experince to going with parents too. Panto is a great way to introduce children to the theatre

SoonToBeSix · 30/10/2014 15:17

" the dc don't need any more treats" ok then Ebenezer.

SoonToBeSix · 30/10/2014 15:18

Sorry missed your second post. Ignore mine .

KERALA1 · 30/10/2014 15:21

Never understand threads like this. You have kids they are going to cost you!

Heels99 · 30/10/2014 15:22

If it is every year and £10 each then you know it will be £20 at Xmas so you can save up. Put 38p a week in a jar. if desperately unable to afford it speak to the head. I think it's a bit bah humbug to " grudge" it when it is a cost known a year ahead.

PrivateJourney · 30/10/2014 15:30

Yes, it will undoubtedly throw up a good number of challenges. There was a very real possibility that we would cancel our residential this year because we aren't allowed to make parents pay for any of the activities that happen during the school day. We have (tried to) get round it by saying everything during the day is free to parents but the total cost of the evening programmes, food and accomodation is the amount we need to cover the whole cost, but there is a certain amount of breath holding while we wait and see if anyone challenges it.

It will be a terrible shame if we have to cancel trips, hopefully that won't happen because there is a reasonable amount of pupil premium money to cover the poorest children. Of course not paying and not being able to pay is not always the same thing and we are finding that some of the most struggling parents are those just over the threshold to qualify for FSM etc.

Neither way is fair - it's heart-breaking when the ones who don't get to go are always the ones who would get most benefit from the trip and/or the ones who never get these opportunities outside of school.

WooWooOwl · 30/10/2014 15:47

I suppose you're right, neither way is fair when it results in a disappointed child, but at least the old way the unfairness was as a result of individual parents doing it to their own children rather than as a result of parents affecting other people's children.

Personally, I'd prefer it the old way.

PrivateJourney · 30/10/2014 15:55

"unfairness was as a result of individual parents doing it to their own children" That's it exactly though. Life is great for your children whether they go on a panto trip with school or not. For the other children, it really isn't.

That's because you don't see children with rotten parents and I would have thought the same before I worked in school. Children like yours have so many advantages that missing a panto trip is neither here nor there. What's really, really unfair is that some children are saddled with terrible parents who don't provide any of these things for their children.

I don't mean poor, lots of great parents can't provide all the advantages for their kids but there are too many who don't even try

WooWooOwl · 30/10/2014 16:08

I completely see what you're saying, and it is incredibly sad that some children have rotten parents that won't provide anything nice for them and that don't even try.

Life is unfair on those children, but I don't think it means that children who have half decent parents are advantaged. They aren't, they're just normal, the way it's supposed to be, but that isn't an advantage. Those children deserve to be served by their school too, and it's horrible that the effects of crap parenting have to stretch so far that even children who have nothing to do with those parents are made to miss out on opportunities because of it.

KERALA1 · 30/10/2014 20:14

Our PTA subs anyone that really can't afford it but this does rely on the majority who can paying up

teacherwith2kids · 30/10/2014 20:29

We used to (old rules) send home letters only asking for 'going on coach' permission for Pupil Premium children, and ones asking for contribution only to the others. We found that the parents entitled to PP (a significant percentage in a deprived rural area) were the ones who felt most guilty about NOT paying (our habitual non-payers tended to be much better off parents who 'knew the rules') and who would therefore either insist on paying or keep their children 'off sick' on the day of the trip.

There was also much informal flexibility about payment for those just above the PP level (several families paid at 50p per week for examnple) . PTA paid for the coach and subbed the trip as much as possble.

It was absolutely worth it to see the children's faces ... even just going into the theatre, seeing the tippy-up seats, gilding etc, being up on the balcony was AMAZING for many of them.

Hiphophappy · 30/10/2014 20:33

A company comes to our school and performs in the hall.

PTA pays for all the children.

cece · 30/10/2014 20:34

Interestingly my two DC are both going.

The Junior school trip is costing £15.50

The infant school trip is costing £14.50

I am not sure why the Juniors are charging £1 more as it is the same panto and the schools share a site.

teacherwith2kids · 30/10/2014 20:37

HipHop,

I do understand that is an alternative (one theatre that we went to sent out an outreach worker to do a pre-panto workshop so that the children know what to expect) and we did do it for non-panto sghows.

However, for children who would otherwise never enter a 'proper' theatre, going to one is way over and above just seeing a show in the school hall. It is something many families take for granted, but when you dio have a lot of young children from quite difficult backgrounds, and from rural communities, being in a real theatre - even, frankly, going into a large town to get to the theatre - is beneficial in broadening their horizons.

Hiphophappy · 30/10/2014 21:01

Teacher, I agree with you.

I think this was a solution that school and the PTA came up with. We too had parents complaining about the cost and refusing to pay (when many of them could quite easily have afforded to). It also means that children who wouldn't have gone because they genuinely couldn't afford it, don't miss out.

I know it would be more exciting for the children to go to the theatre but the PTA can't afford that. The children still enjoy the panto. If school/PTA didn't do this there sadly wouldn't be a panto at all.

Ragwort · 30/10/2014 21:09

I would pay anyone so that I never have to take a child to a pantomime again in my life .

Original poster

Doublethecuddles · 30/10/2014 21:45

I love going to the pantomime.

OP posts:

LynetteScavo · 30/10/2014 21:49

I can't stand the pantomime. I would love it if school took my DC for £10 each.

Pipsqueak16 · 30/10/2014 23:04

In previous years they have gone to the local panto. Sadly this year no news of a panto trip. I feel a bit disappointed for them. I'm very happy to pay it.
On the other hand if the Government are taking the view that children can't take anytime out of the school curriculum (for family holiday) without having their education irreparably damaged for life, then the logical conclusion must be that all school time must be spent solely on educational activity within the school grounds. If the argument is that all time at school is educational and all time outside of school is not then all school trips and parties should be ended forthwith. Personally I'd prefer to see happy children at school with flexibility on both sides.

CatKisser · 31/10/2014 08:17

We take the whole school and we pay for it entirely.

LilyPotter · 31/10/2014 10:04

We used to take the whole school (massive operation - 450 kids), but now have visiting troupes in the hall.

Worst afternoon of my year, without a doubt.

PesoPenguin · 31/10/2014 17:52

I can still remember going to a pantomine with school as a child, more so than going with my family, as it's such a novelty being all 'grown up' and going somewhere without your parents, sitting with your friends and comparing sweets etc.

Also, as others have said, in any school there will be children who would never otherwise have this opportunity. When I worked in a very disadvantaged school we had a travelling theatre in to do a panto and the children had to be told to clap at the end, they just didn't know that clapping is customary having never been to a live show before the look on their faces was amazing though ( and yes I did have a tear in my eye!).

There will be plenty of learning opportunities related to pantomimes too.

bkaz · 01/11/2014 01:30

Mrs Hathaway, Sis Moonshine and others
Could you please let me know the name of the travelling pantomime company you used and also what is the school hall capacity. As a parent I want to persuade our head teacher of this option as she is reluctant in taking the kids to pantomime on the grounds of cost.

At our school we have around 400 children.

Thank you all for your assistance.

MrsHathaway · 01/11/2014 08:23

Have PMed.

Flip

1 2 3