Anyone organised a school party??

[Widget123]

My daughters new to her primary school, there’s a few adult things booked in over the coming months but nothing for the kids so I thought I’d get involved and offer to organise a party for the kids around Easter time. The PTFA at the school are a little difficult to communicate with and I don’t want to drive them mad with constant questions so just wanted to know if any of you have had experience organising a party for the school and could give me some advice? I’m sure once I’ve done one I can get my head around it but now I’ve agreed to it I don’t know where to start!

I organised sch discos as part of the psa. What do you mean by a party? For how many people? Just kids or families including adults? Where will it be held, what will it cost, how will it be communicated, will you need an alco licence, who will set up, who will clean up after? Would it not be better to do it via the pta?

Hollow it’s just for the kids, a party as in just some food and music for an hour just so they can enjoy themselves, simple.

For how many kids?
Who would run it, provide the food and set up and clean up?

Party in the school hall? just for your daughter’s year group?

I am actually part of the PTA, I haven’t done the whole ceremonial dance but being a parent at the school and having helped them since I started I think entities me to take part. Clearly it’s irritated you that a non senior member of the club should absolutely not even consider trying to organise a party for some kids as it’s far too complicated even though I run two of my own businesses. I was just asking for some pointers and hopefully some exciting ideas, not whatever this is. I’ll manage on my own, thank you for all of your help and advice.

Er... I was thinking rope in the pta as helpers.
Not sure what your angst is for.

What time will the party be? - You'll need to check if it clashes with afterschool clubs)

Where will it take place?

Who will pay for it?

What type of food? - You'll need to think about allergies

Who will supervise the party?

Will there be a cap on numbers? Usual discos are split into different time slots, Reception - year 2 then year 3 - year 6

Who will clean up after the party?

Who will complete the risk assessment?

It's a lovely idea, but it's definitely not simple. Organising a school disco / party is a big undertaking with a lot of planning, it's lovely that you want to get involved but you can't do this by yourself.

When someone asks for advice and you’re response includes 20 question marks in less than two sentences your feelings are hardly subtle, clearly that wasn’t going to help in anyway whatsoever was it really?

You need to ask if this has been done before and speak to that person. We have discos a few times a year. Lower school for an hour supervised by parents. Upper school on their own supervised by (staff? Pta? - how bad that I don't know the answer just let my kids attend).
You need to know numbers. How many people can you have in the hall? You need to be strict on who can come to what.....work on worst case scenario when calculating numbers. You need someone on the gate policing your policy - e.g. not dropping and leaving a 5 year old if you say parents must attend. Think about what time you are doing this to make it easy for most kids to attend. How will you make the party accessible to all? If you want it no parents then ratios can be impacted by SEND kids. Don't expect staff to help- if this is ptfa then it is voluntary - so you can ask but they can say no. What entertainment do you plan? What refreshments? Do the children have to pay?

When someone asks for advice and you’re response includes 20 question marks in less than two sentences your feelings are hardly subtle

Not sure who you're talking about here but of course there will be a lot of question marks, as there are a lot of questions which need to be answered when organising and running events like this.

Jeeez you’re defensive!!

There must be a huge backstory???

Hire the hall- ask the head for this, probably will be free but check it’s not being used for another event.
Hire a disco/sound system- local Facebook page. Probably be £100 you’ll need to get funds from the PTA for this.
Charge entry fee- £1.50/£2. This should cover your costs
Have tuck stand- hit the cash and carry for supplies and then sell for a profit. You’ll need parent helpers to man it.
Squash stand too, as above.

That’s how it works in our school. It’s sumple enough but you’ll need help and DBS checked parents to be there on the night.

I’ve done a few of these as part of a PTA team. Would definitely recommend getting one or two people to help you organise it.
Here’s a few things to think about:

Firstly check with staff (Head teacher most likely) to find a suitable date when hall is free and a member of staff is happy to remain on site (you will need one to be qualified first aided unless one of the parents is)
Decide if and how much you will charge (is it to make money or just cover costs) - will ticket price be higher and food free, or lower ticket price and kids buy snacks
Publicise it (newsletter/posters etc) and sell tickets
When you sell tickets, get parents to sign a form giving child permission to attend, noting any allergies, giving phone number for emergencies and stating who will collect child at the end
Arrange sound system and DJ
Buy snacks and drinks (remembering any allergies and only buying things which make minimum mess!)
Make sure you have enough volunteers to supervise the event (especially for sign in when kids arrive and sign out when they leave and to cover the toilets) - have more than you think you need, you can never have too many adults supervising this sort of thing...
You’ll need to do a risk assessment (school should have template you can use) and make sure you have plans for any possible issues arising. All doors will need to be covered during the event, all kids signed in and out, first aided on site etc

If it’s primary I’d give some thought to separate events for KS1 and KS2. That’s what we do as big difference between 4 and 10 yr olds and 4 yr olds can get easily overwhelmed by the bigger kids on the dance floor

Hope this helps, there is a lot to think about so definitely ask if you can pair up with someone from PTA if possible

Have fun!

Ice that wasn’t aimed at you, thanks for saying it was a lovely idea, I thought so too! I’ve got a few others on board to help I’m just running it so wanted to know if anyone had done it before / how it works. Some really good help here, didn’t think to do two different year groups that sounds good. I’ve managed to get a friend to do the music so hopefully can save there.

Any games or things they play that seem to stand out? It’s going to be in the school hall, dates confirmed.

Does the school have a parental involvement officer? If it does then they might be able to help sorting out a date when the hall/other space is free, help find someone to stay on site on the day and publicise the event. We charge £2 for a ticket to discos and kids bring money for a tuck shop, we do very well with discos and raise around a grand at each one we do. You need volunteers. We're a big school so need lots of volunteers but compared to other events discos are usually pretty easy to 'staff' because they're usually only an hour so the parents can't get much done anyway so they may as well stay. Volunteers need to be DBS checked. Hire a dj/entertainmer, we get a good deal because it's usually a week day and it's great advertising for him.

As we're such a large school we d discos back to back, so nursery+reception, KS1 and KS2. The dj does some dancing competition type things with them but tbh they just run around a lot and it's only an hour long so no need for organised games. One of the mums does glitter tattoos for £1 and they are very popular. We make up sweetie bags from the cash and carry and sell lots of them.

Also, I can't believe the pta are difficult to communicate with! An actual willing and able parent? I'm surprised the Chair isn't all over you!

Well sell drinks crisps and chocolate so the kids decide on snacks
There are quiet spaces for coloring in, biscuit decorating etc
Have a look in the cupboard for giant games or hook a duck type things some kids will want to play
Lots of balloons
Make sure someone has a camera
Prizes for good dancers or party games
Don’t do anything too organized it’s not fun to be dragged away when they run wild
Some parents may offer to do face painting or nails
See what talents you have!!

I think it's a lovely idea but it's usually done via the PTA since there will then be an established channel of communication with the school and there will be people who know the particulars of the school (e.g when the hall is available, the insurance details, parent-child ratios what equipment is available etc.). Unless you just plan to organise something outside of school which might be easier if you don't want to do it via the PTA.

In terms of idea, I think after school they want to run wild a bit rather than be corralled into specific activities so I'd do something free range with a bit of structure to hold it together. Things like bubble machines where the kids see how many they can pop have been popular for EY KS1. Fancy dress. Dancing competitions. Cake/biscuit decorating.

I’m just recovering from tonight’s school discos which I organised (I’m chair of our PTA). It’s a lot of work and I’d be happy for a volunteer to take it over but I’d be all over them checking they were organising correctly adhering to procecures like safeguarding and risk assessment (knowing where first aid kit is etc, blocking access to other areas).

If doing in school need to check dates with head and secretary. Head because they will usually want to stay on site until finished to lock up school. Check no after school clubs on etc.

We run 2 discos back to back with 30 minute break. Reception, Y1/Y2 pupils with a DJ set featuring games. Juniors Y3 and above with more disco. We pay for a DBS checked DJ.

Staff don’t get involved so it’s down to volunteers and we need a lot from each year group. Checking pupils in and out. Manning doors/preventing access to classrooms/serving food/tidying/getting coats at end etc etc.

We serve a set meal - pizza, crisps, chocolate and squash or water - for a set price and take payment in advance so no cash needed on night.

Letters go in book bags with permission slips. Regular reminders via ParentMail too. Even then I still had children turn up tonight unaccompanied with no parental permission.