Alis girls Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 how involved do you get?. i have helped with our primary school one for yrs but have burn out. it is so stressful i have named it "A fete worse than death" and might write a book. used to enjoy it but now its getting too much. Also Oh is fed up of me being on committee and this seems to be a common probs. Hes grudgingly allowed himself to run a stall for 1/2 hr and ES has said he will if i can find him GRRRRRRRR. i now have to try and find reluctant people to run stalls for me and they are reluctant with a big R. Any tips would be welcomed or funny stories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clootie Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 My only memory of my school fetes/committee is running out of anadin on a regular basis, I seem to have blocked everything else out. *shiver* Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickvic Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 They're not for the faint-hearted are they? At my school you don't get a choice - as a member of staff you do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 i have to say Chickvic our teachers are great and will go almost anywhere - they are allowed to say if they dont want to a particular stall. I am also a first aider and always seem to be called when I'm having a break - i'm not sure why its always me esp when there are other 1st aiders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Being a mother who works full time I don't get the opportunity to take much involvement in the school fete (which is in school time!). So to be an involved parent I took on the role of a school governor. Its just 3 meetings a year... Plus another 3 (which are actually 4 back to back each time!) if you stand on committees.... Plus some training events...... Plus some outside training events... Plus some governor visits (which you do have to do in school time buy your employer has to give you the time off). THEN We had a problem with the nursery provider nextdoor to the school on our land. We took the opportunity to exercise a break clause in the lease....We are setting up a new provision ourselves, I've ended up a company director, there have been a million meetings about this. So being a school governor led to THREE meetings in one week 2 weeks ago!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickvic Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 i have to say Chickvic our teachers are great and will go almost anywhere - they are allowed to say if they dont want to a particular stall. I am also a first aider and always seem to be called when I'm having a break - i'm not sure why its always me esp when there are other 1st aiders. Trouble is there are always a few that look busy and do nothing! While the rest of us set up etc. Oh and you'd have to be dead or as close as possible to get out of it, I had to take my 2 children then 9 and 7 and they had to stay all day! They were extremely fed up after 6+ hours so was I! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Have many a happy memory and an equal number of 'Grrrrr' type memories of organising this type of thing when my children were at primary school. My main observation was that the ones who did the least always had the most to say....and tended to sweep in at the last minute with a criticism on their lips.....and sweep out again just as quickly before the tidying up started. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 I much prefer to have a job to do at school fetes - preferably plant or cake stall I don't really get why some people never take part even for 1/2 hr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missuscluck Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Have many a happy memory and an equal number of 'Grrrrr' type memories of organising this type of thing when my children were at primary school. My main observation was that the ones who did the least always had the most to say....and tended to sweep in at the last minute with a criticism on their lips.....and sweep out again just as quickly before the tidying up started. :D Too right. That would be exactly my observation. I am just about to give up P.T.A. as my daughter leaves primary school this time. I was tresurer up till last summer whan I found someone foolish enough to take over from me I have loved it (mostly) but wont be too sad to move on. I also took up a role on our village 'community day' committee which can be extremly frustrating. My favourite moment was a lady at Mums and Tots who sat and moaned about community day, about how rubbish it was and there should be more events going on. Apparently at her old school they did Medieval Jousting We asked her if she would be so kind as to arrange this for us. Not surprisingly we never heard from her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJuff Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 I hate school fairs/fayres/fetes with a passion. Unfortunately I work in a school which expects you be involved and I haven't put my name down this year!!!! Hoe bad is that????? The school takes plenty of my time away from me as is!!!!! Must dash after lunch bell has just rang . . . . need to get the register. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ness3103 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 i hate them with a passion too as class rep i have the task of getting parents to help out and as expected it's not going too well, so far me and my fellow class rep are running a stall on our own all day which means our kids are going to either run riot or whinge the entire time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhapsody Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 I've often thought there is a real niche for a school which doesnt hold stupid lame fundraisers that just cause all this martyrdom and conflict. Send a letter home saying Dear parent, We need some cash, give us a tenner each and we'll leave you alone. The School. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clootie Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 They'd have my tenner, pronto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooks Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 and mine! that'd be a lot cheaper than attending the fete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missuscluck Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Some schools do ask for money instaed of fund raising. Our head is of the view that its a 'nicer' thing to do to organise events. Not really sure how I feel about the idea really. Mixed feelings on the whole thing. However Im nearly free Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 I've often thought there is a real niche for a school which doesnt hold stupid lame fundraisers that just cause all this martyrdom and conflict. Send a letter home saying Dear parent, We need some cash, give us a tenner each and we'll leave you alone. The School. That really made me laugh. However, when my first 3 were young, our school did hold lovely fairs & I enjoyed helping...mostly. The worst was supervising a bouncy castle for the afternoon, I was terrified watching, & felt dizzy & wrecked by the time I went home. I'd much rather do something safe, such as serve tea. After a few years, I was really shocked to hear a friend say she was relieved that her youngest was moving on & therefore this was her last fair, I couldn't understand her attitude. By the time my 4th child left, I think even I'd had enough of helping (& yes it always is same old, same old, with whinges from non-helpers). But that was after about 18 years, therefore 36 fairs! Mostly very happy memories, the children loved them and the atmosphere was great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...