Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Just wondered others thoughts. As a response to us not being able to hold the Christmas party during open hours, the Committee and myself said we'd hire the church hall for another couple of hours and and hold the party out of hours (we are registered for 24, but have 32 on the books). We've discussed it and thought we'd ask the parents to bring in some food from their own culture (not all the party food), maybe a magician and the man in red. The parents have been asked to donate a small named wrapped pressie for their child as well as a £4.00 donation to cover the hire of the hall. The Committee said they would be happy running it as last year there was an awful mess when staff said they were unhappy doing emabarrasing stuff like running stalls etc. Yet now the staff are stating that we are being unreasonable charging £4.00 to the parents for the party - aaargh...******....****!!! Are we being unreasonable? Your thought are welcome, Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 i think it's not - we want to ask the parents for £1 voluntary contribution towards the party and some staff think we should not as parents already pay for childcare and we should pay for everything. staff dont understand that we only have so much of a budget and traying to balance the books are hard, the problem in our area is that we had surestart and parents were given things on a plate and now sure start has been mainstreamed in to the childrens centre, parents are still amazed and shocked when we ask for contributions saki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 i think it's not - we want to ask the parents for £1 voluntary contribution towards the party and some staff think we should not as parents already pay for childcare and we should pay for everything. staff dont understand that we only have so much of a budget and traying to balance the books are hard, the problem in our area is that we had surestart and parents were given things on a plate and now sure start has been mainstreamed in to the childrens centre, parents are still amazed and shocked when we ask for contributions saki I see what you mean, we have Surestart and all of their events are 'free'. It does make us look bad. To be honest, it will be interesting to see what the parents think - though the committee is made up of parents and they think it's ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Could you compromise and charge £2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Could you compromise and charge £2? Could do, We need the £ to hire the hall (personally I feel the Chruch should really compromise and let us have the hall for free as their Xmas gift to the children). I just feel that if my staff refuse to get involved in anything 'embarrasing' like this, why should they dictate how much the committee charge for events. I and my deputy will donate our time for free, the committee will donate their time and the parents haven't complained. Staff have watched me holding a range of events on my own without their support for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 I don't think it's unreasonable to charge for the cost of the party. If you are transparent and say that the church hall costs X, the magician costs X - divided by the number of children equals X. Especially as it is out of hours in your case. Are staff donating their time or are they being paid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 I don't think it's unreasonable to charge for the cost of the party. If you are transparent and say that the church hall costs X, the magician costs X - divided by the number of children equals X. Especially as it is out of hours in your case. Are staff donating their time or are they being paid? The committee said they would do it all. This was to reduce costs as it is being held after the session. I don't think the staff will donate their time, this is where the contention is. In previous years, they have refused to help unless paid, so the committee thought, right, we'll do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_Pickering Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 I don't think it's unreasonable to charge for the cost of the party. If you are transparent and say that the church hall costs X, the magician costs X - divided by the number of children equals X. I agree with Deb, if it is out of hours and incurring extra costs then it is not unreasonable to charge for it. It can't work both ways- you can't refuse to fund raise and then complain about charging - the money has to come from somewhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dublinbay Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 We had our Christmas party during session hours. We charged £2.50 and gave children a drink and a packet of quavers. Too much party food last year made the children bounce off the walls! A committee member was Santa and each child recieved a present of a book. We paid for the entertainer for an hour and 1 1/2 hours later it was all over. Staff who were not rostered on got paid as usual. However, if you do incur expenses like rent, food or entertainment I would expect to ask for a contribution from parents. I don't mean to be too critical, but your staff do seem to be a bit mean not helping you with previous events. Other than embarrassment, is there any other reason for the non-help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narnia Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 we have our party during normal session times (we also allow parents to swap sessions so they can come without paying an extra session fee) and ask for a contribution to the food, not money, as this way,every parent can do something.We usually put up a list of food, and include some low-cost items, say, a couple of apples,and parents sign up for what they will bring.we give a small gift, usually a book,( which we pay for)and santa visits to dish them out.A carol or two and everyone out,ready for the christmas break! Are your staff concerned that some of your families could find it hard to provide a present AND pay £4 on top?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 we charge as we also have it on a non funded day and to pay the hall hire, etc We supply a small gift, parents pay for the hall hire, entertainer (we have a tame Magician who charges us a very low fee as his children came to the setting and he has become a friend) staff pay etc. Parents supply the food we supply a drink. None of the parents complain as they realise the full cost. we do small fundraisers to help to cover the cost, as the fee they pay only usually covers the hall hire. In our case the committee are more than willing to pay for our hours but if funds are low then we do it unpaid, we all know that it depends on whether if the funds are there or not. But if the committee do most of the work and want to charge it is their decision to make, if you have enough adults to help out could others who expect to be paid be given the option of either attending unpaid so the wages they would earn can cover the hall hire etc and allowing the committee not to charge or not attending at all, a bit of Catch 22 they miss out either way. Inge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MaryEMac Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Our committee are organising the party this year instead of a trip to a panto. They have hired the social club, an enternainer and will feed the children. Parents have been asked to provide a present and to pay for their own food. We are joining with the tots group so it will be noisy and frantic. There will be no session that day so I am taking that time to cascade the EYFS training down to the rest of the staff. We will be expected to put in an appearance at some point in the party though. I'd like to get there as the great man is delivering presents. The committee and parents have always organised the party right from 1982 when the playgroup was first formed and I see no reason to change it. The staff have enough to do pre-christmas without having to worry about the party. Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 looks like everyone have offered you the advice and reasonable ones too. Is the the magician booked and come with a cost? as all things usually do? Nothing is free these days but if the parents don't complain then honestly what is the staff's problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Just wondering why the party can't be held during open hours , during a funded session a cultural celebration is part of the curriculum, ie: many of us celebrated Divali during funded hours. Have you asked te staff why they think it is unreasonable? I hope this glitch of attitude / expectations doesn't dampen the festive spirit too much and whatever is decided everyone accepts it and joins in with making it a day that the children will cherish and remember. Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 we hold ours in a normal session, parents used to donate food, but now we charge a £1 per head and do it (safer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Gosh what a difficult situation. What's embarrassing about running a stall I wonder? We do a little christmas performance on the last day of term - parents and friends attend with their children during normal session time and all staff who come in on their day off are paid as usual. We provide a snack as usual (but with some goodies thrown in because it is Christmas, after all!), and a present from the pre-school. After the performance FC comes to give out presents which the parents have provided ready wrapped and labelled - with extras as necessary for siblings or other childen who come along to see the show. After FC has given out all the pressies (and received his 'payment' of a bottle of whisky!), we have mince pies and refreshments for the grown ups (for which we ask for voluntary donations), and there is usually a tombola before everyone goes home. So the only charge to parents is £5 for the present for their child. Maz PS Have been thinking about Ofsted and having more children in on the party day than we are registered for. Have always assumed that since parents are with their children (and we make it very clear that they are responsible for their safety and behaviour!) we didn't need to get permission to go over our registered numbers. Am wondering if that's still the case now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 We are having to hire somewhere to perform our play from, and we are having to ask for a small charge per ticket. I don't feel particularly comfortable about it but in order to enable everyone who wants to to attend, we need a bigger space. It's difficult isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Wow, I hadn't expected such a response on this one! Thank you everyone, I have made a decision to back the committee on this one and to ask the staff to write any concerns down and send to the committee (after last year when a parent complained to the committee and seemed to know more than they did on a situation!) The staff in question have never helped with any type of fundraising and I feel that they just don't want to. They are reluctant to embrace any change within Early Years and I do believe my EY advisor has an 'opinion' on them too- I have tried every type of motivation I can think of, all to no avail.. The other staff are great! I am a little tired (alot of personal upset at the moment), and this is another reason the committee have taken the role (I'm happy with that as I need less pressure right now). As far as finding £4.00 for the costs, all our children are funded bar one-whose mum is on the committee, I don't think it's too much to ask, especially with the local schools asking for much more for similar events. The committee did state that if anyone has financial difficulties, they would reduce the cost for that family. Inge, Love the idea of a 'tame' magician! Another reason we are holding it as an extra curricular item is to ensure that we are meeting the conditions of registration. Ie, if we were to hold it during the session and Ofsted were to drop in we will have an incorrect amount of children and could be penalised for not providing for the needs of the children. We are registered for 24, but would have 32 in total. I don't want to take any chances at the mo. I have asked the staff before why it is unreasonable and the simple answer seems to be that they have never been expected to do this before I took charge (I know as I worked my way up through and was a team playing staff member, as opposed to a non team playing staff member). Well I'm sure it will go well. I won't back down as I don't need the stress and am more than happy for the committee to take charge - they are looking forward to it and I think that as parents they really do have the children at heart. Wish me luck x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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