Student-run stalls
Manpower can be a battle when it comes to PTA events, so
enlisting the help of pupils is a fantastic way to spread the
workload.
Running an enterprise competition with Year 5 or 6 children
where they set up their own stalls helps them learn business
skills, such as profit and loss, marketing, etc. Can they keep half
their profits to be spent on something just for their class? This
will give you more helpers and stalls, and some families will be
more likely to come along if their children have a part to play.
Liaise with teachers to get a shortlist of the children's ideas to
ensure that none of their stalls clash with PTA-run stalls, or
provide a list of stalls you'd like to see to help give breadth to
your fair.
Enterprise competition
'We give our Year 6 Students a chance to run their own stall at
the summer fair. It's a competition, and the members of the team
that raises the most get a prize of a £10 book token or an iTunes
voucher each.
Pupils love coming up with their own ideas and having
responsibility for their own stall. We give the children about a
month to organise it. We usually have around ten stalls with teams
of three to six on each.
Last year, stalls included fastest goal, hook-a-duck and soak
the teacher! Parents helped to purchase any props required. This
meant that our only outgoing were the prizes, at a maximum of £60.
Parents also assisted with running these stalls on the day, as we
needed to have a parent helper on each stall in order to sign out
the floats. The pupils' stalls made a huge difference to the summer
fair, contributing over £1,000 to our overall profit. The chocolate
fountain stall, which raised over £350, won the prize. The children
love getting involved and are really proud of their
achievements.'
Joanne Forde, PTA Chair, Ravenbank Primary School, Lymm,
Cheshire (412 pupils)
Grow a fiver
'Our Year 6 Enterprise Week has run for many years. Each pupil
is given £5 from the PTA to start their stalls, and then they merge
into teams of three-to-five to set up their business. This usually
happens around three weeks before the summer fair. There are 30
children in our Year 6 class, making around 6-10 teams. Some groups
run games while others make craft items or sell sweet treats. Ice
pops always prove popular, even if it's raining!
Those who sell goods usually run their stalls in the week
running up to the fair. Staff are always on hand to give guidance
to our pupil stallholders. Last year they raised around
£300-£400.
The money tends to be used to buy the Year 6s a treat or leavers
T-shirts. This year, our Year 6 class will donate their takings to
the PTA to part-fund an outdoor shelter, a project which is to be a
lasting memory of Niamh Curry, a student who would have been in
Year 6 this year, but died of cancer when she was in
Reception.'
Gail Roe, Chair, Friends of Little Harrowden Primary
School, Northamptonshire (210 pupils)
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