‘Roast dinner’ Easter hunt
‘Family events work well for our school, so we decided to run an event at Easter. We wanted it to be more than a mad scramble for hidden eggs, which is often over in ten minutes. One of our committee suggested a
roast dinner hunt, where participants up a whole meal. We loved this idea, and her husband was eager to make it happen. He made a map of the area, marking the approximate location of each item, with a riddle as a clue. Once they had found each item, be it
Plant sale
‘Established more than 25 years ago, our plant sale is a community event that is so popular the queuing starts before the sale opens! We hold it on a Saturday in early May, when gardeners are planning, but haven’t yet bought their plants elsewhere. At our last event, we ordered 134 large plants such as shrubs or climbers, and around 1,900 other plants – mainly bedding plants, herbs, tomatoes and other vegetable seedlings. We used the previous year’s orders to decide how many plants to get. If doing this for the fi rst time, start small. Our plant costs came to £3,000 including delivery. We used good-quality nurseries that supplied us at wholesale prices, and who were also able to offer advice. We checked our prices against local garden centres to ensure we were competitive. We increased our stock by asking green-fi ngered parents to contribute homegrown plants, and added value by making up planters and hanging baskets. Supermarkets donated plenty of cardboard
boxes for people to carry plants home in. We secured sponsorship from a local estate agent to advertise the event and to cover some costs – at £15 per board, this raised £400. Two volunteers priced up the night before and eight set up in the morning. During the sale, four people took payments and 12 staffed the plant areas. We also kept plant reference books handy so we could offer advice. A refreshment
stall raised a further £220. We raised an impressive £2,940 from our last sale!’ Angela Motha, PTA volunteer, Teddington School, Teddington, Middlesex (1,360 pupils)
a carrot, a tub of Bisto or a toy lamb, they had to write down what it was. We had spares in case anything went in total over a mile-long route. We advertised via letters in book
bags, our noticeboard, Facebook and email, selling tickets in advance. Knowing numbers helped when it came to prizes and refreshments. The hunt took around 45 minutes,
staggered over two hours to ensure the route wouldn’t be too clogged up. Children were given a treasure map,
and received an Easter treat and a drink when they returned them completed. We sold teas, coffees and hot cross buns to adults. Tesco and Aldi generously donated the treats. Participants were really impressed
that it wasn’t a standard egg hunt. we kept the price low at £2 per child. Just over 80 children took part, and we raised a total of £254.’ Sally Perry, Chair of Friends of Meadowside Primary School, Quedgeley, Gloucester (244 pupils)
Virtual pet show
‘Our virtual pet show is a popular event. We send out entry forms four weeks before the show, which we hold during the same week as Crufts. We give each child a letter with a list of categories they can enter their pets into, e.g. best dressed, most helpful, most unusual and best rescue pet. We also have a ‘borrowed’ category, where children can enter a friend’s or family member’s pet if they don’t have their own. Each entry costs £1.50, and we
once, but some enter up to 10 times! At our last event we received nearly 200 entries, which is fantastic for a school of 155 pupils. To enter, children must send in a photo of their pet with the
pet’s name, child’s name, category and entry fee. Every entrant gets a small prize of some stationery. Once all entries are in, we sort them into categories and display them on pinboards for judging. We’re lucky enough to have an independent judge from category. The winners of these receive rosettes. Once all winners have been chosen, it’s time to pick the Champion of Champions! The child with the winning pet is awarded the highly-coveted ‘Virtual Pet’ trophy. The trophy is engraved with the child’s name and the year, a cost that is covered by a local dog groomer, who also donated the trophy and pays for the rosettes. We hold the awards ceremony in the hall straight after school. The whole thing takes about an hour, and at our last show we raised £370.’ Andrea Bradley, PTA Chair, Silkstone Common School, Barnsley (155 pupils)
Did you know? National Pet Month
(
nationalpetmonth.org.uk) runs from 1 April to 7 May. Highlight the importance of
responsible pet ownership by running a pet show – read our step-by-step guide at
pta.co.uk/events.
IMAGE: SEVER180/
THINKSTOCK.CO.UK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
