Summer Fair Survival Guide for Parents

What usually happens

Summer fairs are usually held on a weekend or after school in June or July, organised by the PTA or Friends of the school. Typical stalls include a tombola, a bottle stall, a cake stall, a raffle, second-hand toys and books, games such as hook-a-duck and beat the goalie, face painting, and food and drink. Some schools add a dog show, a dance performance or a bouncy castle.

All the money raised goes to the school, usually for things the budget does not cover, such as playground equipment, trips, books and technology. The PTA will often say what this year’s fair is raising money for.

The donations before the fair

In the weeks before, the PTA usually asks families for donations. These commonly include:

• Bottles for the bottle tombola: drinks, sauces, bubble bath, anything in a bottle.
• Chocolate or sweets for a chocolate tombola.
• Cakes and biscuits for the cake stall, often brought in on the day or the day before.
• Raffle prizes, sometimes from local businesses that parents work for.
• Unwanted toys, books and uniform for second-hand stalls.

Many schools hold a non-uniform day in exchange for a donation, a week or two before the fair. Check whether cakes should be home-made or shop-bought, whether ingredients need labelling for allergies, and where to drop everything off.

Cash or card

More PTAs now take card payments at the main stalls, but many smaller stalls and games are still cash only, and children often like to have their own money to spend. Bring a mix of coins, and decide with your children beforehand how much they have to spend, which saves a lot of negotiation on the day.

Some fairs sell tokens or wristbands at the entrance, for example for unlimited goes on the bouncy castle. These often sell out or are cheaper in advance, and the details are in the PTA’s letters.

Volunteering

Fairs run on volunteers. Most PTAs need people to run stalls in shifts of half an hour to an hour, to set up in the morning and to clear up afterwards. If you can spare an hour, say so early: it makes a real difference, and it is a good way to meet other parents. If you cannot help on the day, baking or donating counts too.

With young children

• Go early, before queues build at the popular stalls.
• Agree a meeting point in case anyone gets separated, and make sure younger children know your phone number.
• Bring sun cream, hats and water: fairs are usually outside in summer.
• Have a plan for when the money runs out, so the last stall does not end in tears.
• Leave before everyone is too tired, even if not every game has been played.

A real-life example

In late May, a newsletter mentions that the summer fair is on a Saturday in June, that there will be a non-uniform day the Friday before in exchange for a bottle, that bouncy castle wristbands are £3 if bought in advance by the Wednesday, and that the PTA needs volunteers for the cake stall.

That one paragraph holds four dates and three actions. Seen in time, it is easy. Discovered on the Friday morning, it is a bottle grabbed from the cupboard, a full-price wristband and a missed chance to help.

If you are on the PTA

If you are one of the organisers, the fair is a small project in its own right: a date agreed with the school, stalls and volunteers, a float of change, risk assessments for anything like a bouncy castle, and a stream of emails to families asking for donations. Clear, early communication makes the biggest difference: one email with every date and request in it, a reminder a week before, and a final one two days before. Families who know exactly what is needed and when tend to give more.

How Peakly helps

Peakly reads newsletters and PTA emails as they arrive and sends you a WhatsApp message with what needs you: the donation and the day to bring it, the non-uniform day, advance ticket deadlines and the date of the fair itself. The dates go into your Google or Outlook calendar automatically, linked back to the original email.

If the PTA emails from its own address rather than the school’s, add that address to Peakly too, so their letters are read as well.