Hi again, Ours went ahead in teh Church - it was fantastic!! The school still charged parents (though £2 not £3.50 as originally intended following a complaint from my wife and the class teacher). 240 people came over 2 days - so nigh on 500 quid. As a Church we made it clear that we were providing the venue and refreshments for free, so at least parents could see who was profiteering!

We as a Church have just lost £600 to a blatant theft. Ironic.

Hi Brooooce,

Your last thread reminded me about this one...

We had a letter from the school a week or so back asking if we wanted to buy tickets to the kids Christmas production! In the spirit of research, I have just mailed the head to ask him for his views.

I'll let you know when I get a response...

I've no issue with recouping costs, school funds are always tight - but I get the feeling (the same thing happened this time last year) that they see it as an opportunity to turn a profit. Which is in contrast to how I see it - namely that you can build up fantastic good will by giving folk something for nowt.

Brooce

The school should only charge if they are incurring any costs and then only to cover those costs. It would not be appropriate for them to profit from such an event.

By costs, I was thinking that the school may legally have to arrange liability insurance for such an event or that there may be some administrative costs for arranging the event.

Huckster

Yep - tell them I agree with you!

Making money out of someone else's goodwill at Christmas seems to be sending the wrong message...

This is just what we were thinking - I guess we just wanted to hear it from someone else that we were'nt being unreasonable.

In that case, I would have thought it best for the vicar to have a word with the headteacher to address these concerns.

In a world where commercialism has taken over at Christmas, I think this is the perfect opportunity to emphasise that the church's offer of a venue is based on giving and by charging the parents, this makes the church feel uncomfortable.

Thanks for your reply.

The Church has not asked for and nor will it accept anything from the School it if invloves the school charging parents to attend the nativity. That was most definitely not on our agenda and we made it clear to the reception class staff that we wanted to do something that brought the children closer to the real meaning of Christmas.

Our vicar is quite adamant that if the school go ahead with their plan then she will address the parents and make it known that we didn't agree to there being any cost and have that we provided everything free of charge.

A dilema!

Hi Brooooooooooce,

I am heavily involved in fundraising at our kids primary school, so I understand the need to raise revenue when possible.

However... for a reception class nativity play, I think that charging parents is outrageous. I do wonder if it is the schools intention though, to donate a portionof that income to the church.

If this was the case, how would the church feel about charging parents then? Although you are giving the hall free, you will be receiving as hoped...

There are many, many events that can be organised at a school for fundraising purposes. A reception year nativity that shows off to the parents how well their little'un has settled in to the scary world of school isn't one of them.

In my opinion!

The Church which I attend has agreed to allow the local primary school reception class (4 to 5 year olds) to perform their Christmas nativity in our Church. We are extremely pleased about this and only too happy to help - the Church are providing refreshments for all attending and the use of our Church and adjoining Church hall. We have made it absolutely clear that we do not wish to be paid anything for this provision - as a Church we are endeavoring to raise our profile in our community by working on the principle of 'give and you shall receive'.

A dilema has now arisen - the management of the school (though not the reception class staff) wish to charge parents for attending this event. I have a number of queries:

1. Given the school has actually incurred zero cost in organising the nativity is it right they should charge anything?

2. The actual cost they wish to charge parents is £3.50 per ticket (a quite ridiculous amount I think). Is this sum too high and what would be a fair sum.