Christmas Fayre Checklist 2014

Plan for approx. 150 families attending

Description / When / Who
Date:
Pick a date for the Christmas Fayre – usually the last Friday in November or first in December and put it in the diary / Sept / PTA meeting
Hasbro Charity Hamper:
Apply on-line to Hasbro in the community website
Username and password from committee. / ASAP
Hampers:
Email in newsletter to ask if anyone has unwanted hamper baskets from last year they are willing to return / Sept
Hampers:
Source 10/11 Hamper baskets (10 for the 10 classes and 1 for Hasbro toys). Also contact Andy Bagot re a donation of a chocolate hamper (Cadbury/Green and Blacks). These don’t’ require a basket as Andy delivers to the winner.
Andy Bagot is a good source for the baskets. He can obtain great quality ‘seconds’ for extremely reasonable prices. They vary in size but cost on average £7 each for a full hamper with lid, handles and buckle (500cm widex330cm deep x250cm height).
Need cellophane, tissue paper and large bows.
Obtain on-line or from Country Baskets/Hobbicraft. Cellophane needed per basket is approx. 70-80cm width by 180cm length per basket (to go all the way round the basket). So 1800cm length roll minimum is needed. Check PTA cupboard for left over stock, can order on line for reasonable prices.
Country basket prices 2013:
Cellophane wrap (20m)–1 roll £4.99 + VAT
Ribbon (50m) – £1.49 + VAT or large bows (£2-4 each) or Asda - super large Bows (£2 each)- then buy more in the sales for the following year.
Also need tissue paper to line baskets (50 sheets) - £2.19 (on line) / Before half term
Wine/lager:
Buy early to obtain the best deals from supermarkets BEFORE the prices/offers go for Christmas. Store in boiler room.
Mince Pies:
Need to source 150 free mince pies – ASDA have been brilliant in the past – contact is Clare Douglas (Angus’ mum) / Before half term
Father Christmas:
Find someone willing to be Father Christmas for the day. Helen Mills’ Dad has done it in previous years; he even has his own costume! / Before half term
Stalls:
Decide on what stalls, prices and who is manning each, examples from prev. years:
Secret Santa room £1.50 per present- teachers man on the night
Christmas stockings 30p
Knock Santa down the chimney 50p for 3 goes
Play your cards right 30p
Snowball scavenge 30p
Body art 50p
Father Christmas £1 per child (free photo)- teachers man on the night
Book stall 50p
Toy stall- various depending on quality
Café – free
Bar- various (pop cans go down well at 50p)
Cake stall 25p per cake £1 a bag of cakes
Christmas crackers 50p
Jarbola 50p
Bottlebola (not just alcohol) 50p
Raffle tickets £1 each £5 a strip
Guess the number of sweets in a jar
Guess the teachers photos – free
Fossils and rocks stall- various
Entrance £1 per family / Before half term / PTA meeting
Hampers:
Decide on the contents of each hamper:
Each class takes responsibility for 1 hamper (notify class reps once confirmed), examples of past hampers below:
Chocolate indulgence
Sweet Tooth
Taste of Italy
Cheese & crackers
Family Night In
Games compendium
Treats for mum
Treats for dad
The Olympics
A Christmas tipple
Best of Yorkshire
Gardeners delight
A Family Christmas
Arts and crafts
Cooking/baking
Spanish Christmas
Plus:
Hasbro (donated to school )
Cadbury’s and Green & Blacks (donated by the Bagot family) / Before half term / PTA meeting
Letter in Book Bags and Newsletter to inform families about which class will have which hamper and which stall (template on file). Also to tell everyone about Christmas crackers and jars to be filled for the jarbola, Christmas star competition and to bring in bottles for the Bottlebola, toys for the toy stall and cakes for the cake stall. Allow time for Mr O to check, PTA to photocopy and bundle per class / 2nd week after half term
Raffle tickets:
Need to send out 10 raffle tickets in an envelope with a covering note (or attach to Christmas Fayre newsletter with instructions) explaining £1 each or £5 a strip
Someone needs to collect the raffle tickets from the office regularly. / 2nd week after half term
Secret Santa presents:
A 100 presents for Mum’s and a 100 presents for Dad’s need to be found – budget is £1 per present (to be sold for £1.50). Don’t buy men’s hankies!
All presents need to be wrapped with one left out as an example. Gift tag stickers need to be bought so that children can write ‘To’ and ‘From’
Present ribbon is needed so that children can wrap presents with ribbon on the day (shiny ribbon from supermarkets or £1 shop)
Pens and scissors are also needed / After half term
Tattoos:
Need to buy Christmas tattoos – 200 from Yellow Moon or similar / After half term
Class reps:
Sort out collection of hamper items and work out a rota for the stall they are responsible for. Check that Class reps are OK and have this in hand
Layout plan:
Plan where all the stalls are to go and agree at Committee Meeting / After half term
Risk Assessment:
Ensure risk assessment complete & sent in plenty time to Mr O’Rourke and Mr Sharkey
Sound System & Christmas Music:
Sort out some Christmas tunes either on ipods or CDs / After half term
Aida and the cleaners:
Check that Aida knows about the Christmas Fayre date and times. / After half term
Reminder letter/newsletter:
To inform parents when to bring in what
To ask for help on the Friday before from 1.30 onwards in the hall
Allow time for Mr O’Rourke to proof read, return, get printed and sorted into class bundles. / Week before Xmas Fayre
Time slots for Santa:
Print off time slots for Santa (10 slots per in 15 min time intervals) / Week before Xmas Fayre
Float:
Order the float for each of the stalls (remember bar and entrance) and collect from the bank / Week before Xmas Fayre
Shopping list
Need to go to Bookers or similar:
Tea bags/coffee
Sugar & plastic spoons
Plastic cups for children’s drinks
Squash
Christmas napkins
Christmas plates to put mince pies on
Cake bags for cake stall
Lollies (300)
Raffle tickets for Bottlebola/jarbola/raffle etc
Sweets for prizes for lolly tree, knock santa over and any other stall which need prizes
Chocolate sweet or coin for Santa grotto visit (If getting chocolates make sure there is a sweets alternative for those with allergies)
2 prizes for star competition (KS1 winner and KS2 winner)
1 prize for ‘guess the teacher’ photos’
Scissors
Cellotape
Blue tac (lots)
Sticky Christmas labels to write To and From (200) for secret room presents
Christmas present ribbon that can be twirled with scissors (for secret room)
Wrapping paper (for secret room presents)
*But check the PTA cupboard first / Week before
Signs/Price lists
Print off signs for the Friday morning drop off so that people know where to put their donations
Print off all price lists and laminate
Print off sign to show the way to Santa’s Grotto
Print off hamper names to display on the completed hampers
Print off entrance tickets with free hot drink and mince pie
Print off secret room tickets with one present per £1.50 paid / Week before
Friday before the Fayre:
Morning Drop off:
Stand outside the main entrance with a big table and big tubs/baskets to collect everything due in – need at least 2 people to help organise this, need to collect:
KS1 snowmen
KS2 snowmen (Keep separate so that displaying them is easier)
Jars
Bottles
Cakes
Crackers
Toys
Then take everything into school and agree where it can be stored (library/Mrs Prior’s room)
Collect everything from office too / Day before
Last minute shopping
Collect mince pies and milk (12 pints)
1.30 onwards:
Helpers will start to arrive from 1.30 to the hall.
(Staging is usually up by this point for children practising the Christmas shows)
Have a plan of how the hall is to be set out and display to share “the vision” (use flip chart)
Get 2 Christmas trees and decorations and the lolly tree from the boiler room
Get out 10 tables and then sort out all the stuff that has been brought in and being stored in library onto the correct table.
Then can move things to where you want them to go later. In the kitchen area
Café – 10 tables with 8 chairs at each table, tablecloth on each one, plates ready in the middle to put mince pies on later and sugar bowl. Get out urn, tea pots, cups/saucers, jugs for milk, jugs for juice, plastic cups, tea spoons etc

·  In the school hall

Toy stall – need 4 tables in a long line and 6-8 boxes, toys need to be sorted out, bin any that are broken or in poor condition. Big toys on the tables, and books, small toys, cuddly toys in boxes on the floor. It helps if the books can be sorted into pre-school, KS1 and KS2 and the same with the toys. Keep spare plastic carrier bags under the table to give out to those buying lots.
Crackers – needs a couple of tables just lay all crackers out on the tables.
Raffle – needs a table and 2 chairs for people selling raffle tickets on the day. The raffle barrel needs to be moved up onto the stage for calling. Saves crowding and easier to hand over hampers.
Jarbola – Use the 4 red platforms (PE equipment) to display the jars. Stick raffle tickets onto the jars but only raffle tickets containing the numbers 0 or 5, all other raffle tickets go into the bucket to be pulled out later. Only tickets with a 0 or 5 win a jar. Display jars in numerical order so they are easy to find when won.
Bottlebola – Use a table to display all the bottles and stick raffle tickets onto the bottles but only raffle tickets containing the numbers 0 or 5, all other raffle tickets go into the bucket to be pulled out later. Only tickets with a 0 or 5 win a jar. Display bottles in numerical order so they are easy to find when won.
Cake stall – use 2 or 3 tables to display the cakes, keep cake bags close by to pre-pack some bags tomorrow and keep plastic carrier bags under the table to give to those buying lots.
Christmas trees – decorate 2 trees and put near plug sockets for lights (by piano, by PE cupboard)
Stage – cover with material and display with hampers

·  In classrooms

Lolly tree – decorate with star and fairy lights. Ensure tips are coloured in beforehand (see separate instructions for lolly tree on PTA website)
Mix all lollies up and put into the lolly tree. Also need a box of sweets.
Tattoos – have tattoos ready on a table with bowls ready for water and flannels
Secret room – Usually in the Year 1 classroom, set up a line of tables with tablecloths on and then display all the wrapped presents on the tables with the sample present in front. Then set up another table with chairs all around for the children to sit at and write their labels and put their ribbon on. This room also needs scissors, cellotape, ribbon, and sticky labels.
·  Upstairs
Santa’s Grotto – needs about 3 people to set up in the upstairs cloakrooms on the Year 3/4 side. An armchair for Santa at one end with material backdrop of chimney scene. Windows covered with Christmas material. Decorations on the pegs, tinsel and lights. Streamer curtain on entrance doorway. 2 White Christmas trees, one next to Santa’s chair and one at entrance. All decorations, material and trees can be found in the staff room PTA cupboard in storage boxes. Use staple gun to attach fabric. A photo of each child is taken with Santa (teachers arrange this). Also need sweets/chocolate coins in this room to give to the children as they are leaving
Decorations – use remaining decorations to decorate the school corridors.
Snowmen – Display KS1 on one wall and KS2 on another so that they can be judged before the fayre, one winner for each Key Stage. Have also used original Christmas card designs as displays sent back from Cauliflower cards to decorate the walls.
Sound system – get sound system ready with microphone to announce the raffle
This whole process takes from 1.30 till opening. / This should be done in advance
The evening of the Fayre
Ensure urn is turned on in plenty time- takes approx. 45min. Only half fill so that it heats up quickly and then top up with boiling water from kettles.
Set up the classrooms with the stalls to go in them, water in the bowls for tattoos etc
Give out laminated price lists
Get a table set up by the main entrance
Give floats out to stalls
Check everyone knows what they are doing
Set up the café ready to be pouring coffee and tea at 6pm. Put out mince pies on the tables, sugar in the sugar bowls and teaspoons, people will come up and get their hot drinks with milk and then sit down to add sugar and have a mince pie.
Take a photo of Hasbro hamper to send back with a thank you letter as proof of appropriate use.
Start bagging up cakes ready on the cake stall to sell for £1
Check teachers have everything they need for Santa’s grotto and the secret room
Don’t let any stalls start selling till 6pm as we have had complaints in previous years that all the good stuff is gone early due to the helpers families buying it early / Everyone who can come early
Risk Assessment – carry out risk assessment checks

The Fayre 5.45pm onwards

Make teas and coffees for helpers on the stalls and the teachers in the secret room and upstairs.
Check money on each stall to see if people are running low on change/notes and then find them what they need by swapping notes for change etc. with other stalls.