Lewes Forum thread

Felt rather sorry for the primary school kids dressed up for the Moving On parade...started raining as soon as they left
Totally inaccurate weather forecast again from the Beeb.
What a total pants summer is has been so far..

What a waste of money ,

Do not feed the Troll.

what do you mean waste of money good luck to them i hope they have a good time

Its not your money Bumhug, so don't worry about it!

its nice to see people happy

Thankfully the rain eased off as they started. A great day for the kids - good luck to them all in their new schools

The concept of the moving on parade is really good and it is great to see so many happy kids. However, I struggle to understand why they need to spend 12 grand on it. Do the kids and there teachers really need profesional artists going into the schools to help them ? Is there really any need for all the bands and extravagence down in the paddock, what would be wrong with a good old fashioned pic nic? I am aware that the parents of the kids raised 4 grand of the money and that there was plenty of sponsorship including what I can imagine was a tidy some of our money in the shape of a town council grant, but is this teaching the kids the true value of money? They could have had just as good a day at this wonderful event for a very small fraction of what was spent.

I always thought it was a charity organisation that arranged the event.
That's why we provided the function room at the Elly free off charge for their meetings a couple of years ago.
It's still nice to see the kids out and enjoying themselves.

When and why did it become so necessary to make such a hoo-hah about changing schools, FFS? Smacks of simply indulging the precious little darlings, does it not?
Pity some of that energy and cash wasn't channelled towards the Rotary Club's fund-raising procession at the Jubilee, that was so poorly supported.

Mungo - if you saw the pressure that teachers are under, you will understand why local artists go into the schools over a period of about a term to coordinate and make the costumes with the children and their parents (those who are able to help) separate to what goes on normally during the school day.
Frankly 12 k for the 500 kids who take part from across the Lewes district works out at abt £20.50 per child, which is not a lot given the time and effort and materials the artists put in - in fact I doubt it works out as a living wage for them (and that's making the presumption that all the budget goes on paying the artists, which I'm sure it doesn't).
In fact I think it's fantastic value - it teaches the kids creative skills, co operation, a sense of community, gives a massive boost to their confidence, makes them feel valued in their town. It really isn't about teaching the kids the value of money. And Huw is right, it is run as a not for profit event. Last year all the bands at the Paddock performed free and all food and drink for the lunch/picnic was provided by parents.
How would you suggest it could be made cheaper ? If you have any ideas maybe you should get involved in the Patina organisation and give them some money saving tips.

Heres a money saving tip , don't do it , I never did ' £20 .50 per head , ask the kids , if they would rather go to Thorpe park for the day , about the same cost , think they migh say stuff walking down the high street , that might put things into perspective , it's a day off school and that's about it for them ,

This very Conversation was had in the pub last night.
Brixtonbelle, your justification for having these artists in the schools and phrase fantastic value have left me scratching my head.
As someone who has been on a school Pta I can't help but think that any fundraising for this event will detrac from the vital fundraising that every school has to do. Even when it comes to sponsorship, how many times can you knock on these businesses doors and ask for money.
A sugestion for the Patina people would be to speak to the organisers of the Brighton childrens parade which is held during the festival. From what a friiend of mine who's daughter had been in it told me was that all the work was done in house and materials were scraped together from within the school community. Anyone who has ever witnessed that parade will tell how big it is and how good it is and further more , just like the kids in the moving on parade, how proud and happy the children look.

My child was in the Moving on Parade so I attended most of it. I was thouroughly impressed with the day and marvelled at what had been achieved an how well the state sector, parents and the Patina organisers had worked together to create a truly marvellous and memorable day. I am very glad indeed that my child had opportunity to take part in this special day to mark this important milestone as he moves to wards being an adult. The children of Lewes are blessed to have such a day.

I'm not sure I understand the criticism about 'artists'. At least at Barcombe school it was the parents who came in and helped the kids make the costumes. An invaluable event in itself.

Thorpe Park? Get real. Not quite on the same level.

Deelite , my point exactly , as for parents 500 kids = 1000 parents so why is it patina have to ask for outside help to Marshall this school activity ?

All I can say is that there is a lot of call upon parents time as the end of a child's primary year ends. I'm guessing that the majority of kids have two working parents. It's not easy to take loads of days off.
The event was worth £20 of anyone's money. It's an important ceremony, a marking of a minor coming of age, a transition. The kids had loads of fun. An event with a lot more depth and significance than could be offered by a day out at Thorpe Park.

Lewes and it's kids are privileged to have it. Criticism seems small and mean-minded.

It has struck me that I was not aware that they needed marshals. As a parent (who took a day off work for the event and helped make the costumes) I'd have been happy to offer my time. Maybe just a problem with communication?

"The event was worth £20 of anyone's money. It's an important ceremony, a marking of a minor coming of age, a transition".
Sorry I don't agree.... My child took part in the parade yesterday but cannot see why it is important? I never paraded in costume down the High Street to mark the end of Primary School.(apart from on the 5th). it just happened! I left school in July and went to secondary school in September. Seems a bit European to me....

Thorpe park was just an example , I'm sure patina could be more imaginative , also not sure where the figure of 12 k came from , the year I had some involvement it was 35 k last year was well over 20 k , thats a lot of books ! Still if that's all it takes to have happy kids lets just throw money at them ,

I would have loved for there to have been something like this when I was younger,it would have been a lifetime memory.

The figure of 12k came from a rather elaborate leaflet that was put through my door telling me all about it.
As I previously said, I don't begrudge the kids having the parade, I think it's a great idea, it's the cost that bothers me.
Deelite, I was pleased to read that at Barcombe school you kept it real, and under took the work yourselves. That is exactly how it should have been across the board. You talk about a communication problem, well all the facts that I have posted came from the no expense spared leaflet I mentioned earlier.

I bet for 12 grand the council could have put up a load of signs advertising where parking is for people who visit the shops in town
I thought it was a lovely parade but really why should there be external artists and facilitators - if the teachers in the arts were that good, they would be doing it themselves and not asking for handouts.
Always wonderful to see children happy and expressing themselves, but why this could not take place in a park or other place - leaves a taste of self-importance and delusions of the teachers, the kids are the genuine ones
Lewes does itself and its businesses no favours -more info on the streets on the Torch & Patina than encouraging tourists/biz -BBBBBBAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
Cotes de Rhone opened, rant finished.

Bah humbug. What a miserable begrudging lot you are! It's hard to believe you were once children.

Pandering to the kids, congratulating them for doing nothing!
The same people supporting it that believe there shouldnt be a sports day in Schools and that All kids should get a medal for being in a race, And the country slips further behind the rest of the world that promotes WINNING!!!

There are maybe 2 or 3 people who post on this forum under a wide range of different names who enjoy nothing more than raining on every parade out there. Gives a completely false impression that Lewes is full of miserable sods who hate everything and anything. This forum is great for getting or passing on local info, but don't use it to gauge local opinions about anything as they're so easily distorted by trolls.

Bottom line is that many people worked very hard to raise money and put on an event enjoyed by hundreds of children. If anyone has useful ideas on how to make it more cost efficient I'm sure the organisers would be thrilled to welcome new people to help out for the next one, especially as that would mean less money to find which can't be fun or easy to do these days.

People worked very hard to raise money so that the organisers could print and deliver very smart leaflets, pay artists to go into schools, hire tents, stages and sound equipment. In short, no expense spared.
I go back to my original post, the concept of the parade is brilliant, the fact that it costs so much money to put on is wrong. What message is this giving the kids about the value of money. But lets face it, its not about the kids, it@s about the parents and the sort of day that they would like.
Please don't use the troll word willy nilly.