Want to raise money for your school? Holding a professional art exhibition or selling swimming lessons are alternative ways of fundraising

Art exhibitions, helicopter trips and belly dancing – school fundraising has come a long way from the traditional “fête worse than death”. A little imagination, and a lot of energy, can bring in impressive sums even at small village schools looking for ways to pay for extras such as covered play areas, extra sports equipment and additions to libraries.

Some of the most ingenious ideas link raising money with providing an immediate benefit to pupils – such as the swimming project at a Brighton primary school, where the parents’ association buys three swimming lesson sessions at the local pool every Saturday morning and sells them on to parents.

The result is two-fold – the school gets a good little earner, and it’s easy for pupils to learn to swim inexpensively.

“We charge parents £3.50 a session, which is a fraction of what they’d pay for lessons,” says Chris Williams, the parent running the scheme for Balfour Infants School Association (BISA). “Getting kids to swim is an important core skill – especially living near the sea – and we make a reasonable profit for the school,” he says.

The money contributes to funds raised and administered by BISA, which meets monthly with the school head to consider a “wish list” of possible extras for the children. Recent purchases have included play equipment and flotation vests for the swimmers.

Chris is clear that the purpose of fundraising is not to provide facilities or equipment that ought to be supplied by the local authority. It’s a point supported by the National Council of Parent Teacher Associations (NCPTA).

Laura Warren, NCPTA communications manager, says that PTAs exist to add value to what a school can provide. “If a school didn’t have a PTA, it would still exist and function. But PTAs are successful at providing extra resources that schools may not otherwise have – at enriching what the school can offer,” she says.

But what about small schools or those in less affluent areas? While the wealth of an area is a factor, two small schools at opposite ends of the country prove that the key to fundraising is more a question of imagination – and bringing in the punters.

Doddiscombsleigh Primary School in Devon raised more than £18,000 from its last art exhibition – despite having only 50 pupils on roll. The exhibition, it must be said, was not of the children’s art, but of local professional artists.

The school’s PTA first contacted local professional artists in 2002, offering to exhibit their work in return for a 20 per cent commission on sales. The event was such a success that since then the parents have been able to increase their commission to 30 per cent.

Henrietta Vercoe, the parent in charge of the venture, says everyone gets a good deal. “Commercial galleries take 50 to 60 per cent commission, so the artists are happy. People can buy great work in unusual surroundings, and we make far more money than we otherwise could, because it’s bringing in a wider public.”

Read the full story in this week's TES Magazine, out Friday September 7