PARENTS and pupils at Haverfordwest’s new secondary school are unhappy with arrangements for an end of year prom, after a decision about fundraising efforts.

Pupils at Haverfordwest High VC School’s two sites are holding two separate leaving proms, one for former Tasker Milward pupils and another for former Sir Thomas Picton pupils.

The STP leavers’ prom is due to go ahead on the school's former site at Prendergast in June, but parents and pupils at the former Taskers site, now known as the Haverfordwest High Portfield site, have been unhappy with how the school has handled money raised for their prom.

One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said a decision to stop money raised by pupils from being used for the prom was a “kick in the teeth.”

He said: “As a parent I have seen how hard the year 11s on the old Taskers site have worked raising the money to have the last year 11 prom as a year 11 on that site."

The Taskers prom is due to take place on June 20, at Hook Sports and Social club, and is now due to be a private event, rather than organised through the school.

This was decided after a discussion between the school and the prom organising committee.

Because of this, the school had said money raised by pupils during school time could not be used to pay for it, as it is no longer considered a school-supported event.

In a statement, a spokesman for the school said as the prom “has become an essentially privately-organised event, it would not be appropriate to hand over the monies to it.”

But the spokesman added the school will now use most of the money to pay for a DJ at the prom, with the remainder divided between a buffet for the leaver’s assembly and an item to be chosen by pupils for the sixth form suite.

The parent said: “I feel for the pupils. This on top of the stress of the exams.”

"I have supported this school and defended it during the change. But I just can't understand what the management are doing. They are not winning any friends with the public, parents and most importantly the pupils at the moment."

Another parent was also angry at the school’s decision on how the money would be spent.

“The prom committee raised the money in the school for their prom, whether it was external or internal is irrelevant,” they said.

“It was raised by the prom committee by selling popcorn, food and hampers at break times. The girls all funded it and they took the expenses part out of what they raised.”

At the Prendergast site, there are more than 200 pupils in Year 11, while at Portfield there are approximately 87 pupils.

According to the school, a staff member had volunteered to help with arrangements at each site, but due to the size of the Prendergast year group, an extra member of staff decided to help with the organisation.

On both sites there are strict rules as to who can attend the proms, mainly based on behaviour points given to them during the year.

“At the Portfield site, it transpired that although 63 were eligible to attend the prom, due to friendship groups only 30 to 35 wanted to attend,” said the school spokesman.

“As a result, the pupils in the year group asked the school if it might be possible to organise their own event without input from the school.

“This would mean that a greater number of pupils could attend.

“The school reluctantly agreed to this but made it very clear that if this was the case, it would be unable to supervise the event. The group wanted to proceed on that basis,” the spokesman added.

A GoFundMe page was set up by pupils from the Portfield site who decided to raise money for their prom after the school took control of the money originally raised when it became a private event.

A total of £465 was pledged towards the prom before the fundraising page was closed and the school announced the original funding would be spent on the event.