policies - charging remission

7/30/2019 Policies - Charging Remission

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St Thomas Becket Catholic College

Charging and Remission Policy

Financial Management

Person/s Responsible: Jackie Murray / Finance/Business Manager

September 2010

Introduction


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The school conforms to the LAs charging policy, the DES Circular 2/89 and theEducation Reform Act 1988: Charges for School Activities and Charging for School

Activities, Fair Access Division, DCSF, January 2009.

The Governing Body recognises the valuable contribution that the wide range ofadditional activities, including trips, clubs and residential experiences can make towardsstudents education. The Governing Body aims to promote and provide such activities

both as part of a broad and balanced curriculum for students of the College and asadditional optional activities.

The Governing Body cannot charge for:

An admission application to the College

Education provided during school hours (including the supply of materials, book,instruments or other equipment)

Education provided outside of school hours if it is part of the National Curriculum,or part of a syllabus for a prescribed public examination that the student is beingprepared for at the College, or part of religious education

Tuition for students learning to play musical instruments if the tuition is requiredas part of the National Curriculum, or part of a syllabus for a prescribed public

examination that the student is being prepared for at the College or part ofreligious education

Entry for prescribed public examination, if the student has been prepared for it atthe College

And examination re-sit(s) if the student is being prepared for the re-sit(s) at theCollege

However, due to the limited funds in the delegated budget the Governing Body reservesthe right to make a charge in the following circumstances for activities organised by theCollege. The Governing Body will from time to time, review and amend the categories ofactivity for which a charge may be made.

Charging for Visits

a) All Visits

The group leader should always meet with the Finance/Business Manager to agree thefollowing items:

The total cost of the visit

How much of the cost will come from College or LA funds (as is the case of fieldtrips)

How much each parent will need to pay or be asked to voluntarily contributetowards the cost of the visit

How much spending/pocket money students will reasonably need (especiallyimportant for trips which involve a residential element)

Use of any surplus fund, i.e. will they be returned to parents or retained for futurevisits?

Group leaders should ensure that parents are notified as early as possible of the aboveusing the standard trip and visits letter. This is important as this allows parents to makefinancial preparations. Many parents find it helpful to gauge the value of the visit if theyhave information relating to the constituent costs of the visit, i.e. transport,accommodation, food etc


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b) During Normal School Hours

In all schools (except Independent Schools) visits which occur during school hours mustbe provided free of charge. However, parents can be asked to make a voluntarycontribution towards the cost of the trip. In reality the value of the requestedcontributions equates to the total cost of the visit (or more to allow for those parents whocannot or will not contribute) and therefore if insufficient voluntary contributions areforthcoming the visit may have to be cancelled parents must be notified of this

contingency. Students whose parents / guardians do not contribute cannot bediscriminated against.

The Governing Body may offer to remit the full cost of full board and lodging for anyresidential activity which:

takes place during school hours or;

is not an optional extra (see following section for definition)

The decision to offer to remit board and lodging costs, as above, is subject to theparents of a student being in receipt of:

Income Support

Income-Based JobseekersAllowance

Family Credit Disability Living Allowance

Parental permission should be obtained in one of two ways:i. Sample Parental Declaration. Parents sign a declaration which contains, e.g. I

understand: That current legislation permits the College to ask for voluntary

contributions towards the costs involved;

That no student will be discriminated against on the ground of inability topay;

That if sufficient money is not raised by voluntary contributions, then thevisit may have to be cancelled.

ii. Signed Slip received back from parents:

A letter about the visit is sent out to parents and contains a reply slip (with space forparental signature) and also a section on meeting the costs of the visit, the essence ofwhich is contained in the following example:

All students will need to take a packed lunch with them. Students who receive a FreeSchool Meal will be provided with a packed lunch. As we are travelling by coach, a smallcost will be incurred. Current legislation permits us to ask only for voluntary contributionstowards the costs involved. No student will be discriminated against on the grounds ofinability to pay, but if sufficient money is not raised by voluntary contributions, then thevisit will have to be cancelled. A contribution of *** should be sufficient to ensure that

the trip can proceed.

b) Outside of Normal School Hours / Optional Extras

The Headteacher can charge parents for board and lodging on residential visits as wellas the full cost when a visit is deemed to be an optional extra. An optional extra:

Falls wholly or mainly outside school hours, i.e. a skiing holiday during theCollege holidays is an optional extra

Does not form part of the National Curriculum or the statutory requirements forreligious education


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Is not part of a syllabus towards a prescribed public examination if a GCSEBiology syllabus mentions fieldwork as a requirement then this in itself does notnecessitate a residential fieldtrip to another part of the country as local facilitiesmay suffice. However, if the syllabus mentions that students need to know aboutthe ecology of rocky shores and they live in a city a long way from the coast thenthe fieldtrip would not be classed as an optional extra.

The parents agreement to meet the costs of an optional extra visit before the visit is

planned in detail will always be obtained in writing. The stated cost of an option extravisit must not include an element of subsidy for students whose families do not meet thefull charge.

Parental permission should be obtained as follows:

i. Sample Parental Declaration. Parents sign a declaration which contains, e.g. Iunderstand:

That current legislation permits the College to ask for the full cost of the visit

That current legislation does not require the College to arrange subsidies for thevisit

That if insufficient numbers of students opt for the visit then the visit may have to

be cancelled That my child cannot attend this optional extra visit if full payment is made by

myself / ourselves The deposit required for a place on the trip is 10% of the total cost or the amount

stated by the travel operator and payable one week from the date of thisdeclaration.

Regular payments must be made towards the cost of the trip as stated in tripletter to parents (i.e. 3 equal instalments, 1 month apart)

Full payment is due at the latest 7 school session days prior to the start date ofthe trip. Any outstanding payments must be discussed by the parent / guardianwith the Finance / Business Manager to ensure students can go on the trip

Refunds of deposits, full payments and partial payments in relation to

cancellations will be subject to a review by the Finance / Business Manager andwill depend on:

a) any costs incurred for cancellation through the travel agency / trip organiserb) whether a replacement traveller could be found.

Individual Instrumental Tuition

The cost to the student for providing any instrumental tuition not part of normal LAperipatetic provision may be charged by the College. The fees for the normal LAperipatetic lessons are now centrally collected by the LA due to the large administrative

burden involved in pursuing non-payment.

Ingredients / Materials / Equipment (In Kind)

The Governing Body reserves the right to charge for ingredients, materials or equipment(or the provision of them by parents) or require them to be provided if the parents haveindicated in advance that they wish to own the finished product. This is directly relevantfor the cost of materials / ingredients for the following subjects: Science, Technology,

Art.


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Broken Equipment / Damage (Replacement)

The Governors will allow the College to ask students and/or their parents to contributetowards the cost of replacement items where these were damaged or broken as a directresult of misconduct on the students part. This does not in any way detract from theteaching staffs duty to brief students thoroughly and to manage a calm and safe workingenvironment for the students. This may include the purchase of a replacement planner,should the students planner be lost, have graffiti or be damaged.

Remissions

The Governing Body may remit in full or in part the cost of any activity for particulargroups of parents, for example, in the case of family hardship. The criteria for remissionsare:

Income Support (IS)

Income Based JobseekersAllowance (IBJSA)

Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

Child Tax Credit, provided that Working Tax Credit is not also received and thefamilys income (as assessed by Her Majestys Revenue and Customs) does not

exceed 16,040 the guarantee element of State Pension Credit and

an income related employment and support allowance that was introduced on 27October 2008

When arranging a chargeable activity such parents will be invited in confidence for theremission of charges in part. Applications should be made in writing to the Finance /Business Manager. Authorisation for such remission will be made by the Finance /Business Manager in consultation with the Headteacher.

Examinations

The Governing Body may recover any fee in respect of the entry of a registered studentat the College for a public examination in any syllabus for that examination either

the student fails without good reason to meet any examination requirements ofthat syllabus

Or the student fails to sit any examination without good reason.

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