ST ILLTYD’S PRIMARY SCHOOL

CHARGING AND REMISSIONS POLICY

Purpose 

At St Illtyd’s Primary School we believe that all of our pupils should have an equal opportunity to benefit from school activities and visits both curricular and extracurricular, independent of their parents’ financial means. This charging and remissions policy describes how we will do our best to ensure a good range of visits and activities is offered and, at the same time, try to minimise the financial barriers which may prevent some pupils taking full advantage of the opportunities. 

Policy Aims 

This policy aims to make school activities accessible to pupils regardless of family income in order to provide a process which allows activities to take place at a minimum cost to parents, students and the school. 

Relationship to Other School Policies 

This policy complements the school’s Equality Policy, Curriculum Policy, Educational Visits Policy and the Teaching and Learning Policy. 

Context

The law states that education provided during school hours must be free. This definition includes materials and equipment. No pupil may be left out of an activity because their parents cannot or will not make a financial contribution.  Nothing in legislation prevents a school governing body or local authority from asking for voluntary contributions for the benefit of the school or any school activities. However, if the activity cannot be funded without voluntary contributions, the governing body or head teacher should make this clear to parents at the outset. The governing body or head teacher must also make it clear to parents that there is no obligation to make any contribution. It is important to note that no child should be excluded from an activity simply because his or her parents are unwilling or unable to pay. If insufficient voluntary contributions are raised to fund a visit, or the school cannot fund it from some other source then it must be cancelled. Schools must ensure that they make this clear to parents. If a parent is unwilling or unable to pay, their child must still be given an equal chance to go on the visit. 

At St Illtyd’s Primary School we set aside money within our budget to fulfill our curricular and extracurricular activities. We actively aim to minimise the amount of voluntary contributions that we request from parents. No pupil is excluded or discriminated from the trip if their parent/guardian is unable or unwilling to pay.  Families facing financial difficulty are invited to meet, in confidence, with the Headteacher.  

Roles and Responsibilities of Headteacher, Governing Body and Other Staff

The Headteacher and the governing body recognises its responsibility to ensure that the offer of activities and educational visits does not place an unnecessary burden on family finances. To this end we will try to adhere to the following guidelines: 

• Where possible we shall inform parents of trips and visits and their approximate cost, in advance, so that parents can plan ahead 

• We have established a system for parents to pay in instalments for more expensive trips such as residential visits